08 Malek JandaliMalek Jandali Concertos
Rachel Barton Pine; Anthony McGill; ORF Vienna RSO; Marin Alsop
Cedille CDR 90000 220 (cedillerecords.org)

Syrian-American Malek Jandali (b.1972) effectively combines Arabic melodies, modes and rhythms with Western classical structures. His 36-minute Violin Concerto (2014) honours “all women who thrive with courage.” Jandali identifies four women beaten, arrested or disappeared by Syrian authorities, including his own mother who, with his father, was brutally assaulted after he performed at a Washington demonstration.

In the Allegro moderato, sinuous, plaintive violin melodies, portentous orchestral chords and restless rhythms culminate in an extended, anguished, angry solo cadenza. The mournful Andante follows, the violin singing a prolonged lament over throbbing drumbeats, slowly building to a stirring, hymn-like climax. Nostalgic folk dances animate the Allegretto, but the concerto ends with a slow, sorrowful violin solo and a sustained, darkly sombre final chord.

The 25-minute Clarinet Concerto (2021) was written for New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill and dedicated “in memory of all victims of injustice.” The music is less overtly Arabic, the emotions more elusive. In the Andante misterioso, the clarinet intones a pensive, wandering melody over percussive punctuations. The misterioso mood continues in the Nocturne: Andante, with brooding, broken clarinet phrases and irregular percussive rhythms. The Allegro moderato features klezmer-like Syrian dance tunes, a virtuoso cadenza exploiting the clarinet’s extreme registers and a final festive dance, a happy ending to this mostly downcast concerto.   

Well-earned applause for violinist Rachel Barton Pine, clarinetist McGill, conductor Marin Alsop, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and, most of all, composer Malek Jandali.

09 Clare Chase Density 2036Density 2036: Parts VI-VIII
Claire Chase
New Focus Recordings FCR353 (newfocusrecordings.com)

To call Claire Chase a once-in-a-generation flutist may sound to many like speculation. But now, with the release of what is collectively referred to as Density 2036, doubters, naysayers and outright refuseniks have all gone the way of extinct species. There are now three double albums in this series. On the heels of the first two – Density 2036 (2013-2015) and Density 2036 (2016-2017) – comes Chase’s triple-CD Density 2036 – Part VI (2019); Part VII (2020); Part VIII (2021). 

With each CD (numbered serially) Chase and her flutes took us by the hand to lead us into a magical multi-layered landscape. Transcending both time and place, Chase interpreted compositions often written expressly for her in such a manner that the resultant music created its own temporal dimension. This new triple release not only carries on where Chase left off, but in it she raises the proverbial bar on her artistry.

As the music of each part unfolds, so too does a discourse with structure and archetype quite unique to these works. It may even be called a Chase rhetoric, an Orphic dialogue of struggle and release. Each work is a ravishing poetic episode or (in the case of Part VII Liza Lim: Sex Magic) a series of poetic episodes. Every gesture is graced by lyricism and the memorable material is calibrated to create an abstract drama that says precisely all it needs to.

Such is the audacity of Chase’s vision of her instrument that the music which comes in hot evanescent diaphragmatic breaths, the waves of which ebb and flow and penetrate disparate sonic palettes from the palpitating heart (in Phylis Chen’s Roots of Interior for flute and heartbeat), on Part VI. Multiple soundworlds collide on Matana Roberts’ Auricular Hearsay in Part VIII. The centrepiece is decidedly Part VII Liza Lim’s Sex and Magic, a sweeping masterwork evocative of the near mythic life-affirming power of women, redolent of legends, oracles and history woven into a scalp-tingling wonderscape featuring – among other instruments – the death-defying aural majestic sound of Chase’s contrabass flute. 

The Density saga was ignited by Edgard Varèse’s Density 21.5 and its tantalizing three-note key figure. Chase’s ongoing musical work builds an epic musical edifice with a hot breath of musical notes that leap off the page, like whirling dervishes and pirouetting ballet dancers leaping into rarefied air.

Listen to 'Density 2036: Parts VI-VIII' Now in the Listening Room

10 Avner DormanAvner Dorman – Siklòn
Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose
BMOP Sound 1090 (bmop.org/audio-recordings)

Much-performed, multi-award-winning Avner Dorman (b.Tel Aviv 1975) says his eight-minute Siklòn (2015) “reflects the violent nature of Miami’s hurricanes” (siklòn – Haitian Creole for “hurricane”) “as well as the frenzy of energy from a place driven by hot weather, sometimes clashing ideas and the effervescence of youth.” The highly percussive perpetuum mobile rushes headlong toward an extended, cacophonous crescendo of rising brass fanfares. 

