Compelling Portraits
Navona, 2023
8/10
Listen to Compelling Portraits
The inimitable trombonist Kenneth Thompkins brings along some excellent help for these compositions from contemporary Black composers.
Kevin Day’s “Sonata In One Movement” opens the listen with Thompkins’ soulful trombone and Zhihua Tang’s graceful piano interacting with much warmth, and “Moments For Alto Trombone And Harp” follows with the bright brass amid Maurice Draughn’s harp that creates a dreamy presence of intrigue.
The middle belongs to the intimate landscape of “Three Psalmic Meditations”, where Katrina Van Maanen’s soaring soprano is met with stirring keys and emotive trombone in the Shawn Okpebholo piece, while Brian Raphael Nabors’s “Rhapsody For Trombone And Piano” pairs Thompkins’ vivid horn with Tang’s swirling piano.
The last piece, “Compelling Portraits”, by James Lee III, recruits Hannah Hammel Maser’s flute and Abraham Feder’s cello for the rich and poetic exit that’s highly memorable.
A listen that illustrates Thompkins’ incredible versatility, the affair does a great job of illuminating the contribution of contemporary Black composers to a rich musical legacy.
Travels well with: Christina Rusnak- Voices Of The Land; Myroslava Khomik- Protest