Three Gems of Creative Music from Relative Pitch: Works by Madison Greenstone, Camila Nebbia, and Maria Valencia

Over the past dozen years, the New York-based label Relative Pitch has diligently promoted improvised music. Founded by Kevin Reilly and the late Mike Panico, the imprint boasts a roster of artists that range from stalwarts in the field of creative music to promising newcomers. Below are reviews of three prodigious woodwind players' solo 2023 releases.

Madison Greenstone
Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness
Relative Pitch
2023

Clarinetist Madison Greenstone is well known in experimental music circles both in the USA as well as Europe. Based in New York City she is an educator and artist-in-residence at various major universities and has recorded with many genre-bending artists. Her solo release Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness explores the sonic and emotive possibilities of her instrument, all the while maintaining a robust intellectual stimulation.

The album consists of eleven short pieces, each an abstract study in sound. The mournful, reverberating "Ecstatic Consciousness I" is made up of overlapping reverberating lines that echo against one another in a Zen-like serenity. While "Ecstatic Consciousness II," with its piercing tones, conveys a more urgent feeling of angst.

The three part "Aspects Beyond Thought" starts off with foggy yet ringing phrases that create darkly hued textures. The second segment is bottom heavy with clean, crisp notes and is akin to a prayer-like chanting. While the third, titled "Aspects Beyond Thought III (Shadow Presence)" is eerily unsettling while, curiously, also being mesmerizing and warm.

Both "Aeolian Harp"s are high-pitched cries that undulate and haunt with their spiritual undertones. Elsewhere "Glass Tones" is more dramatic because of the tense mood it creates. Meanwhile "Hidden Name" brims with an exalted somberness like a sacred instrument being played in the resonant halls of a temple.

There is no doubt that this recording makes for a demanding listening experience. That is likely its intention. Greenstone is not performing background music but a very personal work that conveys her own awe and immense joy at the improvisational possibilities of her instrument. As such it rewards open-minded audiences who also have an adventurous sense.

Camila Nebbia
Una Ofrenda A La Ausencia
Relative Pitch
2023

Buenos Aires-born and Berlin-based saxophonist Camila Nebbia is also a restless explorer of innovative expressions. Whether these be in music or in the visual arts Nebbia has attained recognition both in the Americas as well as Europe. She, too, has recorded with many stars of the worldwide creative music scene. Her solo offering is the enchanting Una Ofrenda a la Ausencia or An Offering to an Absence .

A yearning, intimate sound marks these 16 tracks on which Nebbia blows her tenor with acerbic eloquence. On the evocative "Sobre la función del olvido" her spoken word recitations and electronics echo against the angular, reverberating saxophone. The ambience is dramatic and moving. On the immediate follower, "Irse," Nebbia embraces dissonance with joyful introspection, endowing the tune with a poetic sense.

Indeed a unique lyricism permeates all these pieces. "Algunos huecos de la memoria quedan vacíos," despite its honks, squawks and fiery atonal fragments, maintains a dulcet edge. While the eerie "Ofrenda al vacío" that closes the album is akin to a pagan, ritualistic chant as Nebbia weaves her tenor lines within uniquely pastoral soundscapes.

There are plenty of delightfully contrasting surprises. "Atravesar el tiempo sin quebrarse," for instance, demonstrates Nebbia exploring the upper registers of her instrument. With breathtakingly agile twittering and a stimulating spontaneity she builds a brightly hued improvisation with an undercurrent of anxiety. Elsewhere "Estar y desaparecer,desaparecer y estar," not necessarily an existential meditation as its title may suggest, is a passionate musical gem. Nebbia utilizes fiery and intricately constructed phrases as she builds a vibrant and provocative performance.

On this absorbing album Nebbia proves her mettle as master saxophonist and an intriguing improviser. She also showcases her unique style that is rooted in the avant-garde movement yet maintains a personality all of its own.

Maria Valencia
Compendio de Alofonías Abisales
Relative Pitch
2023

The third recording is saxophonist/clarinetist Maria Valencia's paean to the natural beauty of two mountain ranges, Banff in Canada and the Colombian Andes. Valencia, like Nebbia and Greenstone is a restless explorer who has international street cred. Her impressionistic yet abstract Compendio de Alofonías Abisales amply demonstrates her superb talents.

Alternating between alto saxophone, two clarinets, and variety of percussion objects, Valencia deftly expresses various emotions and crafts a different ambience on each track. Opening with the atmospheric "Neuston," Valencia builds an expectant mood with her reverberating clarinet. Following immediately with "Marantus Volans" her high-register notes dance with an eastern sensibility. She conjures out of her saxophone sounds akin to the Levantine ney.

Meanwhile "Cernicaloide" is a fiery tune with dense, passionate lines that glow red hot and contrast with the bluesy hues of its follower, the contemplative "Martes Martes." Soulful and serene, the latter is a moving poem that moves with its forlorn tenderness.. Similarly the dramatic "Piedra angular hacia la montana" is a lyrical performance with yearning tones and emotive resonance.

The piece de la resistance on the uniformly superlative work is the four-part "Strigiforme" A showcase of Valencia's virtuosity and inventiveness on the alto, the mini-suite is replete with stimulating ideas and harmonic surprises. Fast paced, at times angst-ridden it is also exhilarating in its exploration of the instrument's melodic possibilities.

Valencia uses her percussion instruments, particularly the toy piano, on the closer "Viene alrededor de las 4_Oropendola." The ambience is both eerie and playful, like an otherworldly lullaby. Midway through there is a brief silence after which Valencia returns to her reeds and conjures out of them a polyphonic sound. The percussive rhythms and the bagpipe-like moans enhance the cinematic nature of the tune, concluding the album with a bang.

With this release Valencia demonstrates her unique artistic vision with great panache. The enchanting Compendio de Alofonías Abisales is an intimate work of rare beauty. It has multiple layers that reveal themselves with repeated spins.

Tracks and Personnel

Resonance Studies in Ecstatic Consciousness

Tracks: Ecstatic Consciousness I; Aeolian Harp I; Flicker; Glass Horn (Acoustic Shadows); Aspects Beyond Thought I; Aspects Beyond Thought II; Hidden Name; Aspects Beyond Thought Iii (Shadow Presence); Ecstatic Consciousness Ii; Smell Of The Moon; Aeolian Harp II.

Personnel: Madison Greenstone: Bb clarinet

Una Ofrenda A La Ausencia

Tracks: Todo Se Borra; Dejo Que Me Lleve; Sobre La Función Del Olvido; Irse; Partículas De Metal En El Agua; Ruinas; Entremedio; Algunos Huecos De La Memoria Quedan Vacíos; Ríos Que Se Cruzan; Todo Estaba Inundado; Deshabitarse; Atravesar El Tiempo Sin Quebrarse; Dejar; Estar Y Desaparecer,Desaparecer Y Estar; Desvío; Ofrenda Al Vacío.

Personnel: Camila Nebbia: tenor saxophone, spoken word, special effects.

Compendio de Alofonías Abisales

Tracks: Neuston; Marantus Volans; Cernicaloide; Martes Martes; Variaciones de Parientes; Las Aranas tambien miden el viento; Movimientos del Plancton; Intermedio; Amarillos; Medallas de copas arboreas; Strigiforme I; Strigiforme II; Strigiforme III; Strigiforme IV; Piedra angular hacia la montana; Viene alrededor de las 4_Oropendola.

Personnel: Maria Valencia: alto sax, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, toy piano, cymbal, percussion

Comments