Dorman’s 14-minute Astrolatry (2011) depicts a prehistoric nocturnal ritual. Glittering glockenspiel and harp help illuminate awed reverence in Celestial Revelations; marimba and bass drum underline the savage orgiastic dance of The Worship of the Stars. The five-movement, 13-minute Uriah: The Man the King Wanted Dead (2009) recounts King David’s arranging the death of Bathsheba’s husband in dramatic, near-cinematic music. (Astrolatry and Uriah’s scenarios and music would make powerful ballets.)

In the 11-minute After Brahms: Three Intermezzi for Orchestra (2015), inspired by Brahms’ late piano works, rich, warm, late-Romantic sonorities support the urgent Allegro con molto appassionato, gentle Delicatamente con molta espressione and autumnal Adagio espressivo.

Violence returns with the 19-minute Ellef Symphony (2000; ellef – Hebrew for “one thousand”). Fear is filled with sombre foreboding, Slaughter with martial brutality. Elegy portrays a mother grieving over her dead son; …(silence) offers “a prospect for peace” with “the new millennium as an empty canvas…it is up to us to write the poem of the future.”

Conductor Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project vividly perform Dorman’s very vivid compositions.

11 BIKEncertoReynaliz Herrera – BIKEncerto: a concerto for solo bicycle and orchestra
Reynaliz Herrera; Ideas, Not Theories
Ideas, Not Theories (reynalizherrera.bandcamp.com)

Boston-based, Mexico-born Reynaliz Herrera is a talented, award-winning musician, percussionist, performer, composer, educator and bicycle performer. Graduating from Boston Conservatory in 2012, she continued exploring the bicycle as a musical instrument by performing and composing for it. In 2012 Herrera founded Ideas, Not Theories, a theatrical percussion company/chamber ensemble for which she is director, composer, scriptwriter, lead performer and producer. This experimental ensemble focuses on her original music for bicycles and other unconventional instruments, having performed in festivals in the US, Canada, Mexico and Barbados. 

Herrera’s debut release is the four movement BIKEncerto: a concerto for solo bicycle and orchestra. Each movement highlights a specific bicycle sound as Herrera reconciles her classical background with her musical bicycle sounds, strings and winds orchestra. I. Everything showcases different bike sounds with a classical orchestral beginning with alternating strings and winds. Virtuosic solo bike melodic and percussive tapping and drum-like rolls ground the tempo while showing off Herrera’s musicianship. II. Spokes Movement has her melodic “Spokes Keyboard,” tuned rods add playful sounds. III. Metallic Movement has faster atonal brilliantly performed orchestral lines and complementary atonal metallic bike lines and rolls. Two-part IV. Tires Movement features Reynaliz’s “Tires Keyboard” in Brazilian Samba inspired sounds. Part 2 features orchestral wide-pitch lines, exciting higher cymbal-like bike sounds to closing dance-along bike solo, then orchestra to a short percussive ending.

Herrera’s exuberant music successfully incorporates musical styles like classical, atonal, minimalistic and pop/rock. Uplifting fun listening for all ages, regardless of personal musical preferences.

Listen to 'BIKEncerto: a concerto for solo bicycle and orchestra' Now in the Listening Room

12 EnnangaEnnanga
Ashley Jackson
Bright Shiny Things BSTC-0188 (brightshiny.ninja)

The rediscovery of music by Black composers continues apace. William Grant Still (1895-1978), arguably the finest of all, named his 18-minute Ennanga for harp, string quintet and piano after the arched harp of Uganda. The first two movements are warmly nostalgic, almost heartbreaking in their evocation of African chant and hints of Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. The finale is a jolly, propulsive dance. Still’s harp writing is exquisitely lovely, lovingly played by Ashley Jackson, holder of a doctorate from Juilliard and currently a senior administrator and teacher at Hunter College in Manhattan.

Jackson arranged Alice Coltrane’s nine-minute Prema, originally for piano and strings, substituting the harp for the piano. Coltrane (1937-2007) was a jazz singer, pianist and harpist (and jazzman John’s wife), but Prema isn’t jazzy, with sustained moody, droning strings and shimmering songfulness from the harp.

