Album Review of
Mistune: Violin & Tanpura

Written by Joe Ross
February 11, 2019 - 12:00am EST
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This 73-minute album offers 15 tracks of meditative tunes with names like “Resolve,” “Beam,” “Knock,” “Fleck,” “Ebb,” “Foam” and “Offset.”  New Zealand-based violinist Chris Prosser provides melodies and improvisations over the foundation of a droning tanpura played by Susan Thomson. With harmonics and overtones, her long-necked string instrument from India supports and sustains Prosser’s explorations. As the liner notes point out, “…with nine string available, the combinations provide wide scope for harmonic and emotional interplay.” Different tunings are used, and “Beam,” for example, is described as “sharpening of top violin strings brings lift.” While the slower tempos of each piece are fairly standard, you’ll hear expressions of melody, rhythm, dynamics and dissonance. Some tunes explore other cultural and musical elements such as Balkan or Klezmer sounds to paint a sonic canvas of longing, loss, sorrow, romance or constancy. The overall journey, although rather spare, solemn or even melancholy at times, may be just the thing for a listener seeking something unique and different.  (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)