{"id":114760,"date":"2024-02-02T14:31:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T19:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=gig_review&p=114760"},"modified":"2024-02-04T14:03:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T19:03:44","slug":"a-full-of-colours-and-exciting-evening-with-imani-winds","status":"publish","type":"gig_review","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/gig_review\/a-full-of-colours-and-exciting-evening-with-imani-winds\/","title":{"rendered":"A Full of Colours and Exciting Evening With Imani Winds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imani W<\/a>inds is a wind quintet from the United States that’s a blessing to hear. Made up of black musicians (except for the clarinettist), they aim to bring music up to date for this type of ensemble by playing, along with great staples of the repertoire, new arrangements (their most recent album is entitled A Passion for Bach and Coltrane<\/em>, which gives you an idea!), works by black composers or by commissioning new works, often inspired by African-American and Latino music. The group, which has won three Grammy awards, gave a concert last night at Salle Bourgie in Montreal<\/a>. Only their second in 27 years of existence, which is a great shame for us. An all Black and Latino programme was offered to the audience, who packed the Bourgie Hall reasonably well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There’s plenty to admire about the musicians on stage: Brandon Patrick George, flute, Mekhi Gladden, oboe (replacing Toyin Spellman-Diaz), Mark Dover, clarinet, Kevin Newton, horn and Monica Ellis, bassoon. Firstly, they are very, very good, each of them clearly a top-class soloist. The ensemble playing is impressive in its effortless virtuosity, surgical articulation and fusional coherence. Secondly, and most importantly, for the past 27 years, they have been investing (though not exclusively) in a repertoire space that remains marginal, but fortunately is rapidly expanding, that of music written by artists from racialized and\/or minority communities in classical music. Bravo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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