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Memory Is an Elephant
Tin Hat Trio
Memory Is an Elephant
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, New Age, Pop
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Memory Is an Elephant lilts, skitters, and wails like the soundtrack to a flickering-yellow-subtitled Italian film as it unfolds the tale of a marching chamber orchestra of East European Gypsies improving klezmer-inflected...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Tin Hat Trio
Title: Memory Is an Elephant
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Angel Records
Original Release Date: 2/23/1999
Release Date: 2/23/1999
Genres: Jazz, Special Interest, New Age, Pop
Style: Avant Garde & Free Jazz
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 724355678621

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Memory Is an Elephant lilts, skitters, and wails like the soundtrack to a flickering-yellow-subtitled Italian film as it unfolds the tale of a marching chamber orchestra of East European Gypsies improving klezmer-inflected bluegrass at the wake of Astor Piazzolla. Such gloriously peculiar diversity makes Tin Hat Trio's debut of titillating tiptoe tango remarkably suitable for a gallery opening peopled with handsomely dressed avant-garde art scenesters clinking glasses or for accompaniment to a long, lonesome Sunday afternoon drive heading for parts unknown. The classically trained group creates a deftly engaging soundscape of movement, textures, and shading, and its combined bio of connections (including Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, and Eugene Chadbourne) reads like a who's who of contemporary musical giants. Guitarist and primary songsmith Mark Orton lays down the bones of this intricately composed collection while Karla Kihlstedt's violin and Rob Burger's accordion nestle into gorgeously complex melodic tension countered with the extraordinary daring thrill of aural kite-tricks flying high and wide across the open sky. --Paige La Grone

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CD Reviews

CHARMING & ENGROSSING
MOVIE MAVEN | New York, NY USA | 04/23/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing a feature on Tin Hat Trio on N.P.R. and then reading the on-line reviews of their CD "Memory Is An Elephant," I bought the album and cannot remember ever hearing anything quite like it.I guess it's the combination of instruments: accordian, pump organ, toy piano, several strings, mandolin, etc. that give their music such an unusual feel. I was at once reminded of klezmer, of Stephane Grappelli & Django Reinhardt, of Italian film scores, of Eastern European contemporary chamber music...and yet this music is totally individual: mysterious and playful, charming and engrossing.I recommend it to anyone who wants a totally accessible musical adventure---even with that vocal during the final moments which, had it gone on any longer, would have spoiled my good time."
Ah yes
alfred klek | connecticut, USA | 07/01/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"the tin hat trio is an extremely talented group. the compositions that are very odd from a conventional standpoint beautifully complement the instrumentation. carla kihlstedt's playing style on the violin is wild at times but retains the clean precision that defines a good musician. mark orton, the guitarist, impresses me a great deal, and his performance on this album is as good as it is unconventional. what i often find when i listen to music produced by good musicians is that i admire thier techniques, but do not like their styles. this album however, consists of well written, complex, and musical pieces performed by very competent and obviously inspired musicians. i recommmend it."
A fabulous album; jazz at its most musical and evocative
alfred klek | 03/18/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Memory Is an Elephant is the most uplifting CD I have ever listened to. It is jazz at its most musical, evocative and uplifting. Its melodies are transporting, its rhythmns delightfully complex, and the dynamic range reveals a most mature musiciality. Accordion, guitar and violin--the latter particularly rich and subtle. "Foreign Legion" evokes desert mirages; "Waltz of the Skyscraper" makes me want to draw it in animation; "The Would-Be Czarina" makes my heart yearn for a mythical lost love; "Orbly Resting" and "Somniloquy" take chamber jazz into a new dimension. I can't stop listening to it!"