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review by Bill Binkelman While this recording is closer in conception and intent to twentieth-century classical music (both the two performers and the composer are classically trained and inhabit that world almost exclusively), I decided to review this because I consider it a superb example of acoustic minimal music. It belongs alongside other fine minimalist recordings from ambient artists such as Mychael Danna, Tim Story, James Johnson, and, of course, Brian Eno. Danna and Story, in particular, are perfect comparisons because of the presence (on this album) of English horn and oboe (both those artists have used these or similar wind instruments on recordings: Skys [Danna, with Tim Clément] and The Perfect Flaw [Story]. all rivers at once is wonderfully evocative, and I never tired of listening to its simple yet richly nuanced pleasures. Duo Savage are Susan Savage (oboe and English horn) and Dylan Savage (piano and synthesizer). Phillip Schroeder composed the music. According to the liner notes, Duo Savage worked closely with him during the recording of this album. Worth mentioning is that, while synthesizer is listed as one of the instruments, it only appears on the lovely opening piece, "Borne by Currents" (my favorite on the CD-it's almost too beautiful for words). In addition, that piece and the last one on the recording ("No Longer a Stranger") also employ a Digital Delay System "resulting in the repetitions of sounds at specific intervals after they are initially played…The frequency of the delays is timed so that the constantly unfolding live music synchronizes with the music heard through the delay." (per the liner notes). There are five pieces on the album (the third selection has five time cues, though). As I mentioned above, my favorite one is the opener, "Borne by Currents," imbued with a pastoral elegance as it slowly unwinds through its fourteen minutes. The music is not sad, but has a strong reflective nature to it. This piece features English horn, piano, and very subtle synth strings. There is a flowing quality to the composition that's almost tangible. "Stillness," the next piece, is five minutes of expressive minimal solo piano, in the same vein as recordings from artists like Carl Witt and Ernesto Diaz-Infante. Appropriate to the title, Dylan Savage allows the space between the notes to say as much about the music as the notes themselves. "Songs Without Words" is the five-part selection, and features oboe and piano. Each "part" plays slightly different from the others, such as part three ("To come back again") which is somewhat lively (a relative term in this case) versus the dramatic yet sedate "The course of actions." Rounding out the album are a nine minute solo piano piece, "From the Shadows of Angels" and the oboe, piano, and Digital Delay System-enhanced ten-minute long "No Longer a Stranger." The latter has a sparseness and airiness to it that, for some reason, reminds me of the wide-open prairie of the Great Plains. I can't tell you why, but it does. Maybe it's the "lightness" of the piano as it flits playfully above the oboe so that it paints the picture of a bird flying over wheat fields, dancing on the wind. I hope some of you die-hard ambient fans reading this review will open your minds enough to give this CD a try. It's such lovely music, so human and full of a sense of beauty and grace. Uncluttered by unnecessary accouterments, its music stripped of clutter. The result is sublime and refreshing. My review does not do the composer or performers justice, but just the same, I wholeheartedly recommend all rivers at once. |
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