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***The first solo CD by Simon Wickham-Smith follows a long and prolific 10-year recording partnership with Richard Youngs. Recorded during a temporary relocation to Australia, Butterfly Dust is a strikingly intimate solo performance on organ, voice, Peruvian reed, and Dijeridu. The performances here are informed by a rare combination of virtuosity and exploratory improvisation. In comparison with some prior performances (e.g. Simon's startlingly skilled assault on a grand piano on Knish), Butterfly Dust is in a more minimal style, where sounds are given room to build up and establish a mood over the long term. This is particularly true of the long organ solo "Objects Appearing," where notes are slowly added to a drone over a period of several minutes, giving each newly introduced note a significant impact. "Qamutiik" is a short workout for Peruvian recorder captured in close-up you-are-there fidelity. Rounding out the record is "Foralicem," a 21-minute piece for Dijeridu that builds up a huge and powerful wall of sound, helping restore respect to an instrument that has been much abused by new-agers. "If you need proof that visionaries still live in this land, here it is."
-The Wire |
