The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Zeena Parkins / Chris Brown / William Winant / Ben Davis 
  Scree
  (Relative Pitch) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2025-04-21
Zeena Parkins / Chris Brown / William Winant / Ben Davis: Scree (Relative Pitch)

A 2023 set from Parkins (harp), Brown (piano, electronics), Winant (percussion) and Davis (cello), the first three of whom, at least, were teaching at Mills College where the music was recorded so, in a sense, a kind of faculty recital.

The eight pieces are improvisations and, happily, for the most part, they avoid the crowded, rough and tumble approach one may have expected, although the brief first track, "Minotaur", fits snugly in that vein. But beginning with "Far", the quartet allows much more space into the session, letting things unfurl in a more expansive, thoughtful manner. Davis' cello line, plaintive and almost evocative of Messiaen, leads into delicate harp pluckings and well-considered piano; a tense but reflective mood is established from which contributions emerge naturally and unforced. The following cut, "Spinner", retains the thoughtfulness but adds a rich, quasi-tonal element that provides the barest hint of droniness and languor, quite dreamy and lovely.

The remaining shorter tracks pretty much revert to the hyperactive mode but not so "Archean" and the closing "Metamorphosis". The former, via muted gong and bell tones (from whom is difficult to say), generates a gently undulating bed for piano and scraped strings to roll across. Indeed, both approaches meld wonderfully together on that final track, where the density and flurries of activity stem much more evocatively and smoothly from the opening, foggy eeriness. The percolating music of the last several minutes has the aspect of a large colony of entities, human or otherwise, seen going about its daily, scurrying business. A fine and fitting conclusion to an evocative set.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Jean-Jacques Avenel/
Daunik Lazro:
Duo
(Fou Records)



Karl Evangelista's
Apura + Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Georg Graewe/
Brad Jones/
Hamid Drake:
More Than Anything
(Random Acoustics)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)



Koenjihyakkei:
Live at Club Goodman
[2 CDs]
(Skin Graft)



Sun Ra:
Sleeping Beauty
[VINYL]
(STRUT)



Earle Brown/
David Ryan/
Christian Wolff/
Morton Feldman/
Thanos Chrysakis/
Tim Hodgkinson:
Music for Guitars,
Bass Clarinets &
Contrabasses
(Aural Terrains)



Joe McPhee & Strings (
w/ Maneri/
Lonberg-Holm/
Bisio):
We Know Why
The Caged Bird Sings
(RogueArt)



Nakatani Gong Orchestra:
NGO, Live in Ojai,
California
[VINYL GOLD]
(Weird Cry Records)



Mats Gustafsson/
Ken Vandermark/
Tomeka Reid/
Chad Taylor:
Pivot
(Silkheart)



Lance Olsen Austin:
Death in
the Urban Jungle
(Confront)



John Butcher/
Phil Durrant/
Mark Wastell:
Poznan:
Appropriate Density
(Confront)



Kassel Jaeger:
Fernweh
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Black Truffle)



Marteau Rouge (
Foussat/
Pauvros/
Sato)/
Evan Parker:
Gift
(Fou Records)



Sun Ra:
Nuits de
la Fondation Maeght
[4 CD BOX SET]
(STRUT)



John Zorn (
Hashimoto/
Gosling/
Smith/
Roeder/
Mori):
Fantasma (
Illusions From
A Surrealist Mirror)
(Tzadik)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (19923)