Search - Anthony Davis :: Lady of the Mirrors

Swingin' Minimalism

KALO | Cambridge, MA United States | 11/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who crave a synthesis of Duke Ellington and Steve Reich, your prayers have been answered. And I don't mean that as a put-down in any way, shape, or form. Anthony Davis is a pioneer, despite forbears such as Gershwin, Ellington, Gunther Schuller and John Lewis (of Modern Jazz Quartet fame) in the melding of "classical" and "jazz" American musical forms. His music may have achieved higher ephiphanies in works such as "Episteme" and his opera "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X," but this album is, arguably, where it all started. "Lady of the Mirrors" is a solo piano recital that bridges the gap between Davis's influences and his ambitions. All the tracks on this album are engaging, but my favorites are "Under the Double Moon," a piano reduction -- or perhaps a forecast? -- of his later orchestral work "Episteme," and his Ellington tribute "Man on a Turquoise Cloud." Start your investigation of the other Jazz Davis here, and realize at the same time that he may lead you astray of the loose confines of the jazz genre."