Johannes Eick - Music for Solo Six-String Double Bass Each track presents a slightly new sound of the six-string, while still remaining within a overall easy-going ambiance. Johannes Eick is a Norwegian jazz bassist who specializes on six string basses. His recent release is a solo album consisting of his own music composed and improvised especially for this instrument. Music for Solo Six-String Double Bass  brings to the fore how this expanded instrument pushes the bass into the realm of harmony and melody simultaneously. Eick truly uses the whole instrument in the album, not shying away from both the extreme lows and highs of the bass. In certain tracks Eick overdubs himself, creating long arco drones over which to solo, or gorgeous chorale settings of contemporary jazz harmonies. However, the post-production edits could have been cleaner. In some tracks it is difficult to tell if notes are purposefully displaced or accidentally not edited correctly. Similarly, the overbear...

 Oliver Davis - Guitar Concerto The three movement work is brilliantly scored for guitar, harp, and orchestra. English composer Oliver Davis  set about on an ambitious lockdown project with his most recent album, Solace , released by Signum Records. The three movement work is brilliantly scored for guitar, harp, and orchestra. Davis finds a way to interweave the strings and harp in and out of the solo guitar, never distracting from the beautiful solo part. The second movement is the pure definition of a gorgeous slow movement. Davis retains the audience's interest though development of material and engaging scoring, including the addition of sweeping piano lines, aspects often overlooked in middle movements of contemporary concertos. The final movement is Davis' take on an invigorating Latin dance, with phrases bouncing between the soloist and ensemble. This final movement finally frees the soloist, and lets the guitar naturally do what it does well. Written for Argentinian so...

 Hugi Guðmundsson - Windbells  Album Review As an album,  Windbells  is an excellent example of a contemporary composer's views on traditional senses of tonality in the twenty-first century. Windbells  is Icelandic composer Hugi Guðmundsson's third portrait album, this time showcasing music for chamber ensemble, electronics, and voice. Centered around Guðmundsson's perception of musical time, it is interesting to listen how the album represents almost twenty years of compositional output. Windbells  was recorded in November of 2021 and was released late this September through the Sono Luminus label (click here for purchase information). The album features the incredible musicians of the  Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra , as well as flute soloist Áshildur Haraldsdóttir, and mezzo-soprano Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir. The opening track on the album, Entropy , for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano, presents similar musical material in two contrasting m...

Amir Khalaf - Rib Rib , both performed and composed by Amir Khalaf, is another contemporary etude in sound, disguised as something larger. The quartet of flute/bass flute, clarinet, violin, and cello is intricately notated in a way which is unlikely to be achieved in live performance. Khalaf flawlessly melds sounds together in interesting ways, but there is little to engage with musically for the duration of the work besides timbre. Most significantly, the piece comes across as Khalaf creating sounds without being significantly skilled in any of the four instruments.  The notation is well crafted and looks fancy, but musically asks for noises which are unpredictable at best and unrepeatable at worst. The score is basically a transcription of Khalaf's sounds and the piece would be more suited as a fixed media recording than a score, as it is impractical to successfully perform live without heavy alterations and guesswork. Listen and watch the score follower video here .

Judith Markovich - A Call from the Woods for solo viola A Call from the Woods  is serene picture of dark greens emerging from the forest. Judith Markovich 's new work for solo viola, A Call from the Woods , is a touching combination of lyrical melodies and traditional folksy fiddling. The piece was commissioned and virtually premiered by violist Amaro Dubois , a virtuosic performer adapt in classical and contemporary music. In his interpretation, Dubois seems to magically be able to transition between styles, from avant-garde to country to improvisation, always retaining the nuances of each. Watch Dubois' virtual premiere here . Like many composers, Markovich is heavily inspired by the calmness of nature, which shows itself in this piece. Her writing for the viola is natural and intuitive, allowing Dubois to create a wide range of timbres in his playing. The work builds on the articulative motif of a thrown ricochet bow, with the inconsistences later mimicked in Dubois' piz...