She Sees
Skipstone, 2023
8/10
The cellist Erik Friedlander brings along his ‘garage band from the 2020’s’, Sentinel, for these 10 tracks of diverse chamber ideas.
“Baskets, Biscuits, Rain” opens the listen with Stomu Takeishi’s fluid drumming and Friedlander’s string manipulation that makes his instrument sound like a horn, and “Wit And Whimsy” follows with a more rock focused approach that benefits from Ava Mendoza’s playful guitar playing.
In the middle, “Summit” finds a calmer place to reside, where a dreamy presence of warm strings is met with glowing guitar, while “Ache, Air” showcases sublime cello prowess amid the firm drums and lively guitar playing.
Close to the end, “Rush. Rush Slowly” incorporates more cinematic qualities that spotlight Diego Espinoza’s bass work, and “Moneycake: Corrupting” exits with an extremely unique personality, where the strings sound sci-fi at times, the rest of the quartet make for a dynamic, adventurous finish.
A joyous affair, this is Friedlander’s first release since undergoing Deep Brain Stimulation surgery for his Parkinson’s diagnosis, and with his tremors now gone, he’s able to play cello with no reservations, and it’s allowing him to make some of the best genre-skipping sounds of his career.
Travels well with: Jeff Coffin- Look For Water; Matt Ulery- Mannerist