ETHEL

Description

CDEthel is the name of a new quartet of string players devoted, for the most part, to performing music by their contemporaries; in a way, they re very much like the Kronos. Their absorption in music of all kinds gives them a wonderful edge. They run the gamut, professionally, from being in the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Steve Reich Ensemble to backing up The Who s Roger Daltrey and Sheryl Crow. On their debut album, we hear John King s "Sweet Hardwood," which is deeply rooted in blues and is played with great, gutsy, feeling; a four-movement piece by John Kline that is in minimalist tradition and whose rhythms are infectious; a strange, brief work ("uh…it all happened so fast") by one of their violinists, Todd Reynolds, which begins down, dark and cavernously in the low strings and develops with great vibrancy; and Evan Ziporyn s 1991 "Be-in," in which they re joined by Ziporyn on bass clarinet (its lyrical chugging manages to be both reassuring and jittery at once). When it s over, you want to hear it again. The music and performances on this CD are both earthy and poetic and worth listening to often. --Robert Levine