1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Unique CD, November 19, 2001
This review is from: Shuffle Play: Elegies for the Recording Angel (Audio CD)
I'll be honest - after my first listen of this CD I was mildly disappointed, thinking it dissonate but I liked the music. It reminded me of the Club Foot Orchestra with a bit of Mingus tossed in. I played it again on 'shuffle' and listened more carefully. The brilliance of the whole began to shine with that and subsequent playings.
The leit motif of the CD is a song called 'Poor Mourner', an African American song recorded in 1897 by Cousins & De Mos (according to the liner notes) which Mr. Schott has sampled throughout. Other tracks sample various old recordings and recitals, layered with original pieces by a group of wonderfully talented musicians. Their original works (jazz with a nod toward classical from time to time) utilize Poor Mourner as inspiration; the music is intense, thoughtful, played with a precision that does not belay its emotion and power.
It is a true elegy, a dirge for the wonder and creative possibilities introduced with the advent of sound recordings, an innocence that was quickly lost. Today, so much popular music is canned pap, fed to us by radio stations who feel justified in telling us what is and isn't appropriate to listen to, that it becomes difficult to break through the clutter.
Let Mr. Schott lead you away from the cultural vacuity of today's popular music into a beautiful, strange landscape that frees your mind to soar, recreating the wonder and fancy of a bygone time mingled with the fiercely creative jazz of the current day.
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