{"id":26406,"date":"2023-11-04T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-04T09:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26406"},"modified":"2023-11-03T09:06:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T13:06:14","slug":"album-review-the-james-mcgowan-ensemble-reaching-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/04\/album-review-the-james-mcgowan-ensemble-reaching-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The James McGowan Ensemble \u2013 Reaching In"},"content":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/james_mcgowan.jpg\")
It\u2019s often quite intriguing \u2013 and musically rewarding \u2013 when skilled and creative musicians set about with the goal of bringing together disparate genres. That is the chosen mission of the Ottawa-based James McGowan Ensemble. Pianist and composer McGowan enlists the collaboration of the Modasaurus jazz fusion quartet and<\/i> a string quartet called Despax; together, all of them (plus four others) create a synthesis of jazz and classical music. It\u2019s not exactly third stream; what it is, is compelling.<\/p>\n
On \u201cImagine, Pt. 1,\u201d lush and keening strings meet with a subtle and supple fusion group, providing a cinematic backdrop for Jamaal Amir Akbari\u2019s spoken-word readings of McGowan\u2019s poetry. The musicians stable and slash, punctuating Akbari\u2019s expressive exposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThoughts and Prayers\u201d opens in dramatic fashion, too, with a crystalline arrangement that suggests a classically-minded Steely Dan. The wholly instrumental piece is meditative yet multicolored. The brief \u201cInternal Conflict\u201d sounds and feel like the theme music to some climactic on-screen action: a car case, maybe? Catchy stuff.<\/p>\n
As its title telegraphs, \u201cGrief and Despair\u201d is a melancholy, string-centric piece that vividly conveys emotion without the use of words. The brighter \u201cUncertain Future\u201d has a vaguely Vince Guaraldi air about it. \u201cReaching In\u201d starts out as a piano trio, strings adorn the song\u2019s second half.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine, Pt. 2\u201d swings and then takes on a slinky urban feel, with Akbar\u2019s recitations holding interest as well. \u201cTime to Rise\u201d skillfully splits the difference between a knotty, proggy approach and something more mainstream. There\u2019s an uptown NYC character to the tasty \u201cTripping Triceratops.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAugmented Reality\u201d makes the most of the string section, but the arrangement shows all of the players \u2013 horn section most notably \u2013 to excellent effect. A brief linking track, \u201cSimple Reality\u201d features cello and piano at its core, with extra string adding sympathetic accompaniment.<\/p>\n
Akiri returns for \u201cImagine, Pt. 3.\u201d more somber instrumentally than the earlier parts, it\u2019s highlighted by an optimistic lyric. \u201cInner Peace\u201d marries dissonance with melody, providing a backdrop for more introspective thought. The spare \u201cInner Child\u201d take a moment or two to make its musical point, but the wait is worth it.<\/p>\n
The instrumental \u201cThrough My Tears I Smile\u201d sound like its title suggests it would, with bittersweet tones amidst the arrangement. The set concludes with the subtly Afro-Cuban flavored \u201cAcceptance,\u201d a serene and melodic way to wrap up a fascinating and musically luxurious album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s often quite intriguing \u2013 and musically rewarding \u2013 when skilled and creative musicians set about with the goal of bringing together disparate genres. That is the chosen mission of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,42,49,65],"tags":[5274],"class_list":["post-26406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classical","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-review","tag-james-mcgowan","cat-17-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26408,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26406\/revisions\/26408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}