REVIEWS:...Torke speaks with his own voice and (more importantly) knows how to write a good tune or two. And so despite the danger of sounding...

REVIEWS:

...Torke speaks with his own voice and (more importantly) knows how to write a good tune or two. And so despite the danger of sounding like a shameless Gershwin rip-off, An American Abroad comes across more as a joyous updating of a tried and true concept, and contains at its heart a lyrical melody that Gershwin himself would have been proud to sign. The much briefer Jasper covers similar emotional ground, being a bright, breezy jeu d'esprit that effortlessly sustains its 12-minute length.

The major work, though, is Rapture, a percussion concerto that features--in each of its three movements respectively--drums and woods, mallets, and metal instruments. Percussionist Colin Currie has a field day wielding his various pieces of musical artillery, and the outer movements play an entertaining game of having the soloist set a series of complex rhythmic patterns while the orchestra then proceeds to construct a variety of tunes employing them. It's great fun, if a bit relentless, and the vaguely Balinese central movement offers a very lovely and quite necessary element of repose...this brilliantly performed and recorded selection fills an important niche in Naxos' American Classics series. Despite rather unhelpful notes by the composer, it would be churlish to deny this sunny and accessible music anything but the highest recommendation. [2/3/2003]

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com