When The Streets Were Quiet
New Focus, 2023
8/10
Listen to When The Streets Were Quiet
The Brooklyn composer, bassist and bandleader Max Johnson steers right into chamber territory across these 4 very rich compositions, where the violinist Lauren Cauley, violist Carrie Frey, cellist Maria Hadge, clarinetist Lucy Hatem, and pianist Fifi Zhang are in attendance.
“Minerva” starts the listen with the unpredictable strings and tense clarinet interacting with the harmonic and melodic bursts that allow for solo and duo passages, and “Nine O’Clock When The Streets Were Quiet” follows with much focus on the expressive clarinet, as the strings make for an eerie backdrop in the curiously textured 14+ minutes.
The back half consists of “String Trio”, where the cello, violin and viola center around pitch and tonality and later shifts towards rhythmic qualities, while “Echoes Of A Memory” exits with clarinet, viola and piano making for high notes, intimate ebbs, and, later on, bare gestures of warmth and mystery.
An extremely eclectic listen that embraces avant-garde, experimentalism and improvisational moments, Johnson and company make each track here worth repeated listens that instill much awe and fascination.
Travels well with: Lei Liang- Hearing Landscapes/Hearing Icescapes; Scott L. Miller- Coincident