Best Of 2022: Jazz, Latin, And Global

Seeing L'Rain, Sons Of Kemet, and Makaya McCraven in a spectacular concert last summer was a powerful reminder of the ability of jazz to electrify a crowd and unite them in a journey though the unknown. On a record, the trajectory is more intimate but can be equally thrilling. Latin music, in the form of pop crossover from the likes of Bad Bunny, is more popular than ever but true fascination may be found more in the niches. As for music made beyond the US/UK hegemony, Africa is still a strong source, but Europe - especially when cultures blend, as on Topical Dancer - can still bring much to the table. Beyond Charlotte Dos Santos, who has at least as much jazz in her musical DNA as anything else, and Jimmy Delgado, I didn't find as much of the many Latin varieties as I have in other years. That will likely change in 2023, but in the meantime  discover some of the best recent releases in these genres below, beginning with those few albums I previously covered. Give a listen to tracks from each in this playlist or below.

22 For 22 (Part Two)
Jimmy Delgado - A Mis Mentores...To My Mentors
Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul - Topical Dancer

Autumn Flood (Part 3)
Charlotte Dos Santos - Morfo

JAZZ

Amanda Whiting - Lost In Abstraction It takes a certain boldness as well as a light touch to traverse ground trod by such greats as Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, both avatars of the jazz harp, not to mention stunning contemporary talents like Brandee Younger. Whiting, a classically-trained player from Wales, rides that line perfectly on her second album. Whether sweeping the strings with a seductive flamboyance in Venus Fly Trap or plucking delicately around the groove of Suspended, she seems to always know just what's required by a song. Sensitive and engaged backing from Aidan Thorne (bass) and Jon Reynolds (drums) is enhanced by Chip Wickham's flute and sax and Baldo Verdú's percussion for a blend of lush and spare textures that is very satisfying indeed.

Chip Wickham - Cloud 10 Wickham himself is in fine form on this swinging set of soulful spiritual jazz - or is that spiritual soul jazz? - with an expansive sound courtesy of his compatriots, including Whiting on harp, Ton Risco (vibes), Sneaky (bass), Jon Scott (drums), Jack McCarthy (percussion) and  Eoin Grace (trumpet and flugelhorn). Informed by the past but not indebted to it, Wickham is keeping jazz moving forward in a fashion that is accessible and full of integrity.

Makaya McCraven - In These Times I'm still buzzing from that explosive Central Park show so I have trouble seeing this finely wrought if a bit too chill album as mostly a placeholder for the next time. What a huge talent, though, and an essential part of the story of jazz in our time.

Tyshawn Sorey Trio with Greg Osby - The Off-Off Broadway Guide To Synergism I remember watching these Jazz Gallery gigs take place from afar - i.e. Instagram - in March 2022 and wishing I could be there. This triple album is a damned good consolation prize, however, with the energy of Sorey's drums, Aaron Diehl's piano, Russell Hall's bass, and Osby's sax fairly leaping out of the speakers. The sets are filled mostly with standards from the likes of Cole Porter and Billy Strayhorn, but there are also two killer takes on Ornette Coleman's Mob Job and a fine version of Miles Davis's Solar, both of which should be considered standards by this point anyway. Sorey is fully in command throughout, conducting the band with drum hits and cymbal crashes rather than a baton. Next time I hope to get there in person! 

Timuçin Şahin's Flow State - Funk Poems For Bird Spiky, fractured, and often witty, this Charlie Parker-inspired collection is a perfect showcase for Şahin's unique guitar playing, with plenty of push and pull from Cory Smythe (piano), Reggie Washington (bass), and Sean Rickman (drums). Şahin uses a custom-built double-neck guitar with one fretless neck, which gives him an infinite palette of colors and textures to deploy. Must be fun to watch live, too. And what a delight to hear Smythe, who I'm mostly familiar with from his work with the International Contemporary Ensemble, let his fingers fly in an improvised setting!

Brandon Lopez - Ingrid Laubrock - Tom Rainey - No es la Playa Just as he collaborated so well with Tak Ensemble in 2021, bassist/composer Lopez inserts himself seamlessly into the duo of Laubrock (saxes) and Rainey (drums). The word "seamlessly," however, doesn't convey the excitement the trio generates, a swirling interaction built from deep listening and the vast array of experiences the three bring to the studio, from free jazz to contemporary chamber music. More fun can be had in the latest from Laubrock and Rainey, Counterfeit Mars, with the drummer pushing her to be her wittiest while still full of sharp angles. Laubrock also shines on Fragile, another duo album, traversing between poles spiky and contemplative with pianist Andy Milne, who even injects a bit of blues into the mix. What a year for Laubrock, who continually proves herself to be one of the most exciting players in jazz and classical music today.

Nate Wooley - Ancient Songs Of Burlap Heroes As he put on full display in 2021's Mutual Aid Music, trumpeter/composer Wooley has the gift for assembling a sound world out of perfectly chosen groups of players. In this case, an impressionistic, almost cinematic world arises from Mary Halvorson's electric guitar, Susan Alcorn's pedal steel guitar, and Ryan Sawyer's drums, with an occasional assist from Mat Maneri's viola and Trevor Dunn's electric bass. The group roils and retreats, like the stormy tide heard in the four interludes, making for a deeply absorbing experiences. Wooley is great thinker, too, and as he explains it, "A burlap hero is one who marches—consciously or not—back to the sea in hopes of making no splash, who understands and embraces the imperfection of being, and in that way, stretches the definition of sainthood to fit." So wear your burlap proudly and let this be the soundtrack to wherever you march.

Sam Gendel - BlueBlue I was recently chatting with an old friend of mine and we got to talking about Gendel, remarking on how he can play just about anything and find his way in a staggering variety of musical settings. In this case, he's putting guitar to the foreground and duetting with himself on breathy woodwinds and synths for a quietly radical set of pieces based on ashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. The relationship is mostly in his own mind, as pieces like Amime (網目, fishing nets) bear no obvious relation to that particular pattern. But no matter - whatever it takes to get him going! He also invited percussionist Craig Weinrib into the fold, who virtually jams with Gendel, adding a stylish, if still restrained, swagger to the album.

GLOBAL/WESTERN AFRICA

Etran de L'Air - Agadez While this Saharan family band shares some of the hallmarks of other Tuareg artists such as Tinariwen, Tamikrest, or Mdou Moctar, there is an overall air of celebration that sets them apart. It came as no surprise to learn they're the most popular wedding band in Agadez, their home city in Niger. The percussion also feels a bit more progressive than on other "desert blues" releases, with touches of arty disco (think Dennis Davis on Bowie's Fashion) and dance-rock underscoring the high-flying guitars. Bring the party to your house, wherever that may be.

Vieux Farka Touré - Les Racines Somehow I lost track of this Malian guitarist and singer after putting his superb sophomore album, Fondo, on my top ten in 2009. Correcting that record starts here, with his first solo album since 2017. Hypnotic, meditative, and deeply engaged in the sound world of his legendary father, Ali, it's both a beautiful tribute to, and a continuation of, that legacy. While on Fondo, he had to be deliberate about escaping his father's shadow, here he can confidently embrace all that that shadow encompassed. Between Ali and Vieux, the Touré name is synonymous with Malian music and all it has to offer, which you can find here in abundance. If you use a streaming service, don't be fooled by the algorithm that wants to serve you with Ali, Vieux's unfortunate collaboration with milquetoast try-hards Khruangbin, which has, on average, more than 100 times the streams as Les Racines. That's a goddamned shame and hopefully a few of those listeners will find their way to the real thing.

