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Las Vegas Life
To this day, the most avant-garde piece of music produced by local musicians isn't by one of Vegas' rock, jazz or funk outfits, but by a classical wind quintet. Casino, an inspired collaboration between the Sierra Winds and composer Philip Kent Bimstein, is a masterwork of classic styles and found sounds. Chips are stacked in syncopated time, coins fall in flourishes and the sound of video poker machines paying out provide a sort of melody for the quintet to embellish upon. It is an inspired work--one that the quintet's director, oboist Stephen Caplan, actually improves upon with Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa, another Bimstein collaboration and the centerpiece of Caplan's wonderful solo release, A Tree in Your Ear. As Caplan sends earnest, plaintive notes soaring into the night sky, Bimstein paces him with the sounds of water dripping, cicadas buzzing, and frogs croaking, all in perfect time. Close your eyes and you can almost see the little guys in tuxedoes. A smoldering take on Yusef Lateef's "Saltwater Blues" also impresses, as does his reading of Alan Hovhaness's "Koke No Niwa." Only the wacky sci-fi touches of Mark Philips' "Sonic Landscapes" fault the versatile player; Caplan gamely deconstructs himself for the composition, but the results are a bit jarring, considering the winning synthesis of man, music and environment that distinguishes the rest of the record. A must-have. - Geoff Carter Las Vegas Life |