Jeffrey Derus

From Wilderness

Navona, 2022

9/10

Listen to From Wilderness

The composer Jeffrey Derus finds himself in the company of the conductor Brandon Elliott and the Choral Arts Initiative for this listen that covers landscapes from Mexico to Canada.

“Root: Survival Chakra & Journey Into Yourself” opens the listen with no shortage of atmosphere, as Kevin Mills brings cello into the warm, vocally harmonic display, and “Sacral: Emotions Chakra” follows with precise and cautious bells emitting mystery into the light climate.

Closer to the middle, “Southern California: No 7 Kennedy Meadows” showcases the sublime and very skilled singing from the choral group, while “Sierras: No 5 Echo Lake” brings Mills’ cello back, where the stirring strings add much to the very intimate landscape.

Deeper into the listen, one of the best tracks, “Oregon: No 6 Mt Hood Wilderness & No 7 Cascade Locks”, brings Anna Kietzman (soprano soloist), Genie Hossain (alto soloist), Taylor Jacobs (tenor soloist) and Kirk Averitt (baritone soloist) to the poetic delivery, and “British Columbia: Manning Park” exits with an alluring droning and subtle cello that’s fascinating from beginning to end.

A very well done record that combines orchestral sounds with a choir, for those with an ear for choral music, it just doesn’t get much better than this.

Travels well with: Peter Greve- Oerbos & Other Works Vol. II; The Music Of Rain Worthington- Passages Through Time