In both Ennanga and Prema, Jackson is joined by fellow members of the Harlem Chamber Players; she solos on the CD’s three other pieces, each lasting about five minutes. Essence of Ruby by harpist Brandee Younger (b.1983) is reflective and yearning, bordering on the blues. Two of the Twenty-four Negro Melodies by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), originally for piano, are here arranged by Jackson. In the spirituals I’m Troubled in Mind and The Angels Changed My Name, Jackson finds resolve and courage, ending this beauty-filled CD with a sense of optimism. (The CD runs only 43 minutes – I wanted more!)

13 Denis LevaillantLe Voyage Immobile/The Still Journey – Works for strings and accordion
Olivier Innocenti; Various Artists
DLM 3422 (denislevaillant.net)

Paris-based composer, writer and pianist Denis Levaillant’s works in many genres defy classification in his unique colours, instrumentation and stylistic explorations. This 2CD release in its colourful bilingual hardcover liner book features works composed from 1987 to 2021.

CD1 opens with Un mystérieux chemin (2017) for solo viola, inspired by music of northern India. It is a dramatic rhythmic piece opening with a slow tense, emotional moving melody with high to low held-notes, performed perfectly by Pierre Lénert. Quatuor Amôn and accordionist Olivier Innocenti perform L’Andalouse Books 1 and 2 (2004). The accordion blends well with the strings. Opening Book 1 Movement1 has accordion, then strings in a noisy, low-pitched atonal start with alternating high and low held notes. A moody work with expressive melody, accented rhythms and high-pitched accordion notes and lower strings. Book 2 Movement 1 starts with a single melodic accordion line leading to full ensemble playing. Uplifting, lively syncopated sections with a sudden low section leading to a fast closing. Book 2 Movement 2 shows Levaillant’s understanding of the accordion’s full high-to-low-pitch range in held-note drones, with added strings held notes. A faster rhythmic section leads to more held notes, with syncopated accordion bellows shakes. Accordion solo Danse Nocturne (2019) with very low pitch left hand and contrasting high pitch right hand, is beautiful, challenging bellows control technique to make all sounds enter together. Fast-note flourishes are contrasting. A solo cello, and a string quartet work complete this first disc.

CD2 features two string quartets and two string trios. With its theme and six variations Les Heures défaites String Quartet No.1 (1987), features Quatuor Joachim. Levaillant writes that this was initially conceived as “ballet music.” Theme begins with beautiful tonal cello melody with slight slide, then entry of other strings, both contrapuntal and one lead with accompaniment. Faster tonal Variation 1 has detached and plucked notes, contrapuntal lines and legato melody phrases with detached notes. Variation 5 has higher squeaky notes and lower short melody, an idea that reappears in his future work. Trois derviches String Trio No.2 (2020), recorded by Sébastian Surel, Pierre Lenert and Alexis Descharmes, alternates low and high notes, staccatos, rhythmic unisons and brief silences. One more string quartet and string trio complete CD2. 

So fascinating to listen to Levaillant’s compositional development of beautiful, well-composed, virtuosic works over three and a half decades.

Listen to 'Le Voyage Immobile/The Still Journey' Now in the Listening Room

01 Fuat TuacImmigrant
Fuat Tuaç; Kevin Turcotte; Eric St-Laurent; Jordon O’Connor; Eric West
Independent (fuattuac.bandcamp.com/album/immigrant)

Accomplished, multi-lingual vocalist and composer, Fuat Tuaç, has just released his new CD, and it does not disappoint. Tuaç wears several hats here, as composer, arranger, producer and artist. He has also surrounded himself with his talented long-time collaborators, guitarist Eric St-Laurent, bassist Jordan O’Connor, drummer Eric West and trumpeter Kevin Turcotte. As the title would suggest, Tuaç explores his Canadian immigrant experience here, as well as the contemporary social ethos in the depersonalized era of technology. Included in this well-crafted project are two vocal duets: the sexy cool Chez Moi, sung en française with the exquisite Montreal-based chanteuse, Kim Richardson and Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim, rendered in exotic, evocative Turkish (Tuaç’s native tongue) and performed to perfection with noted Turkish vocalist, Yesim Akin. Both duets illustrate Tuaç’s taste and musical skill and are highlights of the recording.

