Volume 25 Issue 1 - September 2019

luesy solo supported by gentle arpeggios,
before ending in playful, quirky syncopations
and percussive punctuations. Just Keep
Moving, for horn, bass trombone, marimba
and piano, is more modern-sounding, rhythmically
and harmonically complex; true to its
title, though, it just keeps moving.
The concluding four-movement
Chesapeake, for the entire quintet, depicts,
writes Sampson, sailing trips with his friends
down Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay. Sampson’s
enjoyment of these trips is reflected in the
bright, celebratory music, a fine conclusion to
this fine, enjoyable disc.
Michael Schulman
South of the Circle
Siggi String Quartet
Sono Luminus DSL-92232
(sonoluminus.com)
!!
While it should
come as no surprise
that contemporary
Icelandic
music should have
– like music elsewhere
across the
globe – come of
age, the sheer scope
and breadth of its
soundscape is, nevertheless, quite breathtaking.
Riding the crest of a new wave created
by Björk, Atli Heimir Sveinsson and Jóhann
Jóhannsson is the dazzling Siggi String
quartet founded by violinist and composer
Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, whose work Opacity
forms one of the five pillars of the quartet’s
2019 recording South of the Circle.
This follow-up to Philip Glass: Piano
Works, the 2017 recording that the quartet
shared with celebrated pianist and
countryman Vikingur Ólafsson, is both
sparkling and deeply reflective. The quartet’s
interpretation of Sveinbjarnardóttir’s composition
and those of three other Icelanders is
marked by the poignancy of their playing. The
music becomes part of a natural landscape
that mixes beauty and danger. Whether evocative
of freezing nights or long rainy days,
each track takes us to a place – often wildly
exhilarating – with trusted and inspiring
musical friends.
Such warmth comes at no expense to either
classical elegance or avant-garde subversion.
Throughout the quartet creates a compelling
sound-bed for four voices of contrasting
character. Although best expressed in the
long inventions of the solos contained in
Opacity, the virtuoso playing of the quartet
is also expressed in their sculpting of the
music of Daníel Bjarnason’s Stillshot,
Valgeir Siguròsson’s Nebraska, Mamikó Dis
Ragnarsdóttir’s Fair Flowers and Haukur
Tómasson’s Serimonia.
Raul da Gama
Harry Partch – Sonata Dementia
PARTCH
Bridge Records BRIDGE 9525
(bridgerecords.com)
!!
Harry Partch
(1901-1974) was
a paradigmatic
California outsider
composer, embracing
the pitches and
rhythms of world
music – Ancient
Greece, Japan and
Africa – and substituting
a 43-tone scale in just intonation for
the equal temperament of Western tradition.
A romantic figure who constructed
microtonal guitars as a depression-era hobo,
he gained a significant audience when
Columbia Records recorded him in the 1960s.
His home-made instruments emphasized
bending string tones and hyper resonant
percussion, some made from the refuse of
radiation experiments.
The ensemble PARTCH is as true to the
letter and spirit of Partch’s music as his
own groups, and John Schneider’s intoned
vocals even sound like Partch. The group
has been recording landmarks and unheard
works alike and supplementing them with
Partch’s own archival recordings. The opening
Ulysses at the Edge of the World immediately
suggests the breadth of Partch’s inspirations:
originally composed for jazz trumpeter
Chet Baker, it combines bass marimba,
tuned bamboo drums, trumpet and baritone
saxophone, and ends with a joke about
wanderers (i.e., Ulysses, Baker, Partch)
being arrested. Twelve Intrusions (1950) is a
song cycle, alive with intoned vocals, elastic
pitches, and a concluding chant transcribed
from a recording of the New Mexico Isleta
tribe. Windsong is a collage-like film score,
while Sonata Dementia includes a Scherzo
Schizophrenia, indicative of Partch’s multidirectional
wit.
The CD concludes with Partch’s own 1942
recording of Barstow, the brilliant setting of
hobo inscriptions here faster (and funnier)
than the later Columbia recording.
Stuart Broomer
JAZZ AND IMPROVISED
So Here We Are
Alison Young
Triplet TR10023 (alisonyoungmusic.com)
!!
Stellar, JUNOnominated
saxophonist
Alison
Young has released
her diverse, longawaited
debut
album. Those
who have had
the pleasure of
seeing Young play live know what to expect
from this record and it definitely lives up
to and exceeds all expectations. There is no
shortage of great musicianship on the album,
featuring well-known musicians such as Eric
St-Laurent on guitar, Jeff McLeod on piano
and organ, Ross MacIntyre on bass, Chris
Wallace on drums and Guido Basso on flugelhorn.
Pieces do a great job of showcasing
the talents of all musicians and are mostly
written by Young herself, with the exception
of three tracks.
Diversity is found throughout every piece
in this album. There are contrasts between
elegant and energetic, driven melodies, as
well as various inspirations ranging from
“hard bop to soul to New Orleans-style funk.”
Cedar Roots starts the record off with a righteous
bang and is a strong example of the drive
that drummers Chris Wallace and Sly Juhas
bring to each track. Afterparty delves into a
New Orleans-esque flavour with Young’s soul
and funk inspirations showing through, as
well as a delicious hint of traditional rock ‘n’
roll added to the mix. Celia & Harry and title
track, So Here We Are, display another side
of the saxophonist’s playing, leaning towards
elegance, grace and a hark back to a more
traditional jazz sound. Young’s album is a
thoroughly enjoyable musical journey for all
jazz lovers.
Kati Kiilaspea
Curtis Nowosad
Curtis Nowosad
Sessionheads United SU007
(curtisnowosad.com)
! ! Curtis Nowosad
is a drummer and
composer who was
born and raised in
Winnipeg but has
lived in New York
City since 2013 after
moving there to
complete a master’s
degree at the Manhattan School of Music. This
is Nowosad’s third album, the first recorded in
New York, and contains five original compositions
and three covers. The musicianship
is impeccable with crisp horns, a tight and
driving rhythm section, and arrangements
reminiscent of Birth of the Cool. Highlights
include Braxton Cook’s several wily alto saxophone
solos and Andrew Renfroe’s guitar
work on Hard Time Killing Floor Blues which
is soulful, bluesy and rhythmically varied.
Nowosad’s drumming is complex yet understated,
always interesting but never in the way
of the other player’s groove. Brianna Thomas’
assured vocals on two songs add extra nuance
to the project.
This album can stand alone as an excellent
example of intelligent, driving jazz but there
are compelling social and historical themes
woven through the original compositions and
cover choices. The opening Home is Where
the Hatred Is comes from Gil Scott-Heron’s
thewholenote.com September 2019 | 69