Search - Room :: Hall of Mirrors

Unlike anything out there

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 03/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Occupying a space somewhere between out jazz and New Music, Hall of Mirrors by Room represents certainly one of the outstanding examples of such rarified music.The band features players of the highest accomplishment, including the late, great Larry Ochs, soprano and tenor saxophone, a founding member of the ROVA Saxophone Quartet and out wind giant for several decades on the San Francisco music scene; William Winant, vibraphone and percussion, mainstay of the brilliant Able-Steinberg-Winant Trio and frequent collaborator with New Music pioneer Lou Harrison; Chris Brown, piano, keyboards, percussion, and sound design, a name new to me, who has extensive credits in New Music, classical, and electronic music circles; and Scot Gresham-Lancaster, live electronics and computer, another name new to me, but who seems largely responsible for integrating the electronic and computer-generated sounds into the group's entirely attractive sonic palette.I must admit that I'm entirely taken with this group's pioneering approach to acoustic and machine-generated spontaneous music-making. Whereas music of this sort can often come off as cold, sterile, and unapproachable, this music resonates with a warmth and vitality seldom found in electro-acoustic settings. Filled with surprise and a hard-won beauty, shaped from the most unlikely seeming materials, Hall of Mirrors never ceases to reveal and unveil glorious and surprising musical miracles. Highest recommendation"