The compelling opener, No Strings Attached (a Tuaç original), is a groovy, jazzy ode to the often confusing nature of romantic relationships in these troubled times and Asla Unutamam is a delicious Turko-bossa, featuring a stunner of a trumpet solo from Turcotte. Tuaç soars as a vocalist here – defining his style, sound and approach. The very personal title track is a hopeful, and yet melancholy portrait of the courageous individuals who have eschewed or fled their homeland in order to manifest a life of creative and personal freedom – and the challenges, confusion and joy that is part of that journey. Tuaç imbues the track with his deep emotional experience, as well as a superb vocal. Moss Park… is another standout, a disturbing exploration of our own very Canadian, urban inhumanity.

Listen to 'Immigrant' Now in the Listening Room

02 Peggy Lee BandA Giving Way
Peggy Lee Band
Songlines SSL1636-2 (songlines.com)

The cellist Peggy Lee has been – with The Peggy Lee Band – very prolific in a composing career that has stretched across several years and, with A Giving Way, six riveting albums. Her work is always deeply thoughtful and often radiantly effusive, a sort of synthesis with masses of seething counterpoint set in a seemingly perfect acoustical sound-world. The songs played here are typical of the elegant compositions, innovatively interpretated, with richly laced textures and extravagant climaxes by musicians who – by virtue of their long-term association with Lee – know her music almost intimately.

This is repertoire full of the slithering and bittersweet glissandos of Lee’s cello, the elegant burbling of brass and winds from Brad Turner, Jeremy Berkman and Jon Bentley respectively. Together they make a joyful noise with guitarists Ron Samworth and Tony Wilson, with the tumbling rhythms of André Lachance’s bass guitar and rattle, hum and sizzle of Dylan van der Schyff’s drums and cymbals. 

It is difficult to fathom why Lee is not better known for the eloquence and uniqueness of the music that she creates around the solemn atmosphere of her cello. Perhaps this may have something to do with attempting to define it in terms of this genre or that. However, the uniquely beautiful sonorities of (for instance) Internal Structures, Justice / Honour; even the interpretation of Whispering Pines, and other songs on A Giving Way, show Lee to be an artist with a breathtakingly singular voice.

03 Will BonnessIs This a Dream?
Will Bonness
Manitoba Film & Music (willbonness.com)

The fourth album, Is This a Dream? by the pianist and composer Will Bonness, is an outstanding recording, informed by big-hearted originals and standards performed with brazenly romantic beauty. While each of the works is conventional in form, by turns tender and ardently lyrical, and feature the pianist’s favourite vocalist Jocelyn Gould, the head-turners are the seven (of nine numbers) that feature the scintillating young clarinetist Virginia MacDonald, with the inimitable alto saxophonist Allison Au doubling up with MacDonald on the final track, Cole Porter’s Don’t Fence Me In.

Bonness is a pianist with a naturally poetic bent of mind. In his pianism chromatic notes sigh – and often gush effusively – the harmonic cushioning always falling where you least expect it to. This often makes for the kind of surprise you expect, but never know when it will issue from his fluid right-and-left hand combinations. This is what makes his originals – particularly Round and Round and Contraption – full of great tunefulness. Both songs also feature MacDonald who, with her expressively woody clarinet sound, adds emotional depth and rhetorical eloquence to Bonness’ already-rich harmonic language. 

On the album’s finale the music reaches quite another level as Bonness’ score includes an alto saxophone, Au, who responds with glowing tones and the liquid grace of her notes. The album’s superb repertoire is further embellished by bassists Daniel Fortin and Andrew Goodlett and the irrepressible drummer Fabio Ragnelli.

04 Music of Kenny WheelerWho Are You? The Music of Kenny Wheeler
Duncan Hopkins; Reg Schwager; Ted Quinlan; Michel Lambert
Three Pines Records TPR-0015 (duncanhopkins.com)

The late Kenny Wheeler (1930-2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet/flugelhorn player with an international reputation who pushed the boundaries past jazz standards and into free improvisation. He lived most of his life in England and recorded many albums, primarily for the ECM label. 

Who Are You? is Duncan Hopkins’ celebration of Wheeler’s music and includes Reg Schwager and Ted Quinlan on guitars with Michel Lambert on drums while Hopkins holds down the bass duties. Having two excellent guitarists provides an intriguing interpretation of Wheeler’s compositions and the interplay between Schwager and Quinlan creates many musical highlights. For example, their “almost unison” playing enhances Foxy Trot’s up-tempo melody and each solo is excitingly different. 