Various Artists - A Guide To The Birdsong of Western Africa In a testament to the power and importance of going to record stores, I only discovered this series, which has been going since 2015, when my daughter spotted the cover on one of our trips to Rough Trade. The color, variety, and sheer artistry of the illustration is an accurate reflection of what can be found within. Each artist was given the birdsong of an endangered species from their country and asked to incorporate it into a new song. Vieux Farka Touré is here, jamming with the call of the Black Crowned Crane, alongside nine other less familiar names. The collection opens with the airy delight of Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin paying tribute to the Loango Weaver with a synth-based groove and plenty of call and response. Another highlight is the charming Nimba Flycatcher by Ruth Tafébé, propelled by delicate acoustic guitar, clicking percussion, and her bittersweet voice, but there are no weak tracks. Ask your local store to stock it!

Black Sherif - The Villain I Never Was Here's one case where the algorithm worked in my favor, as the one track that has a guest (Burna Boy) landed this Ghanaian singer-songwriter in my Release Radar. And I'm glad it did, as the album is sleek and canny combination of the deeply rooted genre of Highlife and contemporary Afrobeats with touches of reggae and hip hop. In a further quest for universality, Black Sherif sings in English, offering his reflections on his life, country, and status in a strong tenor, occasionally distorted with autotune. While there is a mournful, haunting quality to many of the songs, he never falls victim to cloying sentimentality, which can sometimes mar music from the region. Give a listen and raise a hand in welcome to an important new voice in the music of Western Africa.

Burna Boy - Love Damini In 2019, I praised this Nigerian Afrobeats pioneer's African Giant for being "suave, smooth, and funky," elements that are still in place on several songs here. On a whopping 19 tracks, the best stuff is front-loaded, with tracks like Science, with ticky-tack drums, brooding horns, and sensual vocals, Cloak and Dagger, with its sharp feature from J. Hus, and Kilometre, a choppy slice of dancehall, as strong as anything from his catalog. But things go awry on the back half, where nearly every song has a guest, including regrettable appearances from bards of bland like Ed Sheeran and J. Balvin. In his quest for ubiquity, Burna Boy is in danger of leaving behind what made him so popular in the first place. Hopefully next time, he'll leave the grabs for Pepsi-commercial pop stardom on the cutting room floor because when he's at his best, as on at least half the tracks here, he's a special artist indeed.

Florence Adooni - Yinne I've written before about the joyful, intricate sounds of Ghanaian Frafra before, as presented by the German label Philophon. On the first song on this latest single from the label, "Gospel Queen" Adooni sails her lighter-than-air voice over a delightfully busy arrangement, all blaring horns, swirling guitars and synths, burbling bass, and precise percussion, barely breaking a sweat as she sings in praise of Yinne, the Creator. For Yelle is more contemplative, with an almost folky melody and arpeggiated guitars. Here's hope for an album from Adooni - as well as a follow up to #1, Guy One's extraordinary album from 2018.

There's more from these genres in the archived playlist and you can follow along with what I discover in 2023 here.

You may also enjoy:

Best of 2021: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Best Of 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Best Of 2019: Jazz, Latin, and Global 
Best Of 2018: Jazz, Latin, and Global

Best Of 2021: Jazz, Latin, and Global

Most of what I covered in these categories ended up on my Top 25 - for global, Raoul Vignal (France) and Arooj Aftab (Brooklyn via Pakistan), and for Latin, Mallu Magalhaes and Domenico Lancellotti (both Brazil), while for jazz the closest thing was Pharoah Sanders' beautiful blowing on his collaboration with Floating Points and the London Symphony Orchestra. But several favorites in contemporary jazz returned and delivered as did some new discoveries - their excellent albums are below, along with two others from the realms of Latin and global. 

Listen to tracks from most everything (a couple are Bandcamp only and believe me, I get it!) in this playlist or below.

Irreversible Entanglements - Open The Gates Hard on the heels of their 2020 masterpiece, Who Sent You?, and foregrounded by the declarations of the tireless Camae Aweya (aka Moor Mother), this expansive quintet returns with another hard-swinging set. Even as they churn in constant motion, the rhythm section of Luke Stewart (bass) and Tcheser Holmes (drums) sets up a rock-solid foundation for the sax and trumpet of Keir Neuringer and Aquiles Navarro, who engage in duets reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, creating a conversation that communicates as powerfully as Aweya's words. Even when they slow things down on Water Meditation, every note crackles with energy.

Artifacts - ...And Then There's This I became an admirer of the "ancient to the future" ethos of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians back in the 80s, digging on albums by the Art Ensemble of Chicago among others. But never did I imagine that some 40 years later along would come such a perfect exemplar of that ethos. A supergroup consisting of Tomeka Reid (cello), Nicole Mitchell (flute), and Mike Reed (drums), Artifacts create an interplay so engaging that you can practically hear them listening to each other as they play. Reid's dexterity and creativity on the cello, beautifully captured by the exquisitely alive recording, is astonishing on its own. But combine it with Mitchell's songful flute and Reed's precise and funky percussion and the results are sublime. 

Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson - Searching For The Disappeared Hour Informed as much by jazz as by modernist chamber music, this is a wildly imaginative collaboration between pianist Courvoisier, who can go from swinging to knotty on a dime, and guitarist Halvorson, who can both pick delicately or generate webs of sound. Each track uses a combination of repetitive sections and sharp left turns, either in dynamics or density - from quiet and spare to loud and busy - to keep you on your toes. 

Sylvie Courvoisier/Ned Rothenberg/Julian Sartorius - Lockdown Courvoisier finds more playmates on this very different album, which only occasionally showcases Rothenberg's more self-indulgent side on reeds and shakuhachi. Usually what seems wayward snaps into focus, especially when percussionist Sartorius gets more involved. Courvoisier is content at times to lay back and gently comp, but then she'll take command - sometimes from the inside of the piano. Not surprisingly, over half the album is made up of group compositions - a sign of the democratic nature of the sessions, a moment in time brought to us by the pandemic.

Tyshawn Sorey & King Britt - Tyshawn / King  Even before this came out in October, drummer/composer/conductor Sorey was having quite a year both on the stage and on record. But this series of improvisations between him and producer/DJ/synth-whiz Britt is far more than icing on the cake. Drums, cymbals, and electronic sounds intersect and diverge in a series of playful and groovy explorations, made only more scintillating by Sorey's absolute control over every touch of a stick to skin or metal.

Tim Chernikoff - Pieces Of Sanity Working with drummer Kenneth Salters and bassist Jakob Dreyer, it's not that Chernikoff takes the piano trio anywhere radically new, rather it's that he is so damned good at what the form does best. For sheer beauty, I'm not sure if any recent jazz record betters it, although its not just about being pretty. There's a striking emotional honesty to the chord sequences and melodies that reminds me of Steely Dan at their most reflective. Chernikoff has been at it as a leader, accompanist, composer, and educator for over 15 years - it's about time he put all that experience, skill, and love onto a record. This one captures his confidence and mastery perfectly.

