Danny Turner chats to the Detroit icon about taking techno to a new level with new project, The Paradox
Techno legend Jeff Mills has made it his life’s mission to find new ways to take techno into unexplored territories while pushing the technological limits of his vintage Roland drum machines. During studio and live sessions for the late Tony Allen’s album, Tomorrow Comes the Harvest, Mills took this ethos one step further in collaboration with session jazz pianist Jean-Phi Dary.
As a result of their various live jams, Mills and Dary formed The Paradox, releasing the album Counter Active in early 2021. However, only upon improvising with Dary live on stage using a combination of synth drums, sequencers and keys did Mills realise he could take his techniques to another level, attaining a common link between free jazz and techno. The result can be found on Paradox: Live at Montreux, recorded at the iconic Montreux Jazz Festival.
How did you first come to collaborate with Jean-Phi Dary and discover you had a symbiotic set of skills?
“Drummer Tony Allen and I decided that because things had worked so well in the studio we should perform the album Tomorrow Comes the Harvest, but after a few shows I realised that something was missing. I felt that because Tony was using a full kit alongside me on the drum machine it was a bit too percussive and suggested a third person – akeyboard player, so Tony recommended Jean-Phi Dary who he’d worked with for many years.”
Were the shows with Tony and Jean-Phi all improvised?
“Tony didn’t like to rehearse – we’d just show up a few hours before the show, test everything to make sure all the microphones worked and that was basically it, but I’d also play a little with Jean-Phi beforehand and create things on the fly. That’s when Jean-Phi and I realised that we could possibly create music together just by improvising and decided to go into the studio to put some of these ideas down, which was the beginning of the group The Paradox.”
Both The Paradox and the album title Counter Active imply a contradiction or counteraction of some sort?
“I was having lunch with Jean-Phi and said we need to come up with a title for this project and he told me it was a paradox because us improvising together using keys and a drum machine and somehow making it work was something that most people would not expect to happen. Then we had another conversation about our experience of being in the industry and the idea that every once in a while it’s a good idea to reassess where you are musically and creatively and form a counteractive movement by taking advantage of whatever opportunity is there at that time. It’s about being proactive and moving towards what we think music should be; which is in the moment, unrestricted and unconditional.”
How did you approach the initial r
