Nashville publication ArtsNash features ALIAS Chamber Ensemble’s newest release Boiling Point in a review titled Finally, a tea party worth attending:
“For many composers, music serves as a kind of personal diary, a place where they record their innermost feelings. Kenji Bunch’s music seems more like an attic. It’s like a space filled with old kitchen appliances, curios, mementos and other knickknacks.
Members of Nashville’s ALIAS Chamber Ensemble have spent the past year rummaging through Bunch’s musical loft, and they’ve uncovered some curiosities as well as a few treasures. These souvenirs and objets d’art have been compiled into a new CD called Boiling Point – Music of Kenji Bunch, which will be released on the Delos label this Tuesday, Sept. 25…
“‘Boiling Point’ is an absolute blast to experience in concert. When ALIAS performed it at Turner Hall last season, everyone, the musicians and audience members alike, sat at the edge of their seats, wondering when (and if) that tea kettle was going to boil. That sort of anticipation and excitement is lost on the album – we know that kettle is always going to boil after 6 minutes and 13 seconds…
“‘Drift,’ another one of this CD’s treasures, pays loving tribute to all of those great musical ideas that never made it to manuscript paper. Bunch wrote in his program notes that ideas for new pieces sometimes come to him when he’s drifting off to sleep. Often, the music is forgotten the next day…Clarinetist Lee C. Levine, violist Christopher Farrell and pianist Roger Wiesmeyer get Drift exactly right, interpreting it as a heartfelt, poignant lullaby…
“The CD includes one piece composed specifically for ALIAS – ‘26.2,’ inspired by Bunch’s experience of running the New York City Marathon…The vigorous score certainly gave ALIAS a workout. The musicians – horn player Leslie Norton, violinist Zeneba Bowers, violist Christopher Farrell and cellist Matt Walker – give the piece a delightfully athletic performance.” — John Pitcher, ArtsNash
Read the full review on www.artsnash.com!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8EJkNNy5IA]
You must be logged in to post a comment.