Somewhere between Cordâme (from Montreal) and Bang on a Can (New York), David Occhipinti’s music written for the Camera ensemble occupies a space between classical writing and improvisation (jazz but not only). Occhipinti, from Toronto, draws on a multitude of sources of inspiration, many of them very educated, to create his miniature panoramas. Homer’s Odyssey (in Song of Calypso), the London neighbourhood of Southwark (Southwark), very close to the Tate Modern and the very Shakespearean Globe Theater, the mathematics of the Fibonacci sequence (Canticum Abaci), the paintings of Picasso and Seurat (Promissed Kiss and Seurat Cha-cha), the cinema of David Lynch, Fellini, Tati (Playtime), and so on.
We particularly notice the unusual colours achieved through the ensemble’s original instrumentation: guitar, violin, clarinet and bass clarinet, vibraphone, double bass, and marimba, occasionally joined by a bassoon and a piccolo. On the harmony side, Occhipinti generally remains attached to consonance, although he dares to venture further into chromaticism, almost atonality at rare moments (as in Canticum Abaci). Some passages evoke jazz, others Anglo-Saxon pastoralism or scholarly chamber music, but never are these different references used in a stereotypical way, and neither does their attachment to the whole of the music seem at any moment like a forced or artificial morsel just inserted there.
Occhipinti’s music is very personal and has a strong character that invites very few comparisons in the current musical world, except for the echoes of the groups mentioned at the beginning of the article, but with substantial differences.
This is music that demands some degree of concentration and thus not just for passive listening, but rewards the curious music-lover with some very nice ideas and not run-of-the-mill soundscapes.
David Occhipinti – Guitar
Aline Homzy – Violin
Virgina MacDonald – Clarinet (1)
Michael Davidson – Vibraphone, Marimba
Dan Fortin – Double Bass
Max Christie – Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Fraser Jackson – Bassoon (7)
Andy Ballantyne – Piccolo (5)
