NINE LIVE - Sonus Inenarrabilis
Mulatta MUL033
Kinan Azmeh: clarinet; Lynn Bechtold: violin; John Clark: horn; Dan Cooper: 7 string electric bass; Jennifer deVore: ‘cello; Stephanie Griffin: viola; Cesare Papetti: drums; Michael Rabinowitz: bassoon; Rob Stephens: keyboards; Thomas Carlo Bo: conductor.
You might be familiar with the sound of John Clark from his playing on Gil Evans recordings (like 1975’s ‘There comes a time’) and playing in Evans’ 1980s Monday Night Orchestra, but Clark has played with too many people in the jazz and popular music worlds to count. The idea of a non-classical French horn player is unusual and Clark has certainly carved out a niche which is very select. This collection of compositions from Clark (the earliest from 1984) has been developed for a nonet and covers a broad range of styles. Indeed, the title of the collection indicates the diversity of sounds and musical styles on show here.
Given the presence of a conductor and the collection of instruments, one might be forgiven for imaging that this is a suite that veers towards chamber jazz. However, Clark is too well versed in jazz idioms to stick in a single style and the pieces here reflect an eclecticism that pushes boundaries while still maintaining a clear swing. At times the pieces evoke the darkness of a film noir score (‘Die Kreuzotter’, ‘Outage’), at others they evoke Moorish Spain (‘Eviter les contrefacons), or they indulge in full-on funk (‘Turbulence’). Each piece has its own identity and explores the full palette of sounds offered by a nonet of these instruments but, as a whole, there is a sense of a complete suite being performed. The order of the pieces and the ways in which soloists weave in and out of each tune carries something of a much larger orchestra and also, to my mind, calls to mind the way in which instruments worked together on the ‘Birth of the Cool’ recordings (albeit featuring a nonet of quite different instruments).
CReviewed by Chris Baber
Mulatta MUL033
Kinan Azmeh: clarinet; Lynn Bechtold: violin; John Clark: horn; Dan Cooper: 7 string electric bass; Jennifer deVore: ‘cello; Stephanie Griffin: viola; Cesare Papetti: drums; Michael Rabinowitz: bassoon; Rob Stephens: keyboards; Thomas Carlo Bo: conductor.
You might be familiar with the sound of John Clark from his playing on Gil Evans recordings (like 1975’s ‘There comes a time’) and playing in Evans’ 1980s Monday Night Orchestra, but Clark has played with too many people in the jazz and popular music worlds to count. The idea of a non-classical French horn player is unusual and Clark has certainly carved out a niche which is very select. This collection of compositions from Clark (the earliest from 1984) has been developed for a nonet and covers a broad range of styles. Indeed, the title of the collection indicates the diversity of sounds and musical styles on show here.
Given the presence of a conductor and the collection of instruments, one might be forgiven for imaging that this is a suite that veers towards chamber jazz. However, Clark is too well versed in jazz idioms to stick in a single style and the pieces here reflect an eclecticism that pushes boundaries while still maintaining a clear swing. At times the pieces evoke the darkness of a film noir score (‘Die Kreuzotter’, ‘Outage’), at others they evoke Moorish Spain (‘Eviter les contrefacons), or they indulge in full-on funk (‘Turbulence’). Each piece has its own identity and explores the full palette of sounds offered by a nonet of these instruments but, as a whole, there is a sense of a complete suite being performed. The order of the pieces and the ways in which soloists weave in and out of each tune carries something of a much larger orchestra and also, to my mind, calls to mind the way in which instruments worked together on the ‘Birth of the Cool’ recordings (albeit featuring a nonet of quite different instruments).
CReviewed by Chris Baber
