Jennifer Thiessen
Jessica Pavone. Lull. Jessica Pavone’s new album is a close-range recording of her four-movement work Lull for string octet and soloists. Knowing only that Pavone is a violist and composer, I embarked unencumbered by preconceptions on a first listen to the work’s earnest, pulsing waves. The musicians[...] Read more
Hearth. Melt. Hearth is hot. The embodied listening in this quartet of pan-European improvisers is palpable. This is engaging improv, in which clear intention drives artful exploration. Abstract instrumental language revolves with choreographed clarity around a conceptual centre. Melt, which was recorded[...] Read more
Angelica Sanchez & Marilyn Crispell. How To Turn The Moon. How to Turn The Moon is a trip. This fresh duo album from New York avant-garde heavy-hitters Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell takes two pianos to expansive and unexpected places. The potential for sonic deluge in the pairing of similar instruments is magnified by the piano’s[...] Read more