Entanglements
New Focus, 2022
9/10
The composer Mikel Kuehn returns with his 2nd recording for New Focus, where both electroacoustic and ensemble pieces examine the ability to utilize both powerful and sonic relationships into highly artistic song craft.
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” starts the listen with Deborah Norin-Kuehn’s stunning soprano unfolding in an electroacoustic setting that embraces both singing and talking in monochromatic and dramatic gestures, and “Chimera” follows with a twinkling energy from Conor Nelson’s flute and Thomas Rosenkranz’s piano in the mysterious and fascinating interplay.
In the middle, Doyle Armbrust offers his quivering viola on the 4 improvised sections of “Colored Shadows”, where each one spotlights one of the viola’s open strings, while “Double Labyrinth” blends Kenneth J. Cox’s flute and Henrique Batista’s marimba for a curious interaction that’s harmonic and seemingly both on a specific path that somehow still coincides with each other.
The final track, “Rite of Passage”, is perhaps the best, and hones in on Marianne Gythfeldt’s bass clarinet amid the creative electroacoustics, where the instrument is manipulated with both gentle and more firm bouts of animated and balanced impulses.
A rich listen that pays close attention to environment and allows much freedom for the instruments to explore, but Kuehn’s focused but loose concept makes for a fascinating experience.
Travels well with: American Wind Ensemble- Duos And Trios; Steven Ricks- Assemblage Chamber