Cosmic Cliffs - Whispering Worlds

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Extending the minimalist/global music ideas of the late John Hassell, Montreal raised Aaron Shragge brings his custom microtonal slide trumpet with rotary valves, shakuhachi and special effects, to a unified quartet that plays three of his compositions, one of Hassell’s and five group improvisations. Assisting are the alternately rhapsodic and ratcheting flanges and frails from guitarist Luke Schwartz, the understated throbs of Damon Banks’ bass strings and Deric Dickens’ drum clanks, chips and clatters.

Appending Carnatic raga affiliations to electronic oscillations throughout, the concept is most expertly expressed on the extended Seen by the Moon/Secretly Happy. On it the trumpeter mates shakuhachi tones with vocoder processed trumpet samples so that his plaintive brass tone becomes more intense as it works up the scale. It’s expertly backed by percussion slaps.

Sampled loops are also interpolated on the interconnected improvisations Reflection Nebula, Crystals and Serpentine Suspension, as microtones create double and triple shakes as if from multiple brass instruments. Meanwhile the three affiliated improvisations reflect how half-valve brass smears judiciously join with drum rattles, cymbal vibrations and tremorous guitar string scratches so that repeated portamento trumpet phrasing adumbrates melodic transformation to create a lyrical concordance.

Electro-acoustic applications are steadily advancing and the wealth of subcontinental traditional music is still available for study. That means that the cosmic cliffs that Shragge and company scaled so expertly here will most likely lead to additional sound ascension in the future.

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