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C. CROTHERS – D.<br />
ARNER<br />
SPONTANEOUS SUITES<br />
FOR TWO PIANOS<br />
ROUGUE ART 0037<br />
SUITE I: AVIAN HOMAGE/ SUITE<br />
II: A MUSICIAN’S STORY/ SUITE<br />
III: THE METROPOLIS/ SUITE IV:<br />
CYCLE/ SUITE V: DANCES/<br />
SUITE VI: REFLECTIONS/<br />
SUITE VII: ARCANA/ SUITE VIII:<br />
APPARITIONS/<br />
INTERLUDE/ SUITE IX: THREE<br />
WORLDS/ CODA<br />
220:34<br />
Connie Crothers, p; David Arner,<br />
p.<br />
May 11 2009, Richard B. Fisher<br />
Center for the Performing Arts,<br />
Bard College, Annandale-on-<br />
Hudson, NY, USA.<br />
New Issues<br />
178 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013<br />
exciting or new to any of the songs. The supporting<br />
quintet is a contingent of his friends "with whom I often<br />
worked during my 13 years in Los Angeles." They're<br />
fine, very professional. The CD has, at least, that much<br />
going for it.<br />
Alan Bargebuhr<br />
Absolute spontaneous improvisation isn’t found<br />
often in a concert hall. Even rarer is when two<br />
exceptional pianists perform it well. Pianists Crothers<br />
and Arner perform every piece on this nearly 4-hour<br />
boxed set without a single preconceived notion going<br />
into the recording process. It is difficult to cite influences<br />
in these kinds of musical settings, but the music<br />
has hints of Alban Berg, Cecil Taylor, Anton Webern,<br />
and the blues. The music is varied but the melodic<br />
material is generally disjunct in nature. The harmonic<br />
elements range from static and droning to complex<br />
and fast-paced. On the whole, the music is generally<br />
atonal and rife with tone clusters, but a soaring melody<br />
will occasionally break through. “Suite I” is exceptional<br />
in its motivic development. There are some fascinating<br />
fourth-based quartal harmonies and a clever allusion<br />
to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” appears at 2:38 on the<br />
second track. “Suite V” stirs up a multitude of intertwining<br />
lines that create a wave of quilted piano sound. The<br />
overall effect is most prominent, but the subtle technique<br />
and sensitive touch of both musicians is notable,<br />
especially on “Suite VI.” One of the longest sections,<br />
“Coda,” is more playful and light than the rest of the<br />
suites and gives this expansive set of improvisations a<br />
delightful ending.<br />
Dustin Mallory
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