William Parker - Mayan Space Station I'm overwhelmed by this bassist-composer's output, which includes at least three other albums from 2021 with which I still need to catch up. But that's partially his fault for making this one so crushingly GREAT that I have yet to move on from it. And part of that is due to the towering performance of Ava Mendoza on guitar. Her searing tone and alternately soaring and jagged structures take us on a thrill ride extraordinaire, with Parker and drummer Gerald Cleaver her willing co-conspirators. The recording is earthy and rich, too, with a physicality to Parker's bass that makes every buzz a thing of beauty. Stunning - and when I need more Mendoza I can turn to New Spells, her exploratory album of solo guitar.

fluke-mogul / Liberatore / Mattrey / Mendoza - Death In The Gilded Age And when I need EVEN more Mendoza, I can buckle in for this fabulously fractured collective, which also includes the great Matteo Liberatore, who can do the unthinkable with an acoustic guitar, along with gabby fluke-mogul on violin, and Joanna Mattrey on viola. Another completely original release from Tripticks Tapes, who also gave us the Tak Ensemble/Brandon Lopez collaboration among many others, this one is a celebration of texture above all. Strings are bowed, plucked, and strummed to their very limits, in an almost unrelenting - and wonderful - cacophony, which can take abrupt turns into something adjacent to folk music. While it was the unique stressors and opportunities of the pandemic that brought these four together, let's hope that rising vaccination rates and the coming endemic don't prevent them from gathering again. 

Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber - Angels Over Oakanda Greg Tate was such a force of nature as a music critic and journalist - someone I had been reading way back when you had to pay for the Village Voice (when there was a Village Voice) - that it's hard to believe he was taken from us by a heart attack last December. He was also one of the few writers to put his critical beliefs into action by co-founding the Black Rock Coalition and, later, Burnt Sugar. This, their first album in four years, is conceived as a suite about Oakland, CA, where "Black Culture is appreciated and nurtured," but I think I will be forgiven for hearing it now as a eulogy for Tate. A sprawling epic in the mode of Miles Davis circa 1969-75, it accomplishes both tasks with all of his flair, sense of drama, and intellectual integrity. Conducted by Tate and anchored by the bass of Jared Michael Nickerson, these are jams with focus, insistent rhythms carrying you along while the solos - on flute, sax, synth, etc. - hurl splashes of color on the canvas. I will not be surprised if there is more where this came from in the vault, but this is plenty to chew on while we wait.

Antonio Neves - A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now) Neves was the arranger responsible for some of the quicksilver turns on Ana Frango Elétrico's wonderful Little Electric Chicken Heart from 2019. On this, his second solo album, he acts as a ringleader for a cast of nearly two dozen of Brazil's finest, including Eléctrico, who lends her voice to the expansive and slinky Luz Negra. I used the word "ringleader" intentionally as the album opener sounds like a circus, with people shouting unintelligible exhortations and Neves' trombone making some comical noises. There are also hard-driving tracks like the cinematic Fort Apache, which somehow gets away with having Hamilton de Holanda solo on mandolin over the churning rhythm. There are plenty of other highlights, like the sparkling piano of Eduardo Farias, the atmospheric guitar of Gus Levy, or the questing bass clarinet of Joana Queiroz, but there's a strong sense of a collective at work to realize Neves' vision. His sense of play and feel for funk across a variety of Brazilian forms is such that if I ever get to Rio I'm going to find out where he's playing - it's sure to be the best party in town.

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime Everything I said about Moctar's previous album remains true here, in bigger, bolder fashion. His electric guitar gets ever closer to touching the sky, the rhythms find new invention in Tuareg traditions, and the songs draw from an ever deeper well of emotion, whether the romantic desire and longing of songs like Ya Habibti (O My Love) and Tala Tannam or the political rage of the title track. A true epic with searing guitar that seems to teeter at the edge of control, it sets a new standard not only for Moctar but Nigerian music in general.

There's more from these genres in the archived playlist and you can follow along with what I discover in 2022 here. 

You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2020: Jazz, Latin, and Global
Best Of 2019: Jazz, Latin, and Global 
Best Of 2018: Jazz, Latin, and Global

Record (And A Concert!) Roundup: On An Island

I may be in the minority, but I'm still not ready to go to indoor concerts. Whether it's in a glorious sweatbox like Market Hotel or the immaculate Merkin Hall, I can't seem to project myself into a space where everyone is sitting or standing together - masked or unmasked. I hope all my favorite artists, whose tour dates flash past in my newsfeed and my inbox, will forgive me. And I hope even more strongly that they get the audiences they deserve! Fortunately, some artists and presenters are being creative and I have so far been to concerts in a cemetery, an orchard, and will tonight experience one from a canoe in the Gowanus. But, most recently I visited a tiny, manufactured "island" in the Hudson River. Words on that below and on a few albums on islands of their own.  

International Contemporary Ensemble: Tyshawn Sorey - Autoschediasms While I can see arguments against them, as a lifelong New Yorker I am a fan of some of the investments made to revitalize the far west side with projects like the High Line. So I was curious about the latest to open, the Little Island, which has replaced Pier 55 on the edge of the Meatpacking District, but I couldn't see any reason to go there, especially with the Delta Variant cropping up everywhere. But then I got an invitation to one of the concerts in NYC Free, a month-long series of events on Little Island that will hopefully become an annual summer institution. How could I resist the opportunity to see the International Contemporary Ensemble in their first live concert since 2020, with Tyshawn Sorey conducting Autoschediasms, his classic work of spontaneous composition? In short, I couldn't, so my daughter and I drove downtown and, after parking at a meter on Gansevoort (it can happen, people!), we walked over to the Little Island. 

Supported by a series of udder-like concrete stems, the place is a fully terraformed two-plus acres, with paths and hills and at least two areas for music performance. There are also food and drink concessions, tables to eat at, and a wide variety of plant life. The night we went (Thursday, August 19th), the place was buzzing, too, with a crowd diverse enough to set an urban planner's heart a-flutter. Was it a little more crowded than we would have liked in some areas? Yes, but most people were wearing masks and we employed a time-honored NYC strategy: keep moving. At least after my daughter had a quick meal of a tasty grilled cheese sandwich and a can of wine, we kept moving. We followed the signs to the Amph, which is a gorgeous amphitheater facing west, and were able to choose seats far from other people, many of whom wanted to sit with a direct view of the river and the sunset to come.

