Allos Musica Consort
Instrumentation and personnel changes with project. Since 2000 the Allos Musica Consort has included
James Falzone: clarinet/director
Jeremiah McLane: accordion
Rebecca Shrimpton: voice
Katie Young: bassoon
Lee Joiner: violin
Amy Cimini: viola
Kevin Davis: cello
Okkyung Lee: cello
Cathy Kuna: cello
Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello
Nate Radley: guitar
Marty Metzger: guitar
Jane Wang: bass
Brian Dibblee: bass
Brenda Hopkins: piano
Todd Carter: electronics
Tim Mulvenna: hand drums and percussion
Eric Platz: hand drums and percussion
Press and Radio Support Through Improvised Communications
Description
Recordings
Photos
Reviews
Description
The Allos Musica Consort was founded in year 2000 and consist of a revolving instrumentation and roster, reflecting the paricular project at hand. States James: “The “liquid” instrumentation of the Allos Musica Consort has allowed me to approach my writing and concepts from several vantage points with improvisation never far from my mind. I know these players well and so can literally write for them as opposed to just writing for their instruments. I also use the ensembles as an outlet for my interpretive interests and have arranged other composers' music for the groups including Eric Satie, Charles Ives, Henry Purcell, and various settings of medieval, folk, and popular musics.”Recordings
The Already and the Not Yet, 2000, Allos Documents 001The Sign and the Thing Signified, 2007, Allos Documents 002
Reviews
"The music is a mixture of chamber jazz and world jazz, with some avant-garde and classical thinking in the overall approach, and the result is a calm, warm and welcoming piece of intelligent and creative music . . . incredibly good . . . the music flows naturally, whether improvised or composed. Intelligent with subtle emotions."
~Stef Gijssels, FreeJazz.com"As heard on the terrific new The Sign and the Thing Signified, this group led by clarinetist James Falzone is distinguished both by its mix of classically inspired, through-composed, and improvised material and by its instrumentation...Through impressive use of counterpoint and a knack for encouraging discrete interaction among the players, Falzone keeps the group's unusual assemblage of dry timbres from blending into a single astringent wash. Whether on an adaptation of a Purcell aria or a solo clarinet vignette, the music maintains a bracing clarity and sense of focus."
~Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
"An intriguing mix of swinging chamber jazz, neo-classical structures, and folk music from around the world, Falzone blends an impressive array of influences into a singular style all his own."
~Troy Collins, Cadence Magazine
"...[Falzone] weaves music from threads of classical and jazz, and colors it with Middle Eastern filligree. His playing is technically unassailable, his deployment of a bassoon and three strings within his sextet impressively intricate, and the tripartite title piece summons some lovely textures."
~Bill Meyer, DownBeat
"Falzone is an articulate and interesting composer who utilizes the structure of classical music, the rhythms of Klezmer, the spark of polytonality and an abandon witnessed in free blowing to build a vibrant body . . . the effect is stunning."
~Jerry D'Souza, All About Jazz"Falzone has written a very effective film score here. The music is that pictorial and atmospheric. The thing signified seems to be a dream of medieval Andallusia . . . highly perfumed and evocative music."
~John Chacona, JazzGram