Art Decade
Evan Ziporyn & ContaQt
Cantaloupe Music (contaqtnewmusic.bandcamp.com/album/art-decade)
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And this just in… As the deadline for filing my column fast approaches I have just received a disc that is inspiring a nostalgic romp down memory lane. Art Decade (Cantaloupe Music contaqtnewmusic.bandcamp.com/album/art-decade) comprising some fabulous music from the time I spent at CKLN-FM in the late ‘80s, is a wonderful revisioning by Evan Ziporan and Toronto’s ContaQt (formerly Contact). Compositions by Robert Fripp, Harold Budd, Brian Eno and David Bowie are featured in stunning arrangements by Ziporan and/or ContaQt founder Jerry Pergolesi.
Ziporan’s clarinet and bass clarinet are integral parts of the mix, with ContaQt members Allison Wiebe (piano, Rhodes, organ), Andrew Noseworthy (electric guitar and electric bass), Pergolesi (drums, percussion, trumpet), Mary-Katherine Finch (cello) and Sarah Fraser Raff (violin) all contributing to the sometimes gentle ambience and sometimes overpowering wall-of-sound. Fripp’s Red and Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part Two best fit this latter description, guitarist Joao Carvalho adding to the forces on the former and electric bassist Alex Kotyk supporting the bottom end in both. There is an astounding energy here, and that’s not just my opinion – King Crimson composer and guitarist Fripp calls Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part Two “a triumph,” and describes Pergolesi and Ziporan’s version of Red as having “a wonderful manic quality that many of those who cover Red fail to get. By the end, all is good. The world may or may not be in a better place, but it feels like it is.”
These head-bangers are contrasted beautifully by Not Yet Remembered (Budd/Eno), Sense of Doubt (Bowie), and Moss Garden and Neuköln (Bowie/Eno) with their calming and melodious textures. The disc is brought to a gently scintillating conclusion with Fripp and Eno’s Evening Star in an arrangement by Ziporan and Andrew Keeling with guitarist Rob MacDonald added to the ensemble. All in all, this is a surprising and satisfying disc. Thanks for the memories!
