Gathering Blue (New Focus Recordings)
RighteouGIRLS
Released July, 2015
DownBeat Four-and-a-Half-Star Review
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kZ0vTMsw8WZ3Ft7R3P2OIV0vGQOQnYCsI
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/59imwVJAGI6u12ptZaDJo9?si=jJVNCvTMSp-j6jmEDrA-qA&dl_branch=1
About:
Gathering Blue is the debut album by contemporary music duo RighteousGIRLS (flutist Gina Izzo and pianist Erika Dohi). RighteousGIRLS champions work at the intersection of contemporary classical music and avant-garde jazz, as part of a growing movement to evolve beyond conventional genre boundaries. A highlight is Vijay Iyer’s Accumulated Gestures, in a trio setting with Iyer’s drummer, Justin Brown. Other guest composer/performers include rising trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and steel pan player Andy Akiho. Award-winning producer Pascal LeBoeuf contributes the quasi-title track “GIRLS” and a series of interludes throughout. Works by Randy Woolf, Christian Carey, Dave Molk, Mike Perdue, and Jonathan Ragonese round out this provocative release of premiere recordings, all written for RighteousGIRLS.
Track Listing:
1. Girls (Pascal Le Boeuf) 04:18
2. Accumulated Gestures (Vijay Iyer) 06:21
3. Anzu (Ambrose Akinmusire) 04:49
4. Robe Threader (Interlude) (Pascal Le Boeuf) 01:34
5. …Nobody Move… (Randy Woolf) 06:52
6. Non-Poem 1 (Jonathan Rogonese) 07:58
7. Karakurenai (Andy Akiho) 04:58
8. Gathering Blues (Interlude) (Pascal Le Boeuf) 01:41
9. Etca’ rtne (Mike Perdue) 00:17
10. Entr’ acte (Christian Carey) 02:20
11. For Milton (Christian Carey) 06:12
12. Edge (David Molk) 06:54
13. … Out of the Blue (Postlude) (Pascal Le Boeuf) 01:16
Personnel:
Gina Izzo: flute
Erika Dohi: piano
Recorded at Brooklyn Recording; Oktaven Audio; Sterling Studios; Sullivan Studios
Producer: Pascal LeBoeuf
Engineers: Andy Taub (Brooklyn Recording), Ryan Streber (Oktaven Audio), Alex Sterlin (Sterling Studios), Pascal LeBoeuf (Sullivan Studios)
Mixing and Mastering: Dave Darlington
Photography by Shervin Lainez
Design: Zlata Kolomoyskaya
“Gathering Blue” was made with support from New Music USA and annual program support from Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust
Review:
RighteousGIRLS is the real qualifier here, straddling the pop/indie divide. The duo claims that its sound is “rooted in classical idioms” yet “draws from other genres,” and one of those genres is certainly pop. Their Gathering Blue is revelatory. Flutist Gina Izzo and pianist Erika Dohi excel as instrumentalists, and the 13 originals on their latest album are a study in contrast. On the surface, they don’t seem danceable, at least not in the typical sense. But from the dark notes and elliptical, frantic counterpoint of “GIRLS” to the elegiac, gravity-defying “Non-Poem I,” the artistry is at times stunning. A number of guest spots enliven the mood. On “Anzu,” trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire brings a kind of stillness to this expressive chamber-like piece. The three instruments exchange ideas in a captivating musical give-andtake, like dancing of a different sort.
John Ephland (DownBeat)
