Search - John Surman :: Coruscating

Coruscating
John Surman
Coruscating
Genres: International Music, Jazz, Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (8) - Disc #1

British multireed player John Surman has enjoyed a long career, making significant marks in free jazz, modal, and fusion, and also developing his own distinctive blend of folk and jazz elements. His ability to bridge style...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: John Surman
Title: Coruscating
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Ecm Import
Original Release Date: 10/31/2000
Release Date: 10/31/2000
Album Type: Import
Genres: International Music, Jazz, Pop, Classical
Styles: Europe, Britain & Ireland, Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 731454303323, 0731454303323

Synopsis

Amazon.com
British multireed player John Surman has enjoyed a long career, making significant marks in free jazz, modal, and fusion, and also developing his own distinctive blend of folk and jazz elements. His ability to bridge styles has even extended to 1999's treatment of Renaissance-era composer John Dowland's songs, In Darkness Let Me Dwell with the Hilliard Ensemble's John Potter. Coruscating is another unusual venture, with Surman and regular associate bassist Chris Laurence improvising on eight of Surman's compositions with the string quartet Trans4mation. There's a seamless beauty here, composition and improvisation becoming one. Beginning with the baroque clarity of melody on "At Dusk," Coruscating develops often dark, looming textures. While Surman has made his baritone fly, here he emphasizes intense lyricism, whether with a true, full-bodied, baritone sound or a light upper register. "Stone Flower" is dedicated to the great Ellington baritonist Harry Carney, and Surman's breathy, overtone-rich sound invokes Carney's own recordings with strings. He uses other horns unexpectedly, picking up traditional tones of oboe, clarinet, and flute on his soprano saxophone and cello on his bass clarinet. A preoccupation with depths extends to the beginning of "An Illusive Shadow," which contrasts his contrabass clarinet with eerie, high dissonances from the strings, before the piece evolves to other moods that suggest a kind of classical Dixieland and Gershwin. Laurence also develops solos of unusual, brooding power, adding significantly to this unusual, often meditative work. --Stuart Broomer
 

CD Reviews

A wonderful blend of Jazz and Chamber music
David Watts | Houston, TX | 11/19/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)

"John Surman really is a truly wonderful player. On this CD he is joined by strings and a bass player - Chris Laurence. The opening track - "At Dusk" is very laid back and somewhat morose, very atmospheric and cerebral. Later on the CD comes to life a bit. The biggest surprise is the work of Laurence who works outside of the setting playing bass solos and some melody. His inclusion was a flash of brilliance. He it at once working both inside and outside of the tunes here.Surman then is his usual self - nothing out of the ordinary. Think of this as the Brass Project without all that brass :) Definitely worth the price on this one. Recommended."
Classic Performance
J. Pour | 11/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a warm and lovely, superbly performed modern chamber suite with improvisation. The improvisational statements or segments are never out of context and are as lovely and thoughtful as the composed. If you enjoy classical chamber works, then I suspect you would enjoy this one as well, which should be more properly assigned to the classical genre."