ORDO
Neuma, 2023
9/10
The inimitable composer Philip Blackburn brings us selections from 4 decades of his work, and it unfolds across 2 discs that recruits plenty of help from esteemed musicians.
The droning ambience of “Weft Sutra” begins the listen with a sonic appeal that’s uniquely warm and makes great use of Nirmala Rajasekar’s veena, and it isn’t long until “The Song Of The Earth” arrives with Patti Cudd’s vibraphone helping cultivate plenty of intrigue and melody.
Further into disc 1, “Lilacs And Lightning” benefits much from Emanuele Arciuli’s twinkling piano amid a stirring atmosphere, while “A Cambridge Musick: solve et coagula” leads off disc 2 with Zachery Meier’s lovely flute that complements the calm versus busy bouts of chamber fueled songwriting.
Deeper into the listen, “Unearthing” presents flickering voices and jumbles of strings fleshed out in an avant-garde fashion, and even further is “Air:Air, Canary, New Ground”, where the No Exit New Music Ensemble brings clarinet and piano to an unpredictable and flowing display of timeless songwriting.
A highly complicated listen that’s never esoteric, Blackburn’s vision is an imaginative and artistic offering of ambience, harmonics and atypical patterns that are mesmerizing from beginning to end.
Travels well with: Linda Dusman- Flashpoint; Jeremy Beck- Remember