…Ave Maria…beautifully symbolizes this album’s overall preoccupation with marrying the old and the new to ear-tingling effect.
Just Ancient Loops, a kaleidoscopic, three-part meditation for cello, combines ancient scales and harmonies with contemporary looping techniques that make Beiser’s solo instrument sound like an orchestra. Meanwhile,
Hijaz, a brilliantly schizophrenic work that veers between slow, lyrical passages and fast, rhythmic spasms, unites an aged Middle Eastern and North African mode with the youthful voices of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.
Because every track on the album is composed and performed in just intonation, the music sounds startlingly fresh. © 2012
WQXR (New York) Read complete review
