A duo recital that transforms your listening room into an intimate concert venue. Longstanding music partners Wayne Horvitz and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck perform 17 tracks of original compositions and improvisations, blending contemporary classical structures with chamber jazz feeling.
Bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck and keyboardist Wayne Horvitz have been musical partners for over 20 years, notably in Horvitz’s chamber jazz group The Gravitas Quartet (formed 2004) and his Some Days Are Forever Afternoon project (2015 – both on Songlines). They formed this duo in 2018 to play a program of their own music – composed, improvised, and everywhere in between, a study of the crossroads where texture and extended technique meet with and support the expression of melody and song.
As Wayne relates, “Sara has been a guest on a lot of gigs with other bands of mine (especially Sweeter Than the Day). She has also performed as an improvising soloist in a number of my classical pieces, including a piece for orchestra and my string quartet These Hills of Glory. Most recently Sara has joined the Snowghost Trio on quite a few shows.” Sara elaborates: “Wayne’s Gravitas Quartet involving Ron Miles, Peggy Lee and myself was, for me, the perfect blend of thru-composed chamber music and improvisation, always authentic in its transparent and quiet beauty. Some years and projects later Wayne invited me to join a solo concert of his in Chicago. It was a revelation of common language and a relief to play in a duo setting for the expressive yet quiet bassoon. I find great pleasure in this duo, particularly because we often walk between the worlds of improvisation and notated chamber music.”
There is indeed something unexpected and quite special in how beautifully the two instruments blend (mostly acoustically, at other times involving electronics on the piano). Horvitz’s instrument for the main session at Pyatt Hall in Vancouver is a “very beautiful and beautifully maintained Steinway D…I felt strongly that we should record in a hall, because I felt that our best gigs had been in halls.” A studio session in Brooklyn six months later added six pieces involving electronics: “We both felt that some more open playing was missing, and also the sonic elements we can explore when I incorporate the electronics. (My pedal setup is pretty basic: a tremolo, an 8 second delay, a simple delay and a reverb pedal.)” Sara: “It is easy to fall into musical patterns when improvising. The electronics, even if they are subtle, shake us into a different sonic space which is decidedly refreshing.” The Brooklyn session includes the title track, which was composed shortly after Cecil Taylor passed and references “Cell Walk for Celeste,” an enigmatic title on an early Cecil record and a tune that Wayne had always liked. In addition are “Tin Palace” and four of the improvisations (tracks 2, 4, 10 and 16). Horvitz’s 10 compositions here include several canonical favorites: “Ironbound,” “American Bandstand” and also “No Blood Relation” from The Snowghost Sessions.
Mixed by Eric Eagle at Skoor Sound
Sara Schoenbeck – Bassoon
Wayne Horvitz – Piano & Electronics
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 01:04:36
Additional information
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| SKU | SGL16312 |
| Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, WAV 96 kHz, FLAC 192 kHz |
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| Release Date | December 19, 2024 |
Press reviews
Free Jazz Blog
“The 17 original pieces of this album highlight the duo’s great affinity for experimenting with unorthodox extended techniques and textures, compositional strategies, and improvisational ideas, always in the service of beautiful melodies and songs. The profound, common language of Horvitz and Schoenbeck captures the listener immediately. There is a rare kind of relaxed intimacy and a natural fluidity in their interplay. There is also an expressive synergy that is focused most of the time on reserved, lyrical tones, and an organic and transparent basis that keeps enriching the melodic, chamber conversations. Schoenbeck demonstrates the full sonic palette of the modern bassoon as a classical instrument that feels at home in many musical arenas, especially on Horvitz’ playful homage “For Lou Harrison”, her own composition “Deep Well Well”, and the open improvisations where Horvitz added subtle electronics…all performed with grace and elegance, beauty and imagination.”
Jazz Times
“Much of the record’s allure is owed to muted expression. Horvitz’s chamber songs often have a way of declaring themselves with a whisper. The central phrase of “American Bandstand” feels like it’s been floating through the air forever. “Ironbound” is both gothic and spectral, with a stealth drama at its core. Schoenbeck’s pair of tunes are comparatively abstract—I had to check to see if “Marcuselle” was one of the program’s five fully improvised works. Six performances use minimalist electronics for textural options, enhancing the music’s fabric. But Cell Walk’s real attraction is the way these disparate elements are aligned. The bassoonist growls a bit; her partner often relies on silence. “Tin Palace” and “For Lou Harrison” move quickly; “Sleeper Ship” and “Sutter St.” exude calm. Most of the 17 tracks clock in at under four minutes. As they reveal their relationship to each other, each evocative miniature reminds that a sketch can have the emotional impact of a symphony.”
Bandcamp
“Pianist Wayne Horvitz and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck are half of the chamber jazz group Gravitas Quartet, and they bring the same fragile beauty and humble majesty to the mix on this riveting duo session. No piece better encapsulates the potent magnetism generated by this duo than their rendition of Horvitz’s “American Bandstand,” a work that flirts with diving deep into a heartbreaking melody and effecting its slow dissolution, without ever fully manifesting either state. It is beauty creating tension, creating beauty by way of proxy.”
Daily Herald Tribune
“This gem of a recording pairs-up the formidable duo of bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck and pianist Wayne Horvitz for a session of lovely pieces that are improvised, composed or straddling points in-between. Having worked together for 20 years in Horvitz’s chamber jazz group the Gravitas Quartet, which includes Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee, they speak one another’s musical language. For every outsider jaunt such as Deep Well Well, there is an equally near, neoclassical feeling piece such as Laughter or Ironbound. Horvitz is always a solid player but it’s exciting to hear Schoenbeck take the bassoon in such interesting directions.”
All About Jazz
“Schoenbeck and Horvitz settle in for a collection of (mostly) miniatures that both rise to great heights and sink to dark depths, all the while showcasing synergy and sympathies of an extraordinary nature. The program includes spellbinding melodic drifts spied from a distance and sourced from the heavens, descents into catacombs echoing cacophonous lines, meetings with the proudly sedate, and curious turns of phrase that soothe and suggest multiple pathways. The music is never short on surprise, and it’s always focused on a fine balance in voicing and vision(s).
Cell Walk, broaching fresh territory in multiple ways, suggests an unusually aligned sense of understanding shared between two unique artists. This is the rare case where the phrase “one of a kind” can be applied to the individual(s), the collective entity and its album all at once. Delivering music with incredible depth of presence, Sara Schoenbeck and Wayne Horvitz prove mesmerizing.”
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