Amends
People Places, 2021
8/10
The cellist and composer Matt Magerkurth delivers this debut solo album, where he graces us with a healthy amount of his cello skills as Scott Bell’s layered effects give the listen a diverse range that’s intimate and also very full at times.
Magerkurth starts the listen with the bare, atmospheric “Everything Rises”, where his cello quivers with a stirring, artistic quality, and this exciting approach continues to the skilled string manipulation of “Vicious Cycles”, as well as the hazy, precise mood of “Red Dirt”.
The back half of the listen offers us the 8+ minutes of “Return To Dust”, where an exploratory version of classical sounds are both flowing and sparse in Magerkurth’s inimitable vision, while “The Color Of Distance” finds a cinematic place to reside with low moments of mystery. “Glass Stains” exits the listen, and shifts from delicate to firm as the cello acrobatics are so meticulous, it hardly seems like there’s just one present.
Magerkurth’s textural formula has been strengthened due to his time in the Tulsa music scene, and his chronic wrist injury has altered his playing methods to yield a distinct sound. Certainly worth a listen for those with an ear for cello music, Amends embraces classical, orchestral and chamber ideas with much fluidity across a very strong first record.
Travels well with: Various Artists- Fleeting Realms: Chamber Works, Vol. 2; Anne Neikirk- Spring Shadows