ADAM RUDOLPH & GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA - THOUGHT FORMS"About a minute and a half into “Mirrors,” track two on Thought Forms,
the distinct voices of Adam Rudolph's Go: Organic Orchestra begin to
blend. Percussive tongue slaps, growling flutes and slashed cymbals
collect in a glowing sonic aggregate;
overtones arch up, out and over the thirty-plus member band. The effect
is otherworldly and, like everything else on Thought Forms, fleeting.
Rudolph describes the music on the orchestra's fourth album as “a suite
with interludes of
calligraphic bridges. Romances, that [express]
emotional colors and a moving picture for the mind's ear.” The
percussionist, composer, conductor achieves this in twelve concise
tracks by varying moods and grooves, trusting his performers and
exploiting his orchestra's vast, vast timbral palate.
With fifteen woodwind players doubling on every conceivable variety of
flute, a battery of
percussionists, four acoustic bassists and a full string section of
violin, viola, cello, electric guitar and harp, Rudolph has no shortage
of options and he marshals the full force of his band with the perfect
mix of
assurance and restraint. The ethereal “Mirrors” is brought into sharp
focus by the hypnotic, percussive feel of “Overture” and “Axis,” the
pieces that
bookend it, in a method that anchors more esoteric material to brief,
infectious grooves. This works
wonders at the album's midpoint when the flitting, impressionistic
“Interior” is followed by the
dissonant, polyrhythmic groove of “Circular.”
In addition to channeling the potentially unwieldy elements of his
orchestra into condensed ensemble passages, Rudolph allows individual
voices and duos to occupy the foreground in a number of pieces.
“Kaleidophone” is a spiky vehicle for Emily Hay's flute and “Atmos”
pairs Harris Eisenstadt's
rippling percussion with Jeremy Drake's minimalist guitar. These
episodes are more accent than feature and each performance is contained
enough by Rudolph to maintain focus and momentum all the way to the
transcendent conclusion, “River Run.”" from allaboutjazz web site
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