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Yelena Eckemoff: Desert
ByEckemoff doesn't go about her craft by throwing a bunch of disparate tunes or ideas together. What she does is establish themessuch as Lions (L & H Production, 2012), or remembered aromas from her childhood, Blooming Tall Phlox (L & H Production, 2013)fashioning herself into a master conceptualist.
Eckemoff's first release of 2018she is persistently prolificis Desert, a musical exploration of the magic of vast and seemingly barren lands, of mirages and drifting, whispering sands, of muted pastels of vast, wide-open spaces.
She has chosen to employ for the project the previously mentioned teammates, bassist Arild Anderson and drummer Peter Erskine. New to her ensemble is multiple reedman Paul McCandless, a founding member of the group Oregon.
A Middle-Eastern mood pervades on a set of Eckemoff originals, sounds tinted by the influence of the Arabian peninsula: "Bedouins," "Mirages," "Desert Cry" and "Colors Of Nothingness." The arrangements are succinct and crisply executed. Drummer Erskine gives a masterclass in elevating the music throughout, in the way that Paul Motian always did, with a distinctively different approach.
Eckemoff's compositions have a characteristic refinement, their accessible complexities woven through by McCandless' sinewy melodic lines from his oboe, English horn, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet. And a bonusEckemoff's prose and poetry included in the twenty-plus page cover booklet that adds a vocabulary to her musical ideas. Especially compelling is her short story "Bedouins." She is proving herself as fine a writer as she is a musician on this excellent work of art.
When the coils of time were dissolved, the desert endured.Yelena Eckemoff, from her poem "Desert Remained."
Track Listing
Bedouins; Mirages; Desert's Cry; Dance; Colors of Nothingness; Condor; Oasis; Dust Storm; Desert Remained; Garden of Eden; Sands.
Personnel
Yelena Eckemoff, piano, compositions; Paul McCandless, oboe, English Horn, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet; Arild Andersen, bass; Peter Erskine, drums, percussion.
Album information
Title: Desert | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: L & H Production
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