The final three tracks, MontebelloKitts and Salina St. are named after St. Catharines (aka “Kitts”) and the neighbourhood where both Wheeler and Hopkins lived. Kitts and Salina St. were composed by Wheeler and re-arranged by Hopkins. Montebello is a Hopkins original named after the park at the end of Salina St. where they met. This suite of three songs adds a very personal and delicate touch to the album.

05 Sam DickinsonDon’t Ask Me
Sam Dickinson Trio
Independent (samdickinsonguitar.com)

Don’t Ask Me is an enjoyable album from Toronto guitarist/composer Sam Dickinson who has studied at Humber College, the New England Conservatory, McGill University and received a Doctorate from the University of Miami in 2019. The album is an engaging and diverse set of works displaying his substantial guitar chops. 

Dickinson’s trio includes Jim Vivian on bass, with Adam Arruda and Terry Clarke alternating on drums. South Florida Task Force has a funky 7/4 groove and the guitar part is fusion inspired, effortlessly jumping through lithe melodies. Old Folks is a beautiful piece featuring acoustic guitar which begins slowly as a solo with some jazzy folk chords, then bass and drums enter and it builds into some expressive solo lines. Memory Lane also has some very nice acoustic playing and features Vivian›s bass, initially playing an exquisitely bowed melody and then evolving into intriguing pizzicato lines. Don’t Ask Me is an impressive and assured debut album and we look forward to more work from Dickinson.

06 Artie RothResonants
Artie Roth Quartet
Three Pines Records TPR-0016 (artieroth.bandcamp.com/album/resonants)

Resonants has many overarching themes, but sonically one in particular hits the ground running and never looks back: Artie Roth’s bass sounds nothing short of astonishing in this mix. Whether this reality is brought to the actual forefront as on the delicate Sound and Sky or greatly heightening the impact of every single Anthony Michelli drum hit on Refrain, Roth is the bedrock of what gives his group its distinctively substantial and grounded sound. The band itself displays an incredible grasp for mood, accessing a palette that not only delights in its sophistication, but fluctuates considerably between each track with effortless precision. The entire tracklist only consists of two (showstopping) segues, but the thoughtful sequencing and Roth’s refined compositional touch binds Circle Maker and Second Moment together as soulmates. 

Resonance makes up one half of the album’s conceptual namesake (“tenants” is the other), and it is a key element that is manipulated by the entire band to great effect. Soloing throughout is divorced from the idea of isolation that is often associated with the practice, taking the form of calculated traversal through a living soundscape rather than self-contained reactions to a set of harmonic constraints. Sam Dickinson’s guitar work shines in this respect, with active accompaniment that provides a resolute sense of warmth. The most energetic sections are characterized by an irresistible swing, kept page-turning by a constant shifting of beat emphasis, never allowing momentum to yield. Freshness flourishes.

07 LOrigine EclateeL’Origine Éclatée
Jean-Marc Hébert; Lex French; Morgan Moore; Pierre Tanguay
Independent (jean-marchebert.bandcamp.com)

L’Origine éclatée is an interesting album, and in many ways a rather selfless offering from guitarist Jean-Marc Hébert. It is one thing to have an understated style, or to showcase compositions and ensemble over one’s individual prowess, but Hébert truly takes an egalitarian stance with this recording, letting his great band shine on the seven unique original compositions we are treated to. The album doesn’t eschew the fact that Hébert is an excellent guitarist, but rather celebrates the trust and confidence he has in his bandmates to interpret his musical vision in a way that is extremely engaging to listeners. 

This is the guitarist’s third album as a composer and leader, and perhaps this is why Hébert has no problem stepping back and letting his music breathe through his bandmates. Another factor could be that he is classically trained. To me, this training is reflected in his mature and fully realized compositional style, as well as his technique on the instrument. I can’t point to a single moment on the album that displays the types of virtuosic shredding so many guitarists are drawn to, but each note Hébert plays is deliberately placed and full of intention. 

If you are starved for virtuosity and shredding, you won’t be disappointed after hearing trumpeter Lex French’s rich contributions to the album. French, bassist Morgan Moore and drummer Pierre Tanguay, are all represented on L’Origine éclatée as features and supporting artists. Check it out for yourself.

