I still consider myself very much a student in the world of electro-acoustic flute, and I can't get enough of these inspiring performers!
Areon Flutes
Thrive
WoodWired
In the Loop
© 2018, UTA Records
In the Loop
features original compositions by the dynamic WoodWired (Hannah Leffler, flute,
Cheyenne Cruz, bass clarinet, and electronics), plus a bonus reworking of
Piazolla’s Libertango. The group
stretches the unlikely pairing of C flute and bass clarinet into multiple
soundscapes by employing live looping (the recording
and playback of a piece of music in real-time) and a great diversity of pre-recorded
electronic sounds for a refreshingly unique sound in endlessly fascinating
compositions.
The first track, Bare, utilizes only acoustical sounds, vocal percussion, and loops
to create an energizing rhythmical groove. Bulgama,
which was he group’s first original composition, employs an almost lounge-like
electronic background underneath live performance and loops. There is a
multi-movement composition inspired by Afghani activist Malala Yousafzai as
well as a sassy blues tune (The 101)
celebrating the open road. The group’s arrangement of Libertango is a
no-holds-barred display of all their tricks, from varied, expert playing on
their instruments to tango-enhancing loops that give a fresh take on this
standard. In succinctly written program notes, the background and inspiration
for each piece is explained.
I have seen WoodWired perform live, and I was
enthralled by their showmanship, technological savvy, creativity, and
confidence on stage. They were enchanting from start to end, and this album
beautifully captures what I saw and heard that day on stage. In the Loop is a great introduction to
this important young chamber group; I can’t wait to hear what they do next.
© 2016 Innova
Music
Thrive is Areon
Flutes’ third album together. The
eclectic program features music commissioned by the group from Elaine Lillios
(professor at Bowling Green State University), composer/bass
clarinetist/shakuhachi player Cornelius Boots, and Mike Sempert, best known as
the songwriter and frontman of the Bay Area
band Birds & Batteries.
Elaine Lillios’s Summer Sketches is the winner
of Areon’s 2014 International Composition Competition. Written in two
movements, it catalogs sounds and movements familiar in the summer: “Skating on
Discs of Light” begins with an ambling alto flute solo which is eventually
joined by two more altos in dense, swirling sounds, creating a kind of
hide-and-seek effect. The second movement, “Dry Wind”, is a very clever
evocation of the sounds of insect buzzing about on piccolo, C flute, and alto,
and yes, those dry, whistling winds that happen at some point in every
climate. This movement also employs a
great deal of beat boxing, sing-and-play, pizzicato articulations and other
extended techniques to great effect.
Cornelius Boots’s Chthonic Flute Suite continues
to explore the different timbres of the entire flute family. The first movement, “Root of Ether”, starts
with a philosophical, world-weary bass flute solo which turns jazzy and almost
maniacal, as if being chased. In the third movement, “Enantiodromia”, all three
players are back in on C flute weaving in and out of each other’s sounds and
taking a turn at leading the counterpoint. The end evolves into a joyful,
bluesy dance and then abruptly melts back into something akin to the Gregorian
chant of the beginning. Finally, “Void of Day” opens on a simple panpipe tune
that evokes ancient folk music and remains modal as melodies are passed around
on flute and alto flute.
Like Chthonic Flute
Suite, Uncanny Valley by Mike
Sempert was also commissioned by Areon Flutes. True to his musical style, it
combines acoustical flutes with electronic sounds to create a kind of
meditative, exploratory mood similar to atmospheric “dream pop” bands like
Beach House and Deerhunter.
Flutists Jill Heinke, Kassey Plaha, and Sasha
Launer who comprise Areon Flutes are truly masters of the instruments, and of
making excellent chamber music together.
Each performer shines for their technical ability as well as musical
expressiveness, and they weave seamlessly in and out of each other’s sounds in
that way we all strive for when playing in small ensembles. Thrive is
a fun exploration of new music in varied styles for flute trio, a great display
of virtuosity for all three performers, and an apt description of Areon Flutes’
presence on the new music/chamber music scene.
Jennifer Borkowski, flute and electronics
Composed
© 2015 Ravello Records
Vienna-based (American born) flutist Jennifer Borkowski has
released her first solo album, Composed,
featuring a varied mix of original compositions, contemporary classics, and a
couple of traditional works for solo flute. The resultant program creates an
intriguing framework for each piece.
According to the liner notes, the inspiration for
Borkowski’s compositions, “The Calm Yet Constant Change Along the Shoreline”
and “Still”, was a change in scenery.
After living long-term in Vienna, she spent four years living along the
shore in New England. The sounds of the ocean and the sense of wide-open space
are clearly present in both pieces. “The
Calm Yet Constant Change Along the Shoreline”, for flute and electronics, is on
a layered loop and delay electric guitar pedal. The acoustic flute line weaves
in and out of this ambient atmosphere like the ebb and flow of the shoreline.
“Still”, also for flute and electronics, evokes a similar style, with the
electronic background on a six-second delay. It is her first recorded
improvisation.
Two pieces by Shirish Korde are also presented here. Borkowski adapts his “Anusvara”, originally
for bass and alto flute and electronics, to be played entirely on C flute. It
is rendered beautifully and Borkowski’s version is a pleasure to hear. She also
performs his classic “Tenderness of Cranes”, a tour de force for solo flute
which employs a number of extended techniques to simulate the sound of the Japanese
shakuhachi’ it has been long considered a daunting but effective work from the
early 1990s. It is fitting, since Borkowski has published extensively on the
pedagogy of extended techniques repertoire, that she renders the piece
extremely well; it is both accurate and moving, and I find her performance
overall to be laudable.
Borkowski is a very thoughtful, deliberate performer on this
album. Even her programming is at once
unique and very carefully considered. She displays grace, a beautiful sense of
line, and utter control throughout this fascinating collection of pieces, and
she most certainly achieves her stated aim to provide a “breath of fresh air”.
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