Sorey admires his handiwork

As soon as the musicians assembled and Tyshawn Sorey began eliciting sounds from them with his trademark blend of hand gestures and instructions on a small whiteboard, I noticed the excellent amplified sound coming from the web of speakers above us. It was natural enough for the urban soundtrack to interact with the music, but loud enough so the sounds of the city couldn't become a distraction. As I did the last time I heard this piece - which is never the same twice - I took notes. Here's what I heard:

• Ghostly wails and guttural noises from Alice Teyssier (flute and voice), joined by Cory Smythe (piano)
• Cymbals and bells from percussionist Levy Lorenzo, splashy and nautical
• Dan Lippel down-tunes the E string on his electric guitar and attacks it with an e-bow, drawing fourth deep, burred sounds
• Mike Lormand's trombone inquires and Rebekah Heller's bassoon answers.
• An airplane weighs in with white noise from above.
• Teyssier on bass flute making whoops and whispers, a little comedy from Lormand's muted trombone.
• Hypnotic groove emerges from Lorenzo's toms and suddenly we’re deep in a jungle, jazzy stabs from the piano.
• Lippell starts to sparkle but…
• Everyone STOPS and Smythe goes OFF, then it's back to the groove, Lippel soloing with a furious delicacy.
• Things start to get frantic. And fragmented.
• Baton held high, Sorey brings the hammer down and…silence. For a second, anyway, before a new section begins, spacious and abstract, a prop plane commenting from the skies.
• Increasing angularity from percussion and guitar, brass and woodwinds in their own serene world.
• Repetitions from the woodblocks join up with a twangy riff from Lippel, then Sorey leads Lorenzo into a percussion solo, funky and virtuosic.
• Sorey starts micromanaging the percussion with his baton, directing rhythms and moving Lorenzo from instrument to instrument in his massive kit.
• On to vibes and piano with a smooth underpinning from the woodwind and brass.
• Lippell stars working his wah-wah and whammy bar, weaving a spell, Teyssier making strange incantations through her flute.
• Smythe digs deep on the bottom end of the keyboard while Lorenzo gets intimate with his side drum, leaning in, keeping the mallet close to the skin.
• Woodwind and brass get squirrelly, Smythe building something in the background, until Sorey pulls him to the fore.
• Things quiet down and break apart, Lippel getting downright nasty.
• Then we’re back in the ghost space again, Lippel, Smythe and Teyssier leading the way. Heller joins with percussive pops from her bassoon. 
• Lippell is now using his slide and things get quiet until…an OUTBURST - and then “Goodnight, thanks!” And it’s over. 

Sorey steps down and walks off, followed by the musicians. Spectacular! Everyone should see this engaging, entertaining piece at least once. Even some of the children (those brave parents!) were captivated.

Alarm Will Sound - Tyshawn Sorey: For George Lewis | Autoschediasms Rather than being antithetical to the spontaneous nature of the piece, having recordings of Autoschediasms is actually a delight. At bottom, they confirm the impression that in the end, Sorey's methods are resulting in music - and excellent music, at that - spiky and alluring in equal measure. His collaboration with Alarm Will Sound is as deep as that with the International Contemporary Ensemble. So much so, that you would never know that one of these performances was recorded on Zoom during lockdown. I watched it happen in real time and it's a stunning tribute to the flexible strength of both his conception and the musicians involved. While I somewhat miss the edge-of-the-seat engagement with each musician's reactions to Sorey's directions, that's only because I've seen it happen. However, the two Autoschediasms here are almost bonus tracks to accompany the immaculate world-premiere recording of For George Lewis, a nearly hour-long homage to a towering figure in contemporary composition and one of Sorey's mentors. 

This magnificent piece is the kind of music that compels you to breathe along with it, deep, lingering breaths to entrain with the succession of extended tones and chords from the ensemble. Some of the gravitas of later Messiaen is here, along with Morricone at his most pensive, but the totality of the work is all Sorey. The way the woodwinds and brass link up and then separate, the extraordinary use of the piano's low end, and the immense subtlety of the percussion are just some of the very distinctive touches here. Another is the way he builds drama within a very narrow dynamic range, which is essentially unchanged throughout the piece, toying with your expectations and keeping you riveted throughout. And then, just as the conclusion is drawing near, an ever-so-gentle reference to jazz, with mournful, soaring trumpet, is seamlessly evoked. There is much to discover in this monumental work and I'm grateful for the journey.

Michael Compitello - Unsnared Drum My first listen through this album for solo snare drum went through a few stages. I started skeptically, unsure that it was even a good idea. Then as it launched on the wings of Nina C. Young's remarkably textured, electronically enhanced Heart.Throb (2019), it turned into a high-wire act. Could Compitello really keep up this level of interest on pieces by Hannah Lash, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Tonia Ko? After the resonance and mystery of Young's piece faded, Lash's Start (2018) arrested with its brittle bursts, causing my admiration for her to rise, not to mention my astonishment at Compitello's brilliant technique. Ghost In The Machine (2019), Kirsten's entry, leans into the clanky funk of the drum's possibilities, even calling Michael Blair's work for Tom Waits to mind. Finally, we get Negative Magic (2019) by Ko, which starts as an exploration of the instrument's authority and evolves into an expression of its flexibility. Besides causing a paradigm shift in my view of the snare drum, Compitello's album is just a damned good listen. It's a handsome package, too, in case you still do the whole physical media thing.

Molly Herron + Science Ficta - Through Lines What causes an instrument to fade from view? Presumably, it's because new techniques and technologies make successor instruments "better" at the same job: more expressive, perhaps, while also sometimes being louder and easier to play and maintain. Whatever the reasoning, this album of music for viola da gamba will have you reconsidering that whole notion. Now, a quick read through the Wikipedia entry for this relative of the guitar and ancestor of the cello tells me that it fell out of fashion in the mid-18th century and has had periodic revivals of interest in the late 20th century and early 21st century, mostly around music of the baroque and renaissance era. But Herron is one of the few to simply use the instrument as a basis for new music without any reference to the past, and what a wonderful gift she has given us by doing so. 

Herron is also lucky to have Science Ficta, a viol da gamba trio made up of Loren Ludwig, Zoe Weiss, and Kivie Cahn-Lipman, as her collaborators, as they navigate the music and instruments with aplomb. Now, if you heard Through Lines without knowing what they were playing, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a cello trio, but there is a taut, almost metallic dryness to these sounds that is full of character. The music itself is quietly introspective and songful and occasionally radiates a woody hint of a Nick Drake solo guitar piece. Herron also seems to have a post-modern bent, as in Trill, which takes a Baroque ornament and makes a whole piece out of it. Just one remarkable invention on an album full of them!

Van Stiefel - Spirits Electric guitar wiz Stiefel throws a lot of names into his liner notes for this album of multilayered guitar pieces - Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell - but I would have to add Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno into the mix, thinking of some of the "country and western" tracks on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, or some of Lanois' pedal steel explorations. This often very chill but dimensional album also slots neatly with recent releases from Corntuth and Jeffrey Silverstein, making me think one of the spirits evoked here is the zeitgeist. But no matter; these intricate pieces, weaving electric guitar, lap steel, piano, and electronics in seamless fashion, can stand fully on their own and will enrich your universe.

