Reviewed: 2019-12-02
Genre: Jazz
FCCs: none
Review: Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange) and the Grammy Award-winning Chicago ensemble Third Coast Percussion have dropped Fields, a collaborative project comprised of classical music compositions written by Hynes and performed by the four-man group. Consisting of 13 lush compositions, the album’s first 11 tracks form a suite entitled “For All Its Fury” and the final two tracks are separate pieces. Hynes created a beautiful field for the musicians to play in.
If You Like: Terry Riley, Steve Reich
Track Review (favorites denoted by *):
For All Its Fury:
*1/ Reach (2:32) – vibes start> slow tempo jam morphs into space jam> slow fade
**2/ Blur (1:40) – vibes start> uptempo jam> slow fade
*3/ Coil (3:54) – spacey start> midtempo space jam> quick stop
4/ Wane (1:22) – space jam with random percussion, like raindrops, then tympani thunder> quick fade
5/ Curl (1:16) – gong starts> slow space jam> fade
6/ Hush (1:53) – spacey synth starts> slow space jam washes in waves> fade
**7/ Gather (5:53) – slow spacey synth starts> marimba kicks in uptempo over washes of sound> slow fade
8/ Tremble (1:52) – synth starts quietly> slow space jam with sporadic notes builds in volume to crescendo & fades
9/ Cradle (5:25) – synth starts quiet & hesitating> slow apace jam builds in volume> crescendo> fade
***10/ Press (3:27) – marimba starts hesitatingly> midtempo jam swings uptempo & builds in volume> quick stop
***11/ Fields (6:05) – vibes/synth starts> slow space jam with multiple layers swings uptempo> crescendo end
*12/ Perfectly Voiceless (11:32) – vibes/marimba start> uptempo jam with shifting instrumentation> pause> midtempo jam with shifting instrumentation slows to slow tempo> slow fade
13/ There Was Nothing (13:41) – synth starts> slow space jam with waves of shifting instrumentation>
explosion of sound like a thunderstorm morphs into uptempo space jam> crescendo> uptempo space jam> slows to fade