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Mark Feldman: Sounding Point
ByThose familiar with Feldman's work will recognize that irrepressible energy that surges from his instrument on "As We Are," as flurries of notes, both bowed and plucked, pour forth in inexhaustible supply. For someone so attuned to working sympathetically with colleagues, often by adjusting and delimiting his role accordingly, it's a wonder to hear him without restraint. Which is not to say that there's anything self-indulgent about Feldman's music: his prodigious talents are always in service to a larger vision, and that is also the case here, as well as on his other recordings. Snatches of melody and brief motifs emerge and are pursued, refracted and redefined, but always with a guiding logic. And on a somber piece like the title track, the delicate beauty is almost heartbreakinghelped, in that instance, by some effective multitracking that accentuates the emotional vulnerability so often apparent in Feldman's improvisations.
Feldman uses multitracking on a couple other pieces as well. "Viciously" offers a cleverly demented re-working of the Walter Gross standard "Tenderly," in what sounds at times like a small battalion of violins determined to break the tune down into its component parts, with the melody only emerging fitfully. And on Ornette Coleman's "Peace Warriors" he uses a second and third violin to create an intricate dialogue during the piece's seven riveting minutes.
But those tracks aside, Feldman has more than enough creativity to spare in his unenhanced playing. Whether on the dazzling "Unbound," which extracts its potency by alternating dense clusters of notes with long, sustained ones; or "Maniac," which has all the malignant undertones one would expect, Feldman allows each piece to unfold its own sound-world. Feldman has an abundance of ideas on Sounding Point, and at just under 45 minutes it seems that another solo offering is more than justified. Hopefully, we won't have to wait another twenty-some years for the next one.
Track Listing
As We Are; Sounding Point; Peace Warriors; Unbound; Viciously, Rebound; Maniac; New Normal.
Personnel
Mark Feldman
violinAlbum information
Title: Sounding Point | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Intakt Records
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