Notes and Editorial Reviews
LEGACY: WORKS FOR BASSOON BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMPOSERS
•
Lecolion Washington (bn); Carina Nyberg Washington (cl,
1
voc
2
); Mark Ensley (pn)
3
•
ALBANY TROY 1038 (60:54)
STILL
If You Should Go. Song for the Lonely. Bayou Home.
3
HAILSTORK
Bassoon Set.
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BLAND
One on One:
for Bassoon and Clarinet;
1
for Bassoon and Virtual Percussion.
For Bassoon.
U. KAY
Bassoon Sonata.
3
NASH
Deformation V,
“after J. S. Bach.”
3
trad
Uti Vår hage.
2
ROUMAIN
Lecolion Loops
(after
Uti Vår hage
)
1,3
Still’s songs have been arranged for bassoon by flutist Alexa Still; Washington captures their bluesy yearnings, which the bassoon serves well. Hailstork’s
Set
is a varied series of four brief solos that go only slightly beyond exercises; they do utilize much of the bassoon’s range, and the sound of Washington’s gorgeous instrument becomes addictive. My speakers, and my head, dote on the rich, warm quality of his lower register. Ed Bland (b. 1926) writes charming music with a light sense of humor, which appears in all three of his short pieces. We are told nothing of his “Virtual Percussion,” which is a light, jazzy rhythmic accompaniment from some electronic source. Ulysses Kay’s Sonata has much of Hindemith about it, a composer whom he met at Tanglewood in 1941, when he was 24. The influence is as profitable as it is palpable. I’m not pleased by Gary Powell Nash’s
Deformation V
; the idea—going beyond mere variations—is promising, but he doesn’t make enough of it to convince me.
Hearing an unaccompanied female voice, in Swedish, comes as a shock in this mostly bassoon recital, but it serves to introduce Daniel Bernard Roumain’s
Lecolion Loops
, for bassoon, clarinet, and piano, which is based on the folk song. Born in 1970 to Haitian immigrant parents, Roumain “fuses multiple styles of music including classical, funk, jazz, and hip-hop.” Unfortunately (I was hoping this would be my first hip-hop review), this piece is classically oriented. As befits the title, it begins with Reichian ostinatos on the piano, which soon spread to all three instruments. The opening movement, “Loop Track,” proceeds steadily in this vein, welcoming such an unlikely bedfellow as Virgil Thomson. Movement 2, “Sample Track,” is a Glassian scherzo, and the piece closes with a quiet conflation of slow, single notes called “Alone and . . .”. Despite the Swedish folk song and the minimalist leanings, the work has a feel of Copland’s Americana, and I just love it; it’s the piece this disc has been waiting for, and—at 20 minutes—its major offering.
This disc works well on at least three levels: as a display of the bassoon, as interesting music, and—not to be sneered at—as neat background music for whatever else you may be doing.
FANFARE: James H. North
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Works on This Recording
1.
Songs of Separation: If you should go by William Grant Still
Performer:
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Carina Washington (Voice),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Length: 1 Minutes 39 Secs.
2.
Song for the Lonely by William Grant Still
Performer:
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Carina Washington (Voice),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1953; USA
Length: 3 Minutes 49 Secs.
3.
Bayou Home by William Grant Still
Performer:
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Carina Washington (Voice),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Length: 4 Minutes 19 Secs.
4.
Bassoon Set by Adolphus Hailstork
Performer:
Carina Washington (Voice),
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 5 Minutes 23 Secs.
5.
Sonata for Bassoon and Piano by Ulysses S. Kay
Performer:
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Carina Washington (Voice),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 5 Minutes 32 Secs.
6.
One-on-One for Clarinet and Bassoon by Ed Bland
Performer:
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Carina Washington (Voice),
Carina Washington (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 3 Minutes 45 Secs.
7.
For Bassoon by Ed Bland
Performer:
Carina Washington (Voice),
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1979; USA
Length: 4 Minutes 6 Secs.
8.
Deformation no 5 "after J.S. Bach" by Gary Powell Nash
Performer:
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Carina Washington (Voice)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 5 Minutes 56 Secs.
9.
One on one for Bassoon and Virtual Percussion by Ed Bland
Performer:
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Carina Washington (Voice)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 3 Minutes 32 Secs.
10.
Uti vår hage by Traditional
Performer:
Carina Washington (Clarinet),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Carina Washington (Voice)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 1 Minutes 50 Secs.
11.
Lecolion Loops: Loop track by Daniel Bernard Roumain
Performer:
Carina Washington (Voice),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Carina Washington (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 10 Minutes 25 Secs.
12.
Lecolion Loops: Sample track by Daniel Bernard Roumain
Performer:
Carina Washington (Voice),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Carina Washington (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 4 Minutes 6 Secs.
13.
Lecolion Loops: Alone and... by Daniel Bernard Roumain
Performer:
Carina Washington (Voice),
Mark Ensley (Piano),
Lecolion Washington (Bassoon),
Carina Washington (Clarinet)
Period: 20th Century
Length: 5 Minutes 40 Secs.
Featured Sound Samples
Bassoon Set (Hailstork): No 2
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