08 Francois BourassaSwirl
François Bourassa Quartet
Effendi Records FND169 (francoisbourassa.com)

I have had the pleasure of reviewing two albums from Quebec this month, and this province continues to produce the kind of outstanding art our country has come to associate with it. Pianist François Bourassa’s latest release Swirl: Live at Piccolo is a beautiful mix of improvised and composed elements and is full of contrast to its core. 

Years ago, there was a stereotype that contemporary jazz from Quebec tended to be either avant-garde or straight ahead, with little room in the middle. Whether that was ever entirely true stands to be determined, but the improvised music currently being produced in La Belle Province is an amazing melange of improv and tradition, and to this listener it contains a better range of influences than most other music forged in our country. 

I assumed Live at Piccolo meant this album was recorded live off the floor at Studio Piccolo in the east of Montreal, but audience applause quickly alerted me to the fact that this was a performance as well. This brings a certain realness to the music, which is expertly choreographed and precise while simultaneously sounding entirely improvised. Bourassa has been working with reed player André Leroux and bassist Guy Boisvert for more than two decades now and the most recent addition to the group, Guillaume Pilote, does more than hold his own. The album is just over an hour in duration but manages to keep even the most distractable ears glued to their stereo. I recommend it to curious listeners nationally and globally.

09 Dan Pitt TrioStages
Dan Pitt Trio
Independent (dan-pitt.com)

During Part Two, there is a realization one may arrive at; where it becomes clear that bassist Alex Fournier will indeed have to halt his climb up the thumb register at some point. When that simple, descending two-note phrase adds a skip with its last few repetitions before finally falling back on its sustained apex, it feels like the musical equivalent of holding a person’s gaze. Guitarist Dan Pitt and drummer Nick Fraser then promptly enter the canvas, as if occupying the same mind. This entrance occurs mid-trill, prompting one to rewind the track and locate the exact source of the inciting gesture. The snaking 11-beat pattern that follows serves as the backdrop for continued Fournier arco explorations, cyclical and possessing the assurance of having always occupied its indelible spot in the piece’s conscience. The pattern begins to open up gradually, with Pitt emphasizing offbeats and Fraser dropping open cymbal hits like stones in a glassy stream. Synchronized with this increased generosity, Fournier begins to show his hand as well, weaving what will become the primary motif into his solo.

Part Two is Stages’ shortest song, and a great chunk of its runtime is Fournier’s intro, but it encapsulates the album’s overall tendencies. Gentle, satisfying phrases are meditated on for stretches that manipulate a listener’s time perception, gliding along an axis with ease while each musician applies careful changes with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it subtlety. This music feels truly nurtured.

10 Daniel HersogOpen Spaces – Folk Songs Reimagined
Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra
Cellar Music CMR010123 (cellarlive.com)

Vancouver-based composer, arranger, trumpeter and conductor Daniel Hersog leads a 17-musician ensemble in his renditions of four well-known folk songs, and six of his own compositions on this, his second album. Recorded in Vancouver, Hersog’s takes on the familiar folk tunes are varied, musical, jazz flavoured, improvised, yet always true to the original and all performed perfectly.

Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is given a jazz rendition with classical orchestration and harmonies. Held notes lead to Lightfoot’s memorable melody, repeated with gradual entrance of jazzy countermelodies and variations performed by Dan Weiss’ lively drums, Noah Preminger’s improvised tenor horn solo, Kurt Rosenwinkel’s solo/comping guitar and Frank Carlberg’s flourishing piano solo. A brief silence leads to closing gradual instrumental entrances of legato high-pitched rhythmic lines and held-note melody. Unbelievable how respectful, sad and beautiful this all is. 

Hersog’s adaptation of Red River Valley features repeated bass notes from Kim Cass, full orchestra theme and alternating solos, with Rosenwinkle’s guitar leading back to the famous song, now a big surprise, sung by the musicians to closing loud full orchestra and drum cymbal crashes. How Many Roads is Hersog’s self-described “re-composed” version of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind. His Dylan melody sounds simultaneously familiar yet different, especially in the calming yet fast colourful Carlberg piano solo above Weiss’ drum rolls and orchestral glissandos. Hersog’s compositions are equally enjoyable. Rentrer opening Cass bass line is so intriguing, followed by lengthy colourful orchestral lines and solos. Hersog provides so much space for his musicians to improvise, and there’s so much musical fun for everyone!!

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