Shadow Dancer
Navona, 2019
8/10
A veteran artist in the modern American contemporary scene, Elliott Miles McKinley delivers chamber pieces that center around love on the accomplished Shadow Dancer.
“String Quartet No. 8” starts the listen with a pair of violins, a viola and a violoncello in the elegant yet frisky setting that can also get quite turbulent, and “A Letter To Say I Love You, And Goodbye” follows and recruits violoncello and piano to birth emotive and cathartic sounds that are as heartfelt as they are dramatic.
The title track ends the listen with The Janacek Trio handling strings and keys as they emit sublime, introspective and stirring instrumentation in 6 movements that span many ideas from hope to dreams.
An extremely technical effort, McKinley and company say much about love without using any actual words on this universally enjoyable orchestral and classical record.
Travels well with: Dave Camwell- Second Wind; Dimensions- Vol 2. Works For Orchestra