Kate Gentile/International Contemporary Ensemble

An accomplished and cultivated performance, Biome i.i. is an interpretation by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) of a 13-part suite, composed by Brooklyn-based percussionist Kate Gentile. Known as a creative drummer who often works with Matt Mitchell, Gentile contributes her idiophone skills to ICE, which is otherwise made up of players who usually work in the notated world.

Not a Jazz-so-called Classical Music fusion – although there’s an interlude of pseudo-swing from Gentile and pianist Cory Smythe on “xooox” – the through-composed, interconnected piece occupies its own niche. Lyrical motifs from Isabel Lepanto Gleicher’s flute or Ross Karre’s resounding vibraphone pops appear from time to time, but most titles evolve through ensemble swaying or sectoral counterpoint. Jennifer Curtis’ delicate violin ascendancy sometimes harmonized with flute and Joshua Rubin’s clarinet, alternates with harsher sequences. These involve contrasting reed squirms from Gleicher, Rubin and bassoonist Rebekah Heller with swift piano pressure or more frequently ratchets, clanks, ruffs and rebounds from Gentile and Karre’s percussion collection to promote hocketing and discordant passages.

Reverberations aren’t limited to idiophones like ratchets and claves either. Jagged interjections also come from the violinist’s pizzicato plucks or sharp spiccato squeaks as well as dark bass clarinet lowing However a broken octave continuum is maintained via keyboard comping, measured bassoon glissandi and, somewhat surprisingly, from steadying drum rolls. By “shorm” at the three-quarters point, equity between strident and smooth passages has been established.

This means that the penultimate “drode” unites the entire ensemble in repeated and undulating patterns that refer back to the introduction while confirming and shading the narrative with vanishing horn puffs and warm piano dynamics. Harmonized flute peeps and pinpointed vibe plinks float discordance away during the coda “isth”. Complex but accessible, the tracks, named with loose translations of ikbii sign language, should lure those fascinated by out-of-the-ordinary music.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. drobe 2. ikbii 3. oergn 4. bippf 5. flibb 6. chorp 7. nionine 8. vlimb 9. xooox 10. moons 11. shorm 12. drode 13. isth

Personnel: Joshua Rubin (clarinet, bass clarinet); Rebekah Heller (bassoon); Isabel Lepanto Gleicher (flute, piccolo); Cory Smythe (piano); Jennifer Curtis (violin); Ross Karre (vibraphone, percussion); Kate Gentile (drums, percussion)