What No One Else Sees…
New Focus, 2024
8/10
Listen to What No One Else Sees…
The always impressive composer Edward Smaldone brings a wide range of influences to these 5 selections that vary in settings but all emit timeless ideas.
“Beauty Of Innuendo” opens with the Brno Philharmonic and Mikel Toms’ conducting make for an animated and flowing start with the Czech ensembles strings, winds and brass interacting precisely, and “Prendendo Fuoco (Catching A Fire)” follows with Niklas Sivelov’s meticulous piano and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra radiating much beauty and wonder.
In the middle, “Murrmurations” makes great use of Soren-Filip Brix Hansen’s agile clarinet and Den Kongelige Livgardes Musikkorps’ military band presence with plenty of exploration, while “June 2011” enlists the Royal Scottish National Orchestra for both busy bouts and waves of beauty and grace.
The final track, “What no one else sees…”, benefits from the Opus Zoo Woodwind Quartet, where the flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon mesh with a cinematic and unpredictable mood.
This is Smaldone’s 5th release, and the influences from Miles Davis and twelve-tone composers such as George Perle are appreciated via the harmonic gestures, accented chords and atypical grooves.