Ning Yu & David Bird - Iron Orchid Yu's debut, 2020's Of Being was mightily impressive, but this album, a collaboration with composer David Bird, is a whole other animal. Bird, who first caught my ear on andPlay's wondrous Playlist, is obviously a deep thinker about sound, refusing to accept any limitations on what an instrument can do, in this case the piano, which is pushed to its limits as an object of wood and metal and plastic. Surrounding the sometimes startlingly heavy sonics generated by Yu are not only electronics but recordings collected from the Echo Chamber, an 11-foot tall sculpture created by Bird and Yu with Mark Reigelman that contains a speaker in each of its 56 metal tubes. That's all fascinating to know, but the overall experience of the album is of inventive, mind-expanding electroacoustic soundscapes, some spiky and herky-jerk, like a malfunctioning Terminator taking baby steps, others, like the staggering album-opener Garden, nearly overwhelming oceans of wall-shaking sound. I'm no audio elitist, but that latter quality is only fully realized on my good, old-fashioned component stereo. If there's one nearby, you owe it to yourself - and the dedicated team who made this extraordinary album - to play it there and at high volume.

You may also enjoy:

Record Roundup: New Music Cavalcade

Record Roundup: Electro-Humanism

Record Roundup: Avant Chamber and Orchestral

Best Of 2020: Classical

Since much of the "classical" music I listen to is by living composers and performed by non-profit ensembles made up of young musicians, the shutdown of live music has hit them particularly hard. So, if you hear something you like below, consider purchasing it from Bandcamp or another service. If you prefer not to acquire music, even as a download, make a donation where it will help. 

First up are links to my posts covering 50+ albums(!) in this sphere, followed by short takes on many other fantastic releases that astonished with their creativity, commitment, and impact.

Listen to excerpts from most of these in this playlist or below.

Of Note In 2020: Classical
Ekmeles - A Howl, That Was Also A Prayer
Y Music - Ecstatic Science
Quarterly - Pomegranate 
Barbora Kolářová - Imp In Impulse
Richard Valitutto - Nocturnes & Lullabies
Cenk Urgün - Sonare & Celare
The String Orchestra Of Brooklyn - Afterimage
Clarice Jensen - The Experience Of Repetition As Death
Luis Ianes - Instrucciones De Uso

Record Roundup: Unclassifiable
Wet Ink Ensemble - Glossolalia
Jobina Tinnemans - Five Thoughts On Everything
Amanda Gookin - Forward Music 1.0
Ning Yu - Of Being
Andy Kozar - A Few Kites 
Dai Fujikura - Turtle Totem
Collage Project - Off Brand
Matteo Liberatore - Gran Sasso
Sreym Hctim - Turn Tail

Record Roundup: Vox Humana
Roomful Of Teeth - Michael Harrison: Just Constellations
Roomful Of Teeth - Wally Gunn: The Ascendant
Lorelei Ensemble - David Lang: Love Fail (Version for Women's Chorus) 
Quince Ensemble - David Lang: Love Fail
Michael Hersch - I hope we get a chance to visit soon
Sarah Kirkland Snider - Mass For The Endangered
Miyamoto Is Black Enough - Burn / Build
Missy Mazzoli - Proving Up
Du Yun - A Cockroach's Tarantella

Record Roundup: Songs And Singers
Christopher Trapani - Waterlines

Record Roundup: Fall Classics, Vol. 1
Michi Wiancko - Planetary Candidate
Clara Iannotta: Earthing  - JACK Quartet
Gyða Valtýsdóttir - Epicycle II
Tomás Gueglio - Duermevela
Kaufman Music Center - Transformation

Record Roundup: Fall Classics, Vol. 2
Grossman Ensemble - Fountain Of Time
Páll Ragnar Pálsson - Atonement
Sarah Frisof and Daniel Pesca - Beauty Crying Forth: Flute Music By Women Across Time
Bára Gísladóttir - Hīber
Patchwork
Hildegard Competition Winners Vol. 1

Record Roundup: Fall Classics, Vol. 3
Christopher Cerrone - Liminal Highway
Christopher Cerrone - Goldbeater's Skin
Stara: The Music of Halldór Smárason
Third Sound - Heard In Havana
Jacob Cooper - Terrain

Record Roundup: New Music Cavalcade
Ash Fure - Something To Hunt
Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Rhízōma 
Jacqueline Leclair - Music For English Horn Alone
Dominique Lemaître - De l’espace trouver la fin et le milieu
Brooklyn Rider - Healing Modes
Nicolas Cords - Touch Harmonious
Johnny Gandelsman - J.S. Bach: Complete Cello Suites
Chris P. Thompson - True Stories & Rational Numbers

Record Roundup: Catching Up (Sort Of)
Wang Lu - An Atlas Of Time
Sarah Hennies - Spectral Malsconcities
Tristan Perich - Drift Multiply

John Luther Adams - Become River and Lines Made By Walking Become River, the first of The Become Trilogy to be composed, now receives the same gorgeous treatment from Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony as Become Ocean and Become Desert. While quite a bit shorter than either of those, it is no less satisfying an opportunity to contemplate the wonders of our natural world and Adams' gifts as a composer. Lines Made By Walking is also Adams' String Quartet No. 5, and is just as lush, elegiac, and architecturally sure as it seemed when I saw the New York premiere performed by the JACK Quartet, who play it here. The album also includes Untouched, another three-movement piece for string quartet, but one in which there are no stopped notes, only the sound of natural strings and harmonics, and a wonderful immersion in the drone and sparkle of these instruments. 

Kirsten Volness - River Rising On these six pieces for electronics and mostly solo instruments, Volness displays both a piquant melodic sense and an adventurous command of texture. Whether inventively dissecting ragtime in the nearly club-ready dance rhythms of Nocturne or spiraling into the ether on the yearning title track, brilliantly played by violinist Lilit Hartunian, there's plenty of variety and no shortage of personality on this wonderful album. It will stay with you - as will the trippy visuals for the "Psaltriparus minimus mix" of Nocturne, one of the best videos of the year!

Patrick Higgins - Tocsin I was not previously familiar with Higgins, who also works in the realms of math rock and electronic music, so I probably got to this through Mivos Quartet or Wet Ink Ensemble, both of whom perform on this assured and explosive collection of chamber music. SQ3, performed with frightening ease by Mivos, makes the most of the instrumental possibilities while also carrying you through a four-movement narrative. In Wet Ink's hands, EMPTYSET [0,0] is a fascinating little engine of interconnected sounds.  We also get the title piece, an alternately busy and spectral trio for piano and two cellos, played with swagger by Vicky Chow, Mariel Roberts, and Brian Snow. There's also a sweet arrangement of Bach's unfinished Contrapunctus XIV, mere icing on a dense cake baked with intensity by an emerging master.

Pierluigi Billone - Mani. Giacometti and 2 Alberi Here we have two epic pieces by Billone, the first for violin, viola, and cello and the second for alto sax and percussion. Each is played with pure commitment by Distractfold and scapegoat respectively, two ensembles new to me, and with such expertise that the performance melts away into a pure experience of sound. That same sense of "ritual moment" I felt in 2015 at a Talea Ensemble concert of Billone's works is present on this album as well. Turn your first listen into an event - I guarantee it will be memorable.

