BRUITS | THE ABSOLUTE SOUND

The Absolute Sound

- Andrew Quin

“Many arts organizations have decided they can’t ignore difficult societal issues, an imperative that’s strongly felt by the Imani Winds. The quintet’s players have changed over their 25 years as a performing ensemble but most have been Black or Latino. The title track, Bruits (“noises made by blood moving through obstructed arteries, indicating the body is at risk”—medically, this isn’t exactly correct) addresses the often-painful outcome of the “stand your ground” laws adopted by many localities. Written by the celebrated jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and scored for woodwind quintet plus piano, the second movement has the players reading from one such statute. The music is stylistically varied, including stretches of skillfully constructed atonality, effectively creating a mood of turmoil and disease. Reena Esmail’s gorgeous The Light Is the Same takes inspiration from the 13th Century Persian poet Rumi’s ideas about interpersonal relationships; the virtuosic writing for winds evokes the opening pages of The Rite of Spring. The CD concludes with Sometimes, the Imani’s recasting of music by Frederic Rzewski (1938–2021). Veteran engineer/producer Judith Sherman collaborates with others to offer studio sound that isn’t especially atmospheric but is highly convincing, in terms of timbre and texture. “