Review

Formed some seven years ago, duoJalal reflects the musical marriage of the classically trained virtuosa violist Kathryn Lockwood and ace percussionist Yousif Sheronick. In their gifted hands and ecumenical spirit, the unusual combination of viola and world percussion are elegantly married. Moreover, duoJalal’s eclectic repertoire mines a deep motherlode of multiple cultural traditions and musical styles.

One of the motivic throughlines in Shadow & Light is that each of the six compositions is paired with a philosophical poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. Taking inspiration from the poet’s vision of a world where diverse religions, cultures and races are bridged and even mystically conjoined, duoJalal has chosen works by an international cast of composers: Giovanni Sollima, Evan Ziporyn, Shirish Korde, Somei Satoh, Ljova and Zhao Jiping.

The liner notes further echo Rūmī’s core tenets, arguing that they are as “relevant today as they were 800 years ago. From East Asia to the Middle East, the United States to Eastern Europe, the ‘Rumi Experience’ seeks to foster peaceful coexistence on a worldwide basis.”

Two of the works on the CD were commissioned for the project, Honey From Alast by Evan Ziporyn and Lev “Ljova” Zhurbin’s Shadow and Light. The latter work aims, in the composer’s turn of phrase, to shine “a different thickness of light into [the] space” of each of its four movements. On the other hand Ziporyn’s two-movement work explores notions of music as a “sign from the spiritual world,” but also as a physical object and a generative force.

Taken as a whole, this collection of works makes a strong case for the duo’s mission of cultural inclusion expressed in music. And it is musicking of a high order, well-conceived, brilliantly played and lovingly presented on this CD.