Christopher Luna-Mega - Aural Shores Here's another name new to me, but with the involvement of JACK Quartet, Splinter Reeds, Arditti Quartet, and New Thread Quartet, I suspected it would be worth a listen. I was not wrong. Luna-Mega uses field recordings and a deep engagement with natural sounds as leaping-off points into musical innovation and delight. Perhaps most astonishing of all is Geysir, with pianist Seung-Hye Kim in a bizarrely consonant conversation with the titular water feature. In short, burbles and bubbles combining with knotty piano gestures for a truly startling masterpiece. But I love the whole album, which was nearly a decade in the making. Hopefully we don't have to wait that long for more.

Dana Jessen - Winter Chapel The evocative title will not lead you astray as Splinter Reeds co-founder and bassoonist Jessen takes you on a winding pathway of resonant noises in these six improvisations. From bird-calls to sinuous melodic lines, all of which she explores with mastery, nothing about her instrument is alien to Jessen. After a few plays, you will feel the same way.

Jen Curtis and Tyshawn Sorey - Invisible Ritual Shortly into this series of duos between Curtis (violinist with the International Contemporary Ensemble) and Sorey (composer, multi-instrumentalist, here playing drums or piano), I completely forgot they were improvised, so structurally satisfying is each piece. That sense of being in good hands as a listener is there in both the high-wire moments and the contemplative sections, with the latter being some of my favorite moments on this dazzling collection. Everything from Neue Wiener Schule knottiness to jazz fusion thrills to post-rock quietude and more are reference points and connecting the dots is pure delight.

Julia Den Boer - Lineage Of the four Canadian composers represented on this sparkling and contemplative collection of piano music, only Reiko Yamada was known to me. But I quickly fell for the world Den Boer creates from the first notes of 371 Chorales (2016), a short piece by Chris Paul Harman. Tombeau (1996) by Brian Cherney did not break the spell, weaving a tale across its seven movements, and neither did the searching interior monologue of Matthew Ricketts' Melodia (2017). Yamada's Cloud Sketches (2010) closes the album, a very 21st century update on impressionism with a little touch of Schumann. Gorgeous stuff and Lineage has been go-to "morning album" since I first heard it.

Thomas Kotcheff - Frederic Rzewski: Songs Of Insurrection Could there have been a better year to release the world-premiere recording of this 2016 piece? Well, maybe any of the last four, but I'm happy to have it now. Rzewski's applies his pointed and inventive variations to a global lineup of resistance songs, ranging from Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around, that anthem of the Civil Rights movement, to Oh Bird, Oh Bird, Oh Roller, from a 19th-century Korean peasant uprising. Along with Rzewski's tart compositional approach, Kotcheff's stylish playing, including some fearless improv, ties all of these varied works together and reveals a piano work for the ages. And even if you wouldn't sing along to any of these at a protest, as Ted Hearne suggests in the wise essay included in the smartly assembled booklet, we can always "think of the concert hall as the setting, and perhaps the subject, of the protest itself." 

The Crossing - Michael Gordon: Anonymous Man, James Primrosch: Carthage, and Rising w/ The Crossing The variety of works pursued by this choir, whether in the moods they set, or the concerns they address, is as dazzling as their technical skills. Under the direction of Donald Nally, they never cease to amaze in their total immersion within the sound world of any composer with whom they choose to work. The Gordon piece, for 24 unaccompanied voices, gives a biography of the NYC block where he lives, from meeting his wife to finding commonality with the homeless, all served up in melodies and harmonies both plangent and haunting. Carthage, which was nominated for a Grammy, finds Primrosch engaging with texts that explore the nature of our purpose on earth, whether by Meister Eckhart, 13th-century monk, or contemporary novelist Marilynne Robinson. As you might imagine, this inspires an melodic architecture and harmonic counterpoint not too distant from ancient chants, yet there's still a freshness and originality here. The last release of the three contains all of The Crossing's virtues in one extremely enjoyable package - uplifting, even, as the marketing promises. David Lang's Protect Yourself From Infection, composed for the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu epidemic, is obviously on point, and we also get Ted Hearne's What It Might Say, a soulful piece based on Winnicott's theories of communication between infant and mother. The whole thing, including two stunning Buxtehude cantata movements, is sequenced for maximum enjoyment. If you're looking for choral music, just set up a Google alert for The Crossing and take whatever they give you!

Silkroad Ensemble - Osvaldo Golijov: Falling Out Of Time Almost anything I could write in this format about this extraordinary piece would feel inadequate. A shattering 80-minute "tone poem with voices" based on David Grossman's book of the same name about child loss, there are moments of beauty, moments of pain, and a baffling variety of sonic texture and detail, from the high-pitched pipa to modular synthesizer. I admit to being a Silkroad skeptic, such is the facility with which they please PBS fundraising audiences, but I take it all back. This recording falls into the realm of a public service and the deep collaboration with Golijov, a major composer who has been MIA for too long, has resulted in a rendering of a new masterwork that is hard to imagine being equalled. As someone whose child died, I am filled with gratitude to all involved. Whatever grief or bereavement you have experienced, this work will touch you in ways art rarely does. Do not hesitate.

Counter)induction - Against Method With players like Miranda Cuckson (violin), Benjamin Fingland (clarinet), Dan Lippel (guitar), Jessica Meyer (viola), Caleb van der Swaagh (cello), and Ning Yu (piano), there is no hype in calling this ensemble a supergroup. In celebrating their 20th anniversary, they've assembled a collection that plays to all of their strengths - from an interest in instrumental interaction, as in The Hunt By Night (2020), the charming Douglas Boyce trio that opens the album, to cutting-edge practices, as in Meyer's own Forgiveness (2016) for bass clarinet and loop pedal, a deceptively quiet exploration into uncomfortable emotions. The performances are all excellent, the sound is warm yet crisp, and the whole album satisfies far beyond its commemorative purpose. Here's to another 20 years!

Scott Lee - Through The Mangrove Tunnels Somehow conjuring everything from noirish swagger to chamber jazz with a string quartet, piano, and percussion, Lee has crafted an album-length piece that is a cinematic blast from start to finish. Having it played by the ever-amazing JACK Quartet with Steven Beck (of my beloved Talea Ensemble) and Russel Harty (a drummer equally comfortable in classical and jazz) doesn't hurt in the least. Based on the history of Florida's Weedon Island (an axe murder! a failed movie studio!), I only hope that when the inevitable Netflix docu-series is made, they're smart enough to use this delightful and highly original music.

Happy Place - Tarnish Somewhere at the intersection of jazz, art rock, and contemporary chamber music, drummer/composer Will Mason has cooked up a thrill ride, aided and abetted by such luminaries as Kate Gentile (drums), Elaine Lachica and Charlotte Mundy (vocals), Andrew Smiley and Dan Lippel (guitars). You will be deliciously off-kilter throughout this brittle and brilliant album.

Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti - Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Sola This spare, haunting piece for viola and electronics is the first salvo in a new commissioning project from Lanzilotti, whose In Manus Tuas was a highlight of 2019. It's a accompanied by a long interview with the composer, which is full of insights but not something you'll want to hear each time you listen to the piece - which is likely to be often as it is very beautiful and gorgeously played.

Want more? Dive deeper into this realm in my Of Note In 2020: Classical (Archive) playlist and make sure to follow this year's to keep track of what is to come!

