Bay Of Pigs, Gee’s Band & TROYJAM
Albany, 2021
9/10
Listen to Bay Of Pigs, Gee’s Band & TROYJAM
The Grammy Award winning composer Michael Daugherty aligns himself with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and the conductor Neal Gittleman for these imaginative 3 works, where a special guest on each piece makes for a very distinct and captivating listen.
The album leads with the 3 movements of “Bay Of Pigs”, where Manuel Barrueco’s sublime classical guitar playing is met with stirring strings that emits much beauty, though short bursts of intensity can also be found amid the elegance. Further into the movements, plenty of atmosphere arrives in a nearly haunting fashion, and even deeper the landscape ends up in cinematic areas of intrigue.
Sandwiched in the middle is the electric guitar and orchestral meshing of “Gee's Band”, where D.J. Sparr’s soaring six string work is met with fluid and rumbling strings. The very cautious track then uses space and tension with much precision, and finishes with some good old fashioned rock’n’roll licks that are complemented by the rowdy strings.
“TROYJAM” is the last piece, and combines narration and orchestra, where Michael Lippert’s very expressive storytelling about the Trojan War from Homer’s Iliad, via Anne Carson’s text, benefits from quick flashes of woodwinds, brass and drums that builds into a booming, triumphant exit.
A very diverse effort that embraces rock, classical, blues, jam band and orchestral ideas and isn’t short on grooves, either, Daugherty’s vision is nothing if not unpredictable, and just might be the best release on the Albany label this year, which is no easy feat.
Travels well with: Victoria Bond- Illumination: Piano Works Of Victoria Bond; Jeremy Muller- Within The Within