Country : Canada Label : Indépendant Genres and styles : Ambient / Contemporary / Free Improvisation Year : 2020

Unearth

· by Réjean Beaucage

The improvised music quartet New Hermitage comes mostly from Halifax (only cellist India Gailey, who recently completed her master’s degree at McGill University, is based in Montreal). Their first two releases (One in 2017, and New Hermitage + Jeff Reilly in 2018) were nominated for the Music Nova Scotia Awards, with the second winning the Classical Recording of the Year.

Andrew MacKelvie (alto and tenor sax, bass clarinet), touted as the leader of the group, remains steps back a bit in comparison to what we’ve heard from him with other projects (There Never Was A Plan. or The Original Folk Trio, for example). It must be said that not only does the ensemble mainly put the strings forward (Ellen Gibling’s harp, Ross Burns’ electric guitar, the cello), but that everyone moreover does so with economy of means and voluntary simplicity. Although each of the members of this equal quartet are leading instrumentalists, it is hardly the music of virtuosos who would like to showcase their particular talent.

Inspired both by the concept of deep listening – developed by Pauline Oiveros – and by the logic of dreams, the dozen or so relatively short pieces presented by the quartet in this fifth effort continue the exploration of the textures offered by their particular composition, which the ensemble more often present in long form. The music develops from a rather sinister dystopian imagination (“Skeletons”, “Stalkers”, “Desertification”, etc.), but in the end, it’s still just a dream.

Latest 360 Content

SAMWOY – Poison

SAMWOY – Poison

Coup de cœur francophone | David Bujold and Bandit Voyage

Coup de cœur francophone | David Bujold and Bandit Voyage

Coup de cœur francophone | Mônica Freire: When Brazil Meets the Middle East… in French.

Coup de cœur francophone | Mônica Freire: When Brazil Meets the Middle East… in French.

PHI Centre | GeminiCrab… Malika Tirolien… Caulder Nash… Sign’O the Times!

PHI Centre | GeminiCrab… Malika Tirolien… Caulder Nash… Sign’O the Times!

Coup de cœur francophone | Nicolet Launches Orées, Suggestions From The Unconscious

Coup de cœur francophone | Nicolet Launches Orées, Suggestions From The Unconscious

Festival du Monde Arabe 2024 | The enchantment of Lebanese operetta

Festival du Monde Arabe 2024 | The enchantment of Lebanese operetta

Festival du Monde Arabe 2024 | Sainte Marine: a character and a opera between two worlds

Festival du Monde Arabe 2024 | Sainte Marine: a character and a opera between two worlds

Jason Xu, first saxophonist to win top honors at the OSM Competition

Jason Xu, first saxophonist to win top honors at the OSM Competition

ONJ, Miho Hazama and the Power of Women in New Jazz For Large Ensembles

ONJ, Miho Hazama and the Power of Women in New Jazz For Large Ensembles

ArtChoral | Autumn Colors in Half-Tone

ArtChoral | Autumn Colors in Half-Tone

ArtChoral Plays in Les feuilles mortes

ArtChoral Plays in Les feuilles mortes

Lucien Francoeur – Requiem For A Rocker.

Lucien Francoeur – Requiem For A Rocker.

Rick Baitz – River of January

Rick Baitz – River of January

Danilo Pérez & Bohuslän Big Band – Lumen

Danilo Pérez & Bohuslän Big Band – Lumen

Thelonius Garcia – Marche nocturne

Thelonius Garcia – Marche nocturne

Flûte Alors! – Scherzi forastieri

Flûte Alors! – Scherzi forastieri

Stefan Smulovitz – Bow & Brush: 12 Scores of Nadina Tandy

Stefan Smulovitz – Bow & Brush: 12 Scores of Nadina Tandy

Coup de cœur francophone | Daran at the Grand Hôtel Apocalypse

Coup de cœur francophone | Daran at the Grand Hôtel Apocalypse

Malasartes | RadioTango Concludes With a Gran Milonga Gran

Malasartes | RadioTango Concludes With a Gran Milonga Gran

Pixies – The Night The Zombies Came

Pixies – The Night The Zombies Came

Arion Orchestre Baroque | Leila Schayegh Plays and Conducts… a Swiss Army Knife for Baroque!

Arion Orchestre Baroque | Leila Schayegh Plays and Conducts… a Swiss Army Knife for Baroque!

ONJ | Miho Hazama, From Tokyo to NYC

ONJ | Miho Hazama, From Tokyo to NYC

Subscribe to our newsletter