You may also enjoy:
Best Of 2019: Classical
Best Of 2018: Classical
Best Of 17: Classical
Best Of 16: Classical
Best Of 15: Classical & Composed
Best Of The Rest Of 14: Classical & Composed

2019 First Quarter Report: Concerts

An unpredictable schedule this year meant that every concert I've seen except one has been in the realm of contemporary classical music. But within that, much variety - read on!

No Filler At The Miller I was speaking with Melissa Smey, Executive Director of the Miller Theatre, and she was relating the challenge they're going to have capping off their 30th anniversary next season. A challenge because their programming has been so strong in 2018-19 that it's hard to know how they can top it in 2019-20! From the Du Yun Composer Portrait I saw last November to the three shows I've been to so far this year, they are hitting all the marks - and there's still more to come.

On February 21st, I took in the Wang Lu Composer Portrait, giving me another opportunity to hear Urban Inventory, last performed in New York back in 2016 by Third Sound, who also recorded it on Wang Lu's stunning 2018 debut album. Here, the International Contemporary Ensemble worked their magic on the piece, also playing the witty Childhood Amnesia (2017) and Siren Song (2008), which found Stravinsky barreling into a Chinese opera house and causing quite a commotion. There was also A-PPA-Aratus, a world premiere played by Yarn/Wire and a stunning addition to their repertoire for two pianists and two percussionists. I hope they record this spectacular 21st century poéme mecanique very soon.

Yarn/Wire performing A-PPA-Aratus
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre

A week later I was back to see Third Sound themselves, making their Miller debut at one of the theatre's innovative Pop-Up concerts. These are the free shows where the audience sits on the stage and enjoys free beer along with the music. They also usually last just about an hour, so Third Sound, founded in 2015 by composer Patrick Castillo with violinist Karen Kim, cellist Michael Nicolas, pianist Orion Weiss, flautist Sooyun Kim and clarinetist Romie de Langlois, programmed a set that had enough variety to show what they can do while also keeping it concise.

Ingrid Arauco’s Fantasy Quartet was a perfect opener - sparkling, astringent and colorful, it gave many opportunities for the musicians to shine. Next was Music For Four composed by the group’s founder, Patrick Castillo, and inspired by watching his young son at play. It was a piece infused with warmth and joy, making equally canny use of repetition and surprise. Finally, in keeping with their mission to embrace to whole sweep of chamber music, they stormed through Webern’s imaginative reduction of Schoenberg’s Kammersymphonie, Op. 9. All of the work’s angst and artfulness was brilliantly exposed by their passionate playing, earning them an enthusiastic ovation. I think they'll be asked back.

My last visit to the Miller was just this past Thursday, when they presented a Composer Portrait of Tyshawn Sorey to a buzzing and packed house. The excitement was more than justified by what followed as were treated to an embarrassment of riches in two sets of music presented seamlessly, without applause or space between works. This was similar to the first half of the Du Yun concert and if anyone else is putting on shows like this I’d love to know about it. Special note should be made of Isabella Byrd's lighting, which helped immeasurable with all the transitions and lent a sense of atmosphere and occasion.

One theme of the night was how to pay homage to your mentors while speaking in your own voice. The first piece, In Memoriam Muhal Richard Abrams (2018), paid tribute to the founder of the AACM with a meditation for violin (Jennifer Curtis) and celesta (Cory Smythe). It was a gorgeous combination of sonorities that both quieted and engaged the mind. Sorey’s lyrical gifts were much in evidence as they would be later in the night. The next piece, Ornations (2014) provided a welcome and witty shock to the system as flautist Clair Chase faced off with clarinetist Joshua Rubin. The word “puckish” may be overused when it comes to Chase, but as she danced opposite Rubin, who was anchored in place by his contrabass clarinet, it was impossible not to think of Shakespeare’s sprite. The music matched the mood resulting in tremendous fun that was not without an edge of aggression. The JACK Quartet closed the first half with the NY premiere of Everything Changes, Nothing Changes, a work requiring tremendous concentration as they passed around sustained notes creating an unbroken canvas of sound. I look forward to hearing it again so I can just let it happen without wondering what would happen next. 

Claire Chase faces off with Joshua Rubin in Ornations
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theater

After a brief intermission, Sorey and Chase sat down for an illuminating discussion that amplified some of the material in Lara Pellegrinelli’s superb program notes, chiefly the distinction between hybridity and mobility. Sorey sees the former as a tired trope about "jazz" musicians writing "classical music," "crossing over," etc. Instead of a hybrid composer, he sees himself as a mobile one, able to do what he wants with whatever instrumentation he wants in whatever setting he chooses. Amen. They also reminisced about their first meeting, about a decade ago, a tribute to the tight relationship between composer and musicians of the International Contemporary Ensemble. That connection would come in handy in the world premiere presented in the second half of the concert, but first we heard For Harold Budd (2012), a gleaming trio for piano, flute and vibraphone that had Smythe and Chase working with percussionist Levy Lorenzo. It really was beautiful, with some of Budd's painterly qualities, but the brushstrokes were all Sorey's. 

Autoschediasms (2019), a Miller Theatre commission followed. It was scored for "Creative Chamber Orchestra," an ensemble seemingly entirely flexible as the program listed seven musicians to which was then added one more - plus the four members of the JACK. This piece builds on an idea from Butch Morris about "conducted improvisations" that had Sorey leading the group with a series of very specific hand gestures as well as instructions written on a small whiteboard. The players were well-drilled, moving from section to section without hesitating, and the sounds were consistently engaging. My western brain was seeking crescendos, the kind of tension and release we're so conditioned for, but what I heard was more of a continuous tapestry. The effect was a little like listening to a radical remix of a song you never heard before and I'm curious how different it will sound the next time it's performed.

Tyshawn Sorey (right) conducts ICE in Autoschediasms
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre

As Autoschediasms was fading out, Chase came to the front of the stage with her flute and Sorey stepped off the podium and sat down at a conventional drum kit so they could play Bertha's Lair (2016), a piece that's become a bit of a signature for the duo. Here came the release, the crescendos and so much more as I was witness to some of the greatest drumming I've ever heard, in the same class as Art Blakey, Tony Williams and Leon Parker. But Sorey went further, nearly into a kind of performance art, as he removed a ride cymbal, put it on the floor tom for some intriguing effects - and then stacked it on the other ride cymbal and kept going from there. This was all while Chase was making an action painting in platinum, playing a piccolo flute and an enormous contrabass flute in addition to her standard concert model. It was the perfect ending to a night that earned Sorey and his collaborators a standing ovation and had the audience buzzing once again.

Tales Of Talea Even if I wasn't a board member, I would try to get to as many shows by the estimable Talea Ensemble as possible. This season they have not only been presenting wonderful music, but have made big strides in opening up important conversations about the role of music in our lives, how music works, and what it means to be part of the "new music" community. Much of those discussions happen at their iNSIDE Out series at The Flea Theater, and the one I attended on February 24th was a perfect example. Called Side By Side, the afternoon began with music for duos, kicked off by Vasko Dukovski (clarinet) and Chris Gross (cello) playing Iannis Xenakis' thorny Charisma (1971), which portrayed the instruments as isolated individuals pursuing their own paths. Catherine Lamb's In Passing / PARALLEL (2008), played by the violins of Emilie-Anne Gendron and Anna Kridler, was more of a joint effort - and a bit of an endurance test - as they passed long lines in a continuous tone that somehow created tension. Hearing them follow it up with some choice Bach, with its dance rhythms and folk melodies, threw everything we had already heard into stark relief. 

