Krimsky's arrangement of ARICA starts out with gently rippling piano, before gradually being joined by flute, sitar and tabla. Her group of musicians on this beautiful rendition of Riley includes one Krishna Bhatt, who we'll be hearing more from in a week or so. Some vibes join the mix for the closing minutes when the ARICA arrangement revs up closest to its originator's version, sounding interestingly close to 80s Steve Reich.
The other two pieces on this album are Krimsky originals, with the 20-minute title piece up next. The same basic palette of flute and tuned percussion colour the impressionistic piece, its four sections dedicated to the main four moons of Jupiter. The addition of the gentle, unobtrusive sitar makes me think of Popol Vuh at times, or Jan Garbarek & co circa Song For Everyone once the percussion kicks in. Every twist and turn in the arrangement adds fresh beauty to the piece, making me wish there were more CDs available of Krimsky's compositions, as does the third piece, Elise's Dream. As hinted in the title, it's based on variations of the opening line of Beethoven's Für Elise. Seriously, can't recommend this whole album highly enough.
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this looks very cool! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAny album cover with a planet on it peaks my listening attention!
ReplyDeleteah... indeed!
DeleteWow! I listened to this one last night and was totally impressed by the dynamic interplay between Katrina and guest musicians! Anything with a hint of that minimalism spirit accented by eastern instrumentation is bliss.
DeleteOnce again thank you for the audio enlightenment!
Wonderful music. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLove this record. Two things I've learned about Katrina Krimsky: first, she played "the pulse" on the original recording of Terry Riley's In C; second, she's credited on 'In C' under the name Margaret Hassell, because she was at the time married to Jon Hassell, of "fourth world" fame -- and also the trumpeter on the original 'In C' recording. Small world.
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