Smythe, Cory - Accelerate Every Voice CD
SKU
28-PYOC8.2
Kyoko Kitamura – voice
Michael Mayo – voice, looper
Raquel Acevedo Klein – voice
Steven Hrycelak – vocal bass
Kari Francis – vocal percussion
Cory Smythe – piano, electronics
“Several years ago, I made a resolution: If I had the opportunity to hear Cory Smythe play piano, I would make it happen.
This turned out to be something of a commitment. For over a decade, Mr. Smythe has been one of the busiest players on the new-music and avant-jazz scenes. He has been part of the International Contemporary Ensemble and accompanied the star violinist Hilary Hahn. He is a standing member of one trio led by the composer Tyshawn Sorey, and has worked memorably with the bassist Stephen Crump and the saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock.
Across these varied projects, Mr. Smythe’s pianism tends to stand out. Like most cutting-edge instrumentalists, he is up for any technical challenge. But even when the music is the headiest modernism, his performances retain a sense of playfulness.
Still, this playfulness is rarely straightforward; it sounds, paradoxically, as though it’s been achieved through careful consideration. That’s the case whether Mr. Smythe is navigating the dense requirements of Xenakis’s “Palimpsest,” or reveling in the melodic lushness of David del Tredici’s “Farewell,” which he recorded with Ms. Hahn.
Written for five vocalists and himself on piano, this linked suite of pieces boasts a broad architecture of references. These include hyper-complex contemporary classical styles; the jazz-meets-vocal music of the pianist Andrew Hill’s 1970 record “Lift Every Voice”; and American a cappella music — both the white-tie-and-tails aesthetic of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and modern groups like Rockapella and Take 6, whose performances include vocal percussion.”-The New York Times
- LabelPyroclastic
- UPC020286231165