Light That Fills The World
John Luther Adams
Marty Walker- bass clarinet
Amy Knoles-vibes and marimba
Bryan Pezzone-piano
Nathaniel Reichman- elec. keyboards, sound design
Robin Lorentz-violin
Barry Newton-double bass
Three compositions by Adams that confirm his marvelous, chilly sense of northern space. “Farthest Place” is a lush, brightly elegant, somewhat Steve Reichian piece that puts the listener firmly in the arctic, the keyboardists and Knoles providing a luminous bed of rhythms. A bright discovery. The title work is less sumptuous than this because it’s mysterious and withholds something. But it’s just as enjoyable and near-zero. “Immeasurable Space of Tones” is somewhere between the first and second pieces, again filling the listener with a sense of great space, cold and wonder. In fact all three tracks seem like parts of a larger piece. Their titles don’t exaggerate, and they would, like many Cold Blue releases, appeal to fans of holy minimalism, even though I haven’t seen any info that specifically indicates that any of the label’s composers are mystics.
Cold Blue
CB 0010
Richard Grooms