Malcolm Goldstein: Live at Fire in the Valley

Goldstein's control of the violin is truly massive and bewildering. He flies across the strings at light speed, tossing out chords like crazy while making eerie scratching and whooshing sounds. It's really impossible to describe in words, but Goldstein stretches the limits of the instrument to intense new possibilities. At points he makes sounds that bear a strange resemblance to the human voice (and that's not when he's singing while playing). Among the templates he approaches on this record are a Bosnian folk song (with a lilting dance feel interspersed between more abstract parts), an Ornette Coleman composition based on the idea of a musical river flowing "freely into its own musical space," and a "song of overcoming" dedicated to Rosa Parks, which works with loose references to the blues. It's a fascinating and joyful range of musical experience, delivered with the highest level of virtuosity.