Autumn 2023 Short Takes Brief Reviews
Donald Broerman "Evermore" 2023
Evermore is a concept album of all-original music composed to tell the story of undying love. It opens with the gorgeously pensive "What Once Was Still," the notes falling like droplets of water on a still body of
water. "Ingresus" is more atonal and drifts into surprising directions, meant to represent the confusions of the first pangs of falling in love. The livelier "Evermore" reflects the ebullience of love, while "Grief
and Reprieve," in E minor, is somber, weighty and thoughtful. A final three-part sonata, "My Godforsaken Self I, II, and III," has the intricacy and feel of the Baroque. Together the pieces artfully convey the sense
of love as a journey through many moods and phases. Broerman plays with gorgeous tone and restrained dynamics, creating in this album a languid, shimmering beauty.
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Céline Keating
New Latitude "Nature of Things" 2023
Acoustic guitar doppelgängers to Acoustic Alchemy in the very best sense, New Latitude's crisply articulated brand of smooth jazz finds all the right notes to summon up a carefree joy. The newest EP from this
Colorado-grown duo of Dave Erickson and Jim Carr entitled Nature of Things features five tracks of mostly up-tempo feel-good melodies heavy on sentiment, but lighter on improvisation. The exception to this
formula, the closing track "Softer Than Silence" won the ensemble a well-deserved nomination by the One World Music Awards for the best acoustic single. Fans of the California Guitar Trio will find things to like on this disc, though
Nature of Things lacks the occasional careening edginess of a CGT release.
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Alan Fark
Emma Rush "A Dream of Colour" 2023
Emma Rush is a highly accomplished Canadian classical guitarist. For her latest project, she has delivered an aural feast of original compositions by Canadian composers inspired by seven works by the Canadian
impressionist painter William Blair Bruce. So, it is an impressionist recording, painting pictures of pictures via the classical guitar. Each work stands on its own as a lovely composition, brought to fuller life
through the colorful, delicate, and skillful playing of Rush. It is hard to get the full sense of each painting solely through the compositions, so thankfully Emma has included with the CD a lovely booklet with small
prints of each work by William Bruce (you won't get this added benefit from a digital download!). On "the walker of the snow (the phantom hunter)" by Christiana Voplini, the piece uses mostly all harmonics to capture
the mysterious subject of the painting. One piece - "Red Rock, St. Nazaire" by Amy Brandon - is actually in three parts. It is largely framed in subtle counterpoint and harmonics. The overall feel of the CD is
introspective and thoughtful - great for focused listening. A beautiful recording.
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Kirk Albrecht
Gozer Goodspeed "Escape Hatch Fever - Acoustic!" 2023
Gozer Goodspeed discovers a new beginning with his Escape Hatch Fever Acoustic. The singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist uses his fully fleshed out (and quite electric) blues-based CD "Escape Hatch Fever" as an
incubator for an acoustic version of that 10-track collection. Instead of what has become a familiar practice of releasing an album of demos that gave birth to an album, Goodspeed takes the completed songs and then strips
them down, essentially reversing the process. It makes for an intriguing journey with a lot to like, especially the anthem-like "Vagus Nerve" and its uber-infectious chorus. The UK native takes his name from a couple of
different characters from his two favorite films.
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Fred Kraus