Artist: Mazz Swift, Tomeka Reid, and Silvia Bolognesi
Title: Hear In Now
Label: Rudi Records
Genre: nu chamber music/jazz
Review by Matt Cole
Hear In Now is the debut album of beyond-genre music by violinist Mazz Swift, cellist Tomeka Reid, and bassist Silvia Bolognesi. While it could definitely be called modern music, and contains a lot of improvisation, it doesn’t stick to one category but rather melds several genres (often all at once) seamlessly into a unified whole. Many of the pieces have several distinct feels to them, for example the opening track “Cakewalk,” which starts out with a stormy, avant-classical feel and then whiplashes the listener by suddenly switching to a swingy, not-quite bluesy sound. The combinations are quite interesting; “La Citta Di Lop,” for example, combines a sound not unlike John Zorn’s Bar Kokhba with some elements that made me think of Anton Webern’s work.
Rhythmically, too, the trio keeps things interesting. “Bassolo,” for example, has an angular rhythm which is in 4, but doesn’t sound like it (I had to listen carefully and count to determine this). “Impro 1,” which had some hints of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, starts out in an oblong” rhythm in 3, and then seamlessly shifts to a 3-3-2 time.
The trio uses various techniques to good effect, not for show, but in service of the music. On “Effendi,” I heard some sounds like saxophone popping, which is pretty impressive for an all-string ensemble. Melodically, many of the lines have an almost dream logic to them; that is, they’re not the kind of thing one might normally think of when awake, but they wind up making perfect sense once you hear them, nonetheless. “Ova” and “Ponce” provide particularly good examples of this; the latter piece sounding jazzy but with a bass line that at times would sound perfectly at home in a blues rock piece.
In sum, this is another example of an album by three outstanding instrumentalists and composers, full of creative technique and impressive musicianship, in which the musicians subsume their egos for the greater good of the music, and use their considerable gifts for a greater whole. While this sometimes dissonant album may not be for everyone (particularly those who prefer their music to be entirely straightforward and unadventurous), it would be a good addition to the collection of anyone who likes their modern music to go beyond genre, and who likes sonic exploration to mean something other than “look how far out we can go!” This is the type of music which rewards attention, and underneath the extended technique and genre-melding is something quite substantial.
