Volume 24 Issue 4 - December 2018 / January 2019

multiplicity of moods ranging from the melodic to the abstract and
from nearly static drones to emphatically flowing free jazz. No cynosure
composer, Sorey’s elaboration of the material is established by its
interpretation by the ensemble of bassists Mark Helias, Carl Testa and
Zach Rowden; guitarists Todd Neufeld and Joe Morris; trumpeter
Stephen Haynes and trombonist Ben Gerstein plus Sorey. Inchoate or
intense inventions are expanded throughout, as the band divides into
smaller groups, and as multi-instrumentation adds textures from
more brass, percussion, melodica, Tibetan horn and electronics.
Divided into several sequences, Pillars I, for instance, evolves into
ritual-like percussion pumping, encompassing a three-and-a-halfminute
drum roll and overlapping patterns that are intermezzos rather
than solos. Mostly concerned with the timbres available from massed
strings, brass grace notes and flutter tonguing are secondary to the
piece’s flow, with the theme splintering into micro-motions as sledgehammer-like
percussion thumps and bizarrely oscillating electronics
underline it. In sharp contrast, the concluding Pillars III fluctuates
between a minimalist composition and full-out jazz improv, as
assertive brass extensions gradually replace the microtonal string
drone. As timbres vacillate among sonorous brass, low-pitched
percussion power and distant signal-processing, guitar licks come to
the front. Concussive idiophone rolls are unexpectedly succeeded by
guitar strategies that could be straight out of a swing session only to
vanish when trumpet and trombone snarls and shakes suggest hard
bop, with blasting brass and guitarists’ slurred fingering alternating
alongside drum rolls for a free jazz-like position. Eventually the jagged
brass spits and guitar flanges are subsumed by rugged, reductionist
electronics. Finally, a drum roll completes the section, while subtly
linking it to Pillars I’s introduction.
Sorey’s multi-disc sessions demonstrate
another facet of his talent; so does Voices
Fall from the Sky (Centering 1015/1016/1017
aumfidelity.com) for William Parker. Known
as an exceptional bassist and bandleader,
Parker is also a poet and songwriter and
these three CDs, which feature 17 (!) singers
plus ensembles ranging from big bands to
solo, interpret Parker’s writing for vocalists. Putting a lie to those who
say free improvisation is divorced from lyricism and the song form,
the 34 selections are performed in rhymed or free verse and deal in the
main with themes of anti-materialism, universal love and the uplifting
achievements of jazz heroes. The five-part The Blinking of the Ear, for
instance, features mezzo-soprano AnnMarie Sandy interpreting the
Dadaist lyrics a little differently than she would formal recital material.
City of Flowers is an anti-war lament sung by Andrea Wolper with
only bassoon backing, while We Often Danced, Fay Victor’s extended
song-recitation about slavery and the African-American diaspora,
is performed with additional theatrically due to a complementary
trumpet obbligato and spackling string pulses throughout. The most
affecting creations, though, are voiced by free-form specialist-singers
Ellen Christi, Lisa Sokolov and Leena Conquest. Sokolov’s take on
Band in the Sky for example, with its celebration of departed jazz
figures, and backed by sprightly piano lines, manages to be profoundly
dramatic whether she’s declaiming lyrics or speaking in tongues.
Christi’s version of Falling Shadows, backed only by Parker’s sprawling
double bass tones, includes wordless ululations and supple bel canto
warbles. And Conquest’s extended delineation of the life of a civil
rights activist, For Fannie Lou Hamer, is a moving portrait that slips
back and forth from reined-in operatic theatricism to down-to-earth
folksiness, with Parker using string and reed instruments for unique
backing. Besides these serious themes, Conquest also provides some
Nancy Wilson-like posturing on another tune and Ernie Odoom swings
creatively on more rhythmic numbers like The Essence of Ellington.
Mixing serious sentiments and exceptional sounds, Voices Fall
from the Sky emphasizes more aspects of Parker’s considerable
talents, with enough audio space in which to display them. That is the
collective achievement of these multi-disc sets: rather than collecting
a lot of similar music, the expanse demonstrates the pliability of each
leader’s vision.
Old Wine,
New Bottles
Fine Old Recordings Re-Released
BRUCE SURTEES
One of the truly great violinists of the last
century was Henryk Szeryng, an artist who
is usually overlooked in discussions when
today’s pundits gather. Decca has issued
Henryk Szeryng Complete Philips, Mercury
and Deutsche Grammophon Recordings
(DG4834194, 44 CDs, deccaclassics.com).
Szeryng’s life story is fascinating and
unique. He was born on September 22, 1918
in Źelazowa Wola, the birthplace of Chopin
near Warsaw. Through his parents he knew Ignacy Jan Paderewski and
Bronislaw Huberman. When he was five, his mother began teaching
him piano and harmony but at seven he was drawn to the violin,
taking lessons from a former assistant of the great Leopold Auer.
When Huberman heard the nine-year-old play he wanted him to
advance his studies with Willy Hess, Carl Flesch or Jacques Thibaud.
He studied with Hess in Berlin for a time but found him to be oldfashioned
and switched to Thibaud. A significant move, for as Szeryng
stated, “Everything I know violinistically speaking I learned from
him.” Continuing with Thibaud at the Paris Conservatory, he graduated
with a first prize in 1937. He also studied composition with
Nadia Boulanger from 1933 to 1937. He had already made his solo
debut in 1933 playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Warsaw
Philharmonic under George Georgescu. Following the outbreak of
WWII, Szeryng, fluent in seven languages, accepted the post of liaison
and interpreter of the Polish Government in Exile. On a mission to
Mexico in 1941 seeking a home for 4,000 Polish refugees, he was
so moved by the positive reception that he decided to become a
“ This music speaks elegantly of and to the
human spirit, addressing our hopes
and fears, reflecting our joys,
motivating empathy and civility”
– Leonard Enns
Now available to
purchase online at
dacapochamberchoir.ca
or through your favourite
streaming service.
directed by Leonard Enns
From the award-winning
DaCapo Chamber Choir
An
all-Canadian
recording!
thewholenote.com December 2018 / January 2019 | 97