Solo violin/voice, 15 minutes. Commissioned by Eden MacAdam-Somer and the New England Conservatory Department of Contemporary Musical Arts for the Department’s 50th Anniversary season. Premiere November 15, 2022, Jordan Hall, Boston
Monthly Archives: January 2023
GLOW
GLOW offers eleven improvised pieces from a quartet of uniquely inventive virtuosos: Shelley Hirsch (voice), Michael Foster (saxophones), Gordon Beeferman (piano, electric piano, and Hammond organ), and the late Michael Evans (drums and percussion). A mind-meld of far-out jazz, noise, and spoken word, among other influences, and featuring improvised texts by Hirsch, the pieces range from intricate sonic landscapes to deadpan comedy. Hardly your average album of improvised music, the album could be described at times as “Anton Webern at the Café Carlyle.” Recorded in New York City in June 2021, this is the last studio recording Michael Evans made before his sudden and untimely death two months later.
“It’s music – and, why not, theatre – of top quality and class… Likely the most rewarding release of spontaneous compositions I heard in the first half of 2023. Compelling action, individual talent galore and unarguable intelligence are on display across the entire program. You have no excuses to miss this one.” – Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes