Les accords intuitifs is the fifth CD by Ensemble SuperMusique, a large Montreal-based group that performs compositions that are conceptual explorations. The core group consists of reed-players Jean Derome and Joane Hétu, guitarist Bernard Falaise, and percussionist Danielle Palardy Roger. On its latest recording, it expands to twelve members, in two different complements of musicians,Continue reading “Ensemble SuperMusique. Les accords intuitifs.”
Genre Archives
Juan Camilo Vásquez’ Calíope (canto de las abejas)
YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MATHEMATICAL HYPERSURFACES or guitar architecture to enjoy the dense sparkle, relentless energy, and intelligent swarm behaviour of Juan Camilo Vásquez’ Calíope (canto de las abejas) for guitar and electronics—but it definitely enhances the listening experience if you know a little. The Colombian composer’s 2014 work, winner of Musicworks’Continue reading “Juan Camilo Vásquez’ Calíope (canto de las abejas)”
Linda Catlin Smith. Thought and Desire.
In his “Sonnet 45” William Shakespeare muses on thought and desire as “present-absent” qualities. Both testify to a bond with the loved one, but they speak also of distance. Pianist Eve Egoyan sings the words of this sonnet as she plays Linda Catlin Smith’s composition Thought and Desire. Her voice has an affectingly delicate, woundedContinue reading “Linda Catlin Smith. Thought and Desire.”
Yves Bouliane. Champ (10 Opérations).
Tenzier’s hunt for the lost treasures of Quebec avant-garde music history is as relentless as the music on this album of Yves Bouliane cello solos, originally released in 1977 in an ultra-limited edition of ten cassettes. Aside from a brief stint in Le quatuor de jazz libre du Québec, Bouliane was a founding member ofContinue reading “Yves Bouliane. Champ (10 Opérations).”
The Radical Transcriptions of sfSound
PERHAPS NO OTHER AMERICAN METROPOLIS is more associated with important countercultural movements than the San Francisco Bay Area. From the Beats of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s to the radical punks of the ’70s and ’80s, the “city by the Bay” has long attracted creative visionaries, free thinkers, and fringe seekers. AmidstContinue reading “The Radical Transcriptions of sfSound”
Tony Wilson. A Day’s Life; A Bowl of Sixty Taxidermists.
Tony Wilson is both a versatile and distinctive guitarist. While he’s played across a spectrum of idioms—from jazz-rock fusion to folk and free improvisation—he’s maintained his own voice, a forceful, lyrical style filled with subtle nuances. As a composer, he’s crafted a similarly distinctive style rooted in strong linear focus and textural mutation, developing piecesContinue reading “Tony Wilson. A Day’s Life; A Bowl of Sixty Taxidermists.”
Anna Webber’s Percussive Mechanics. Refraction.
Audaciously extending her conceptual chops, avant-jazz reedist and composer Anna Webber creates a suite, of sorts, with Refraction, bookending the program with a prelude and postlude sonically coordinated but not copied, all seven tracks on the album subtly reflecting motifs that swirl throughout. A British Columbian turned Brooklynite, Webber, who plays tenor saxophone and fluteContinue reading “Anna Webber’s Percussive Mechanics. Refraction.”
Ulrich Krieger / Trio Kobayashi. Winters in the Abyss.
From George Frideric Handel’s Water Music to Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s “Surf’s Up,” water and its properties have long fascinated prominent composers and been reflected in their work. In Winters in the Abyss, German-born, Los Angeles-based Ulrich Krieger has dived deep with his creativity, producing an hour-long portrait of marine layers from just below theContinue reading “Ulrich Krieger / Trio Kobayashi. Winters in the Abyss.”
Anna Pidgorna’s Invented Folk Songs
With its balance of bold colour palettes, strong melodic profiles, and unexpected performative elements, composer Anna Pidgorna’s work has been catching eyes and ears of late. Her chamber opera On the Eve of Ivan Kupalo recieved a 2013 SOCAN Foundation Award, and Light-Play through Curtain Holes, a solo accordion piece, represented Canada at the ISCMContinue reading “Anna Pidgorna’s Invented Folk Songs”
Hard Rubber Orchestra. Crush.
Like bears awakening refreshed after an extended hibernation, the members of Vancouver trumpeter John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra (HRO) have come forth with a rousing CD after a dozen years of silence. Although mostly devoted to Korsrud’s jazz-influenced compositions for the full eighteen-piece ensemble, Crush also includes one extended track, as well as a seriesContinue reading “Hard Rubber Orchestra. Crush.”