By A Little Light (Greenleaf Music)
Matt Ulery
Released June 19, 2012
NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll Best New Albums 2012
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n3bpp_5ZvO4pSKs1p1Xu-UxhjtYiO9GxM
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About:
By a Little Light presents Chicago bassist/composer Matt Ulery’s profoundly rich compositions for a large ensemble on this sprawling two-disc collection filled with lush strings, winds, and vocals featuring members of the iconoclastic contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird and Polish singer Grazyna Auguscik.
Track Listing:
1. Dark Harvest 04:50
2. By A Little Light 08:07
3. To Lose Your Mind 05:12
4. Wilder Years 07:19
5. Shortest Day 07:55
6. The Miniaturist 04:49
7. Processional 06:43
8. Somebody Somewhere 08:04
9. Broken and Blinded 08:34
10. Sow The Deep Seeds 06:03
11. To The Brim 06:44
12. Gone Like It Always Was 06:54
All compositions, arrangements and lyrics by Matt Ulery
Personnel:
Matt Ulery: double bass & voice
Rob Clearfield / Ben Lewis: piano
James Davis: trumpet & flugel horn
Grazyna Auguscik: voice
Matthew Duval: vibraphone, marimba & glockenspiel
Michael Maccaferri: clarinets
Tim Munro: flutes
Jon Deitemyer / Michael Caskey: drums & percussion
Zach Brock: violin
Dominic Johnson: viola
Nicholas Photinos: cello
Recorded and mixed by Anthony Gravino at Joyride Studio and the Drake in Chicago, IL
Mastered by Jonathan Pines at Private Studios, Champaign, IL
Produced by Matt Ulery
Package design by Jim Tuerk and Matt Ulery
Photo by Quinn Owens-Hendrickson
Review:
This magical, profoundly musical release embraces more aesthetic influences than one might have thought a cohesive recording could. Drawing upon jazz, classical and Eastern European folkloric languages, among others, “By a Little Light” at first seduces the ear through its unusual instrumentation: jazz trio plus vibraphone, glockenspiel and classical chamber instrumentation (performed by members of the ensemble eighth blackbird and others) But it’s what Chicago bassist Ulery has written for these instruments that counts most, his compositions sometimes sublimely melodic, sometimes hypnotically repetitive but always exquisitely arranged. The second of the album’s two CDs features the haunting vocals of Polish-born, Chicago-based singer Grazyna Auguscik, accompanied by Ulery’s enchanting, genre-defying extended ensemble. Though Ulery clearly felt strongly enough about this material to join her on vocals, the nondescript quality of his singing suggests the recording would have been stronger without this contribution. Even so, the originality and purling beauty of this release cannot be overstated.
Howard Reich (Chicago Tribune)
