Matt Holman (trumpet); Chris Dingham (Vibes);
Bobby Avey (piano); Sam Sadigursky (reeds/flutes).
(Review by Steve H).
Inspired by the love poetry of Greek
poetess Sappho written some two and a half millennia ago New York based
trumpeter Matt Holman has produced The Tenth Muse consisting
of 16 fragments. Each piece is titled fragment nnnx where nnn is
a number between 4 and 168 and x where populated is the letter a,b or c. The
accompanying liner notes have snippets of Sappho’s poetry relating to
each fragment - for example track 8 fragment 168b reads
–
Every fourth piece is a solo
improvisation (120,67a,34 and 18) one for each band member which
segment the other fragments up cleverly. Holman’s stark trumpet tends to
dominate proceedings although, the entire album is wonderfully augmented by the
collaboration of the other very fine instrumentalists. Some of the harmonies
are indeed glorious. There is a certain haunting dreamy moodiness which
pervades throughout with occasional lightness provided by Chris Dingham on
vibes and Bobby Avey on piano whilst Sadigursky, playing an assortment of
instruments, adds both variety and intrigue.
All in all a highly charged, melodic,
deep atmospheric listen. One for pondering the meaning of life rather than one
for dancing round the living room to.
Steve H.
Listen/buy.
Steve H.
Listen/buy.
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