Performers & Panel at The Flea Theater

After a brief intermission, we reconvened for a very engaging panel discussion featuring Gross, Marcos Balter, Lauren Ishida, Eun Lee and Victoria Chea - and the audience. As these things are wont to do, perhaps more questions were raised than were answered, but we all left with a lot to think about, including my own musings about how Talea’s identity as a premiere presenter of European avant-garde composers meshed with the need for inclusivity on both sides of the concert stage. 

The next time I caught up with Talea, they were kicking off a residency at The Stone, John Zorn's performance space at The New School. There, we were also treated to more spare sounds, mostly solo works played by Adrian Morejon (bassoon) and Marianne Gythfeldt (clarinet). A link to the Flea concert was a piece by Eun Lee, a brief and action-packed world premiere called Yun (2018) for solo bassoon and played with real flair by Morejon. He also gave first performances of Edward Jacobs' Concentre (2014), filled with a sense of spontaneity, and Triplum (2014) by Filippo Santoro. The last was a trio, with two prerecorded bassoons played off an iPhone, which kept Morejon on his toes in a rhythmic, angular and witty piece. 

Gythfeldt also thrilled in Mikel Kuehn's signature piece Rite of Passage (2014), which had every last sound made by her bass clarinet picked up and manipulated and played back along with her live instrument - fantastic! She also gave a flawless performance of George Aperghis's Simulacre (1991-95) and then joined Morejon for the bouncy groove of Black (2018) by Mark Mellits. If you’re starting to feel FOMO - and you should be - I will point you to Gythfeldt’s marvelous 2018 collection, Only Human, which includes the Kuehn and other intriguing music. 

You can also trigger my own fear of missing out by attending Talea’s Tenth Anniversary celebration on April 20th. I can’t go, but it promises to be a memorable night revisiting many pieces from Talea's past and also presenting the world premiere of Hans Thomalla's Harmoniemusik 1 (2019) and the U.S. premiere of Framing... (2018) by Georg Friedrich Haas.

Switched On At Areté If any world is a small world, it’s the world of contemporary classical. So I was invited to this New York appearance by Boston’s [Switch~ Ensemble] by Zach Sheets, who used to work with Talea as our development and communications person. Something was in the air on February 28th as I had the choice of about eight concerts, but I decided on this one because it brought me to a venue I’ve never entered to hear pieces by unfamiliar composers. Risk, as Captain Kirk told Bones, is what it’s all about. Areté proved to be a small space arrived at through an arcade in a multi-use building in Williamsburg. The vibe is friendly and scrappy but not disorganized - the concert started right on time as the group launched into the electro-acoustic maelstrom of Adrien Trybucki's Infinite Extension (2017), a world premiere of a piece they commissioned. It was a wonderful introduction to their tight ensemble and excellent taste.

The next piece was Sivan Eldar's sleekly mysterious Tarr (2014), almost a series of notated sighs and whispers - and very beautiful. Third was a surrealistic audio collage by Esaias Järnegard called Songs For Antonin (2017), as in Artaud. It was wacky and gripping in equal measure, with bits of an old radio play mixed in. I don't doubt that Järnegard studied with Pierluigi Billone, as it had some of his absurdist spirit. Switch closed the concert with Timothy McCormack's karst survey, a dark journey indeed, which had T.J. Borden grinding at his cello like a Norwegian black metal guitarist. Overall, the concert showed off Switch to excellent effect - I would keep an eye out for the next time they come to your town.

BOAC Takes Off In PCF I try to never miss the People’s Commissioning Fund concerts by Bang On A Can, where their All-Stars present world and U.S. premieres as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival. There are also usually some classics from their repertoire to fill out the night, which this year included a Glenn Branca work they hadn’t performed for 20 years. The new pieces came first, however, beginning with Henry Threadgill's With Or Without Card, fractured and flamboyant, with a throughline that linked Jimmy Giuffre to Ornette Coleman and gave clarinetist Ken Thomson a lot to chew on. Next was Josué Collado Fregoso's lovely, evanescent Joi de Vivre, which put Mariel Roberts' cello and Robert Black's bass in the foreground. Black also blew some minds in the uncanny notated funk of Trevor Weston's Dig It - it somehow managed to avoid being a "crossover" pastiche. More please. This is where the night's theme of "dance music" truly came into focus, an emphasis that continued in Nicole Lizée's Dancist, a delightfully witty work that was accompanied by her fascinatingly messed up film. I would happily watch - and listen - to it again.

Scenes from the BOAC PCF Concert at Merkin Hall

The highlights of the second half were Annie Gosfield's fabulously imaginative - and furiously complex - The Manufacture Of Tangled Ivory (1993), which pushed pianist Vickie Chow to new heights of synthesizer magnificence, and Branca's Movement Within, a microtonal masterpiece that had Merkin Hall throbbing like the Mudd Club on an average Saturday night in 1980. John Schaefer of New Sounds was on hand to introduce each piece and interview the creators and the discussion with guitarist Mark Stewart and producer Adam Cuthbért about the reclamation of Branca's piece was a gripping tale indeed. Let's just say that recreating Branca's samples, which were stored on Zip Discs, was not a task for the faint of heart. But the All-Stars are a brave bunch and the whooping audience was all too eager to follow them wherever they journeyed. Try to be there in 2020!

Marissa Nadler

Coming Together At MoMA PS1 For the third year in a row, the Museum of Modern Art's Long Island City outpost held an incredible two-day festival called Come Together, created in collaboration with Other Music. Just like the first year, it was filled with a label fair, panel discussions, film screenings and live performances. Of the latter, I was able to see Marissa Nadler, whose 2018 album, For My Crimes, was one of the best folk albums of the year. It was short but intense solo performance, with Nadler creating a web of sound, either fingerpicking on an acoustic or looping a 12-string electric. At the center of it all was her gorgeous voice, which had emotional range enough to cover her dark originals and a cover of Fred Neil's bittersweet Just A Little Bit Of Rain. I was happy to see her earning new fans among the diverse crowd.

Negroclash: Prince Language, Duane Harriott and DJ Lindsey

It was chilly outside when we left the VW Dome, but DJ Duane Harriott was spinning so there was no question about how we were going to warm up. He already had the crowd in a Dionysian frenzy when he was joined by Prince Language and DJ Lindsey for a reunion of their collective Negroclash, which first performed at PS1 almost 20 years ago. Even while dancing, it was impossible not to be stunned at their synchronized routine, with each playing a song (and often manipulating it) before ceding the decks to the next DJ for a sumptuous flow of incredible beats, from disco to funk to electro. It was a high-wire act - and highly musical. They ended the set perfectly, too, with Sylvester's classic (You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real, sending us off happy and exhausted into the Queens evening.

Duane Harriott, man at work

And what live music have you enjoyed in 2019?

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