Post by Sordel on Mar 31, 2016 11:19:16 GMT -5
We never seem to hear much detail about the various concerts at The Stone but I was lucky enough to see two over the last few days so I thought I'd try to start up a thread to encourage people to post their impressions.
Malphas plays Zorn's Bagatelles (25 March, 2016, early set)
I'm never quite sure that Malphas is quite the right name for the duo of Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman when they are not playing Masada material, but that's how they were billed. Mark was suffering from a cold, but it didn't detract at all from an intimate concert that showcased their communication and command over the new material. This was of course my first Bagatelles set, and the new heads worked very well for this pairing because they gave them their due weight. I was struck at how fresh the Bagatelles felt after hearing so much Masada or Masada-like material from Zorn in recent years, and also how distinct they are from his other recent chamber works. One piece had that Debussyesque feel that he goes for, and another felt almost like Tori Amos (at which he, and some here, may scowl but I enjoyed the piece). Sylvie used some prepared techniques: a cushion on the lower string for muting and tape on the high strings. In conjunction with her very percussive keyboard work this helped to give a good expressive range (and variety) to the piano sound, while Mark was of course deploying his own range of approaches including those whispery harmonics that are so telling on the String Trio material. Overall a compelling and enjoyable set.
John Irabagon plays Zorn's Bagatelles (28 March, 2016, afternoon set)
Zorn himself was on hand to hear this quartet tackle the Bagatelles and I got the impression from outside the venue that he was talking them through the rehearsal beforehand. Irabagon is completely new to me and - having read up a little on him beforehand - I rather expected to be wowed, but I found his tenor saxophone lines to be for the most part rather uninvolving even when he was using extended techniques. The pianist (Matt Mitchell) worked well with Irabagon and had some nice work in the upper register, but again he didn't really take command when he was given longer featured spots and I felt that both the lead instruments were given to noodling when given the space. Fortunately, the drummer (Tom Rainey) - ably assisted by Drew Gress on bass (who had an almost telepathic ability to respond to changes in rhythmic feel) - was absolutely on top of the material and proved a fantastic match to Zorn's style. His approach was not so much to keep time as to make time, implying all those little genre shifts that Zorn loves so much. Gress went with him extremely alertly, and I was only sorry that the bass tended to get drowned out by the other instruments on the more aggressive pieces: the bass was almost always forced to play at full volume just to keep in the mix and they must try to sort that out if they intend to record this repertoire. Rainey's touch and remarkable technical range certainly pulled the quartet back from the brink of what could have been a very water-treading set. Unfortunately the heads themselves were rather lost (their musical qualities were not as well brought out by this grouping as they had been by Malphas) until a hugely enjoyable final piece that kept returning to the same little figure and then using it as the departure point for a wild, exuberant accelerando led by the rhythm section.
These were only my second and third visits to The Stone (I only seem to be able to get there for major Christian holidays!) and I don't expect to get there again for quite a while but hearing some of the Bagatelles live certainly rewarded the journey.
Malphas plays Zorn's Bagatelles (25 March, 2016, early set)
I'm never quite sure that Malphas is quite the right name for the duo of Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman when they are not playing Masada material, but that's how they were billed. Mark was suffering from a cold, but it didn't detract at all from an intimate concert that showcased their communication and command over the new material. This was of course my first Bagatelles set, and the new heads worked very well for this pairing because they gave them their due weight. I was struck at how fresh the Bagatelles felt after hearing so much Masada or Masada-like material from Zorn in recent years, and also how distinct they are from his other recent chamber works. One piece had that Debussyesque feel that he goes for, and another felt almost like Tori Amos (at which he, and some here, may scowl but I enjoyed the piece). Sylvie used some prepared techniques: a cushion on the lower string for muting and tape on the high strings. In conjunction with her very percussive keyboard work this helped to give a good expressive range (and variety) to the piano sound, while Mark was of course deploying his own range of approaches including those whispery harmonics that are so telling on the String Trio material. Overall a compelling and enjoyable set.
John Irabagon plays Zorn's Bagatelles (28 March, 2016, afternoon set)
Zorn himself was on hand to hear this quartet tackle the Bagatelles and I got the impression from outside the venue that he was talking them through the rehearsal beforehand. Irabagon is completely new to me and - having read up a little on him beforehand - I rather expected to be wowed, but I found his tenor saxophone lines to be for the most part rather uninvolving even when he was using extended techniques. The pianist (Matt Mitchell) worked well with Irabagon and had some nice work in the upper register, but again he didn't really take command when he was given longer featured spots and I felt that both the lead instruments were given to noodling when given the space. Fortunately, the drummer (Tom Rainey) - ably assisted by Drew Gress on bass (who had an almost telepathic ability to respond to changes in rhythmic feel) - was absolutely on top of the material and proved a fantastic match to Zorn's style. His approach was not so much to keep time as to make time, implying all those little genre shifts that Zorn loves so much. Gress went with him extremely alertly, and I was only sorry that the bass tended to get drowned out by the other instruments on the more aggressive pieces: the bass was almost always forced to play at full volume just to keep in the mix and they must try to sort that out if they intend to record this repertoire. Rainey's touch and remarkable technical range certainly pulled the quartet back from the brink of what could have been a very water-treading set. Unfortunately the heads themselves were rather lost (their musical qualities were not as well brought out by this grouping as they had been by Malphas) until a hugely enjoyable final piece that kept returning to the same little figure and then using it as the departure point for a wild, exuberant accelerando led by the rhythm section.
These were only my second and third visits to The Stone (I only seem to be able to get there for major Christian holidays!) and I don't expect to get there again for quite a while but hearing some of the Bagatelles live certainly rewarded the journey.