Parametrical Counterpoint
Kairos, 2021
8/10
Listen to Parametrical Counterpoint
The Mexican born-American composer and pianist José Luis Hurtado has stayed quite busy playing all over the world in his exceptional and lengthy career. Here, he’s aligned with the Talea Ensemble, and together they deliver 8 original compositions, including 1 composition that appears 4 times in very different forms.
“The caged, the immured” starts the listen with just piano in an unpredictable, sometimes jarring display of key acrobatics that can get bare between bursts of creative thundering, and “Retour” follows with 7 instruments present for an unusual display of plucking, tinkering and even cinematic sounds that embrace brass, woodwinds and percussive noise makers that emits many solos.
Halfway through, “Parametrical Counterpoint Version 2” offers a tense, exploratory version of both minimal and busy song craft, while “Incandescent” radiats a more ominous display of quivering strings, waves of calculated noise and an extremely atypical spirit where a dozen players balance control and freedom.
Approaching the end, “Parametrical Counterpoint Version 4” recruits an almost sci-fi feeling in its furious drumming, bursts of brass and nearly mechanical presence, and “Le Stelle” exits the listen initially bare, even mysterious, as light keys, spacey noises and calculated electronics meet at a very daring intersection.
Hurtado is nothing if not unpredictable, and his vision of avant-garde free jazz keeps the listener enthralled on this very flexible and entertaining 3rd solo record.
Travels well with: Aaron Jay Myers- Clever Machines; SEAMUS- Music From SEAMUS, Vol. 30