Anna Webber

Experimenting with polyrhythms and pitch, tenor saxophonist/flutist Anna Webber composed this suite to explore just intonation. But BC-born Webber, now New England Conservatory Jazz Studies co-chair, was canny enough to shape her arrangements to a group of younger improvisers, trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, synthesizer player Elias Stemeseder, cellist Mariel Roberts and drummer Lesley Mok.

Mixing electronic and acoustic instruments means that despite the academic implications, theses are secondary as the themes wince and shimmer to compelling conclusions. A swing tempo even enlivens most tracks. Bookended by expositions that inflate languorous synth burbles and muted horn slurs into an undulating blend of cello thumps, drum smashes and horn vamps, the strategy is intensified throughout.

O’Farrill’s intense plunger tone on a track like “Fizz” are doubled by lively saxophone riffs and toughened with cello string scratches. When he squeezes even higher-pitched triplets upwards, Stemeseder’s organ-like tremolo patterns stabilize the compositional flow.

Disparate musical blends also characterizer the tunes as on “Periodicity 1”, where the flute’s airy transverse puffs lock into a dialogue with tough reverberating drum beats. Adding backing cello swipes, that piece also concludes with a graceful sequence that could stand as a trumpet concerto.

Shimmer Wince is as fascinating as it is freewheeling. It refines the concept of experimenting with just intonation in such a way that the blends and movement of the performances make understanding of exactly how the formula works unnecessary.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Swell 2. Wince 3. Fizz 4. Periodicity 1 5. Squirmy 6. Periodicity 2 7. Shimmer

Personnel: Adam O’Farrill (trumpet); Anna Webber (tenor saxophone, flute, bass flute); Elias Stemeseder (synthesizer); Mariel Roberts (cello) and Lesley Mok (drums)

–for MusicWorks Summer 2024