Experimenting with polyrhythms and pitch, tenor saxophonist and flutist Anna Webber composed Shimmer Wince to explore just intonation. B.C.-born Webber, now the co-chair of New England Conservatory’s Jazz Studies, was canny enough to shape her arrangements to a group of younger improvisers, including trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, synthesizer player Elias Stemeseder, cellist Mariel Roberts, and drummer Lesley Mok. Despite the academic implications of mixing electronic and acoustic instruments, the thesis is secondary to the themes that wince and shimmer to compelling conclusions. A swing tempo enlivens most tracks. Bookended by expositions that inflate languorous synth burbles and muted horn slurs into an undulating blend of cello thumps, drum smashes, and horn vamps, Webber’s strategy is intensified throughout.
O’Farrill’s intense plunger tone on Fizz is doubled by lively saxophone riffs and toughened with cello-string scratches. When he squeezes even higher-pitched triplets upward, Stemeseder’s organ-like tremolo patterns stabilize the compositional flow. Disparate musical blends also characterize the tunes, as on Periodicity 1, where the flute’s airy transverse puffs lock into a dialogue with tough reverberating drum beats. Adding backing cello swipes, that piece concludes with a graceful sequence that could stand as a trumpet concerto.
Shimmer Wince is as fascinating as it is freewheeling. It redefines the concept of experimenting with just intonation in such a way that the blends and movement of the performances make an understanding of exactly how the formula works unnecessary.
Ken Waxman is a Toronto-based journalist who has written about improvised and other musics for many years. Many of his articles on music can be accessed at <www.jazzword.com>.