DAVID DARLING - Cello
ECM 674 3082
David Darling (acoustic cello, 8-string electric cello)
Recorded November 1991 & January 1992
This is just one, and perhaps the best, album that cellist, David Darling recorded for ECM. The music is often very cinematic in approach and indeed much of Darling's music has found its way into the films of Wim Wenders and Jean Luc Goddard whose artwork also adorns the cover of Cello. Solo cello recordings may be few and far between, but Darling has found away to incorporate a broad sonic palette within what may appear to be a somewhat narrowly defined area. This is cleverly done with the use of overdubs and the use of his 8-string electric cello, all used with extreme good taste and often sparingly which serves to maximise the impact on the music.
The compositions are all relatively short and focussed. Darling has an lovely tone on the four string acoustic cello and this is allowed to resonate fully, and one is able to bathe in the soothing yet melancholy melodies at leisure. This quality within the music is heard to magnificent effect on the solo pieces, 'Darkwood I, II & III' that are presented not as a mini suite but dispersed throughout the album and a theme that the cellist would pick up on again on the 1995 recording Dark Wood (also ECM) that compositions in Parts IV to VII and developed into slightly longer pieces within each segment.
The variations found within Cello occur with the use of overdubs, as heard on pieces such as 'No Place Nowhere', and the delicate and exquisite 'Lament' and 'Choral'; and the use of the electric cello and eerie sense of space on 'Fables', and the broader string texture that wraps around the music creating a warmer atmosphere on 'Two Or Three Things (for Jean Luc Goddard), and the dense melange of acoustic and electric strings that dominate 'Totem'.
Of all his recording made for the label between 1979 and 1995 as leader or sideman, the cellist has since been making albums for other imprints, this hauntingly beautiful album is perhaps the ideal place to start if you have not heard Darling's work before.
ECM 674 3082
David Darling (acoustic cello, 8-string electric cello)
Recorded November 1991 & January 1992
This is just one, and perhaps the best, album that cellist, David Darling recorded for ECM. The music is often very cinematic in approach and indeed much of Darling's music has found its way into the films of Wim Wenders and Jean Luc Goddard whose artwork also adorns the cover of Cello. Solo cello recordings may be few and far between, but Darling has found away to incorporate a broad sonic palette within what may appear to be a somewhat narrowly defined area. This is cleverly done with the use of overdubs and the use of his 8-string electric cello, all used with extreme good taste and often sparingly which serves to maximise the impact on the music.
The compositions are all relatively short and focussed. Darling has an lovely tone on the four string acoustic cello and this is allowed to resonate fully, and one is able to bathe in the soothing yet melancholy melodies at leisure. This quality within the music is heard to magnificent effect on the solo pieces, 'Darkwood I, II & III' that are presented not as a mini suite but dispersed throughout the album and a theme that the cellist would pick up on again on the 1995 recording Dark Wood (also ECM) that compositions in Parts IV to VII and developed into slightly longer pieces within each segment.
The variations found within Cello occur with the use of overdubs, as heard on pieces such as 'No Place Nowhere', and the delicate and exquisite 'Lament' and 'Choral'; and the use of the electric cello and eerie sense of space on 'Fables', and the broader string texture that wraps around the music creating a warmer atmosphere on 'Two Or Three Things (for Jean Luc Goddard), and the dense melange of acoustic and electric strings that dominate 'Totem'.
Of all his recording made for the label between 1979 and 1995 as leader or sideman, the cellist has since been making albums for other imprints, this hauntingly beautiful album is perhaps the ideal place to start if you have not heard Darling's work before.
