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👉 https://best-messe.at/best-besuch/messebesuch/hallenplan/aussteller/imc-fachhochschule-krems
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AMN Reviews: Will Mason Quartet – Hemlocks, Peacocks (2025, New Focus Recordings)
It is easy to view Hemlocks, Peacocks as a meeting of the minds between two singular talents – drummer / composer Will Mason and saxophonist / composer Anna Webber. Both have a penchant for delving into the unconventional sounds of microtonalism and non-standard tunings. But the album is firmly rooted in Mason’s compositional vision, with Webber as a willing (and presumptively eager) collaborator on tenor. Joining them are Daniel Fisher-Lochhead on alto sax and deVon Russell Gray on keyboards.
The quartet draws from an odd sound palette to be sure. At first blush, their efforts seem somewhat sparse and oddly phrased. Gray’s tones gives the album a retro feel along with the shimmering introduced by the group’s selection of “pitches between the notes.” Indeed the contrapuntal lines from Webber and Fisher-Lochhead feel both disorienting and alien.
While it might be fitting to refer these works as chamber jazz, the album is more than that. For instance, Twilight is a slow-moving piece that focuses on droning structures and textures rather than melodic progression. In contrast, other tracks feature labyrinthine passages that are up-tempo and even hint at being upbeat. Case in point, Turned in the Fire employs a two-note vamp over which Webber solos. After that, she moves on to an interlocking sax duel that sets its tempo separately from that of the rhythm parts. And then there is the all-out discordant blowing on Planets that sounds as if Anthony Braxton is playing along with a warped version of himself from another dimension.
It takes a while for Hemlocks, Peacocks as get going and it also takes several listens to begin to appreciate the album’s depth. Mason is a thoughtful and deliberate composer and performer whose efforts serve to stake out new ground in the creative music continuum. The result is a rigorous intellectual and artistic statement.
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