Customer Reviews

Journal October

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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This falls into the category of...where did I come up with theidea of getting this CD? I think Darling perhaps contributed some instrumentals to something else that I liked and I looked him up on allmusic or something... but this turned out to be a worthy addition to my collection. It's all "solo" cello, although often multi-tracked and Darling (who you'll find also featured on the Until the End of the World soundtrack) manages to keep it not only interesting but exciting. It's a great introduction to the sonic possibilities of the cello... I may have to get me one.

These October 1979 sessions by David Darling were the first of his solo career chez ECM. This CD is in the same league as later material, like "Cello" or "Dark Wood", except that it contains a bit more of what i'd call "musical exploration" - common to many ECM discs from that era (e.g., the second track "Bells and Gongs" with its use of percussions). Albeit dissimilar, his solo playing is as effective as Dave Holland's in his dazzling "Life Cycle" (ECM 1238). A number such as "Clouds" overtly anticipates the then-to-come, twelve years later, "Cello" album. That i would label avant-garde, in some ways. From the very first track ("Slow Return") to the closing title cut, a cool musical journey of motion and stillness, sometimes just like caught between dusk and daylight, unveils an autumnal Zeit und Raum admirably captured by the clear recording of a virtually flawless Manfred Eicher's production.

This is a great disc that will take you on a very interesting journey. It should get more praise then it does. It wasn't what I was expecting when I purchased it a few years ago, but after two listens I was quite intrigued.
Darling's later works can get a bit to repetitive, but this really pulls you in.