Jeff Morris presents his fourth Ravello Records release, this one focusing on woodwinds and employing his characteristic live sampling and electronics. CLOSE REEDING is the latest since HEARING VOICES, an album which set its sights on the most fundamentally-human musical instrument: the human voice. Now, Morris turns his attention to woodwind instruments, which he terms the “next most human” family of instruments. By way of digital manipulation and live improvisation, Morris gives this thesis a convincing exposition. One might think of the “humanness” of a saxophone as being diametrically opposed to the cold, binary logic of a computer. As Morris sees it, the electronic interface that Morris controls is extremely sensitive to the input it receives, outlining its operator’s humanity in a sort of digital "counter-relief." CLOSE REEDING is an unchoreographed dance between Morris and the instrumentalist. Pulsating with the thrill of live performance, the musicians react to each other, and somehow, the machine seems to add its own artistic choices to the composition as well. While most of the tracks feature a single woodwind instrumentalist going head to head with Morris, What’s in a Whisper, a 4-movement piece, includes not only an alto saxophone but also a drum set and synthesizers. By isolating split-second musical moments, Morris draws out each instrument’s range of timbral complexity with microscopic clarity—giving serious credence to the title CLOSE REEDING.

Music lovers are familiar with Ferruccio Busoni due to his extensive revisions of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard works, but the Italian's own compositions have long been reserved for the pleasure of a handful of connoisseurs. Looking at their technical scope, it is not difficult to see why: Busoni, a true-blue composer in the original sense of the word, possesses an original, eclectic style that is difficult to categorize. Pianist-performer Svetlana Belsky, who first discovered her love for the musical creator during her doctoral studies, thus insightfully avoids any attempt at stylistic classification, but rather interprets each and every piece with great respect to the particular work's inherent nature. Since Busoni's pieces, individually taken, run the whole gamut from a late-Romantic, occasionally even classical aesthetic to borderline atonality, one would expect a coherent interpretation to be a truly fearful challenge. But this is where the magic sets in: Marrying awe-inducing technical capabilities to an artistic intuition of mind-boggling depth, Belsky manages to enter the inner sanctum of Busoni's creative thought, no matter the style, with miraculous panache. The pianist effortlessly captures the soul of the piece, regardless of whether the composer furiously tears down form and tonality in Sonatina Seconda, whether he reminisces in Chopin's lyricism in his Nine Variations, or whether he allows himself a rather off-color compositional remark by citing "Greensleeves" in Turandots Frauengemach. Belsky makes all these eccentricities sound perfectly plausible, imperative even; and she may well be the first pianist to accomplish this feat. Ferruccio Busoni: The Late Works, therefore, marks a new high point in the performance of the often- misunderstood composer; and Svetlana Belsky's innate understanding of her kindred spirit may well inspire a historic turning point in the public perception of Busoni's oeuvre.

Glaciers represent some of the most striking examples of nature’s power and artistry, while simultaneously revealing the impact of mankind’s actions. With pieces including a composition for Barack Obama’s 2015 GLACIER Conference in Alaska, Matthew Burtner’s GLACIER MUSIC breaks through the controversy around global warming. With electroacoustic compositions recorded on top of melting glaciers, GLACIER MUSIC makes the issue unavoidable: while we converse and debate over climate change, iconic pieces of natural history are slipping away. Matthew Burtner is an Alaskan-born composer, sound artist and eco-acoustician whose music and research explores embodiment, ecology, polytemporality and noise. First Prize Winner of the Musica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competition (Czech Republic), a 2011 IDEA Award Winner, and a recipient of the Howard Brown Foundation Fellowship, Burtner’s music has also received honors and awards from Bourges (France), Gaudeamus (Netherlands), Darmstadt (Germany) and The Russolo (Italy) international competitions. He is Professor of Composition and Computer Technologies (CCT) at the University of Virginia, and Director of the environmental arts non-profit organization, EcoSono

With a potent timbre and powerful volume, the saxophone is an instrument that demands respect. Nicki Roman—saxophonist with the award-winning Fuego Quartet—is deftly able to wrest control of the mighty woodwind, making the most of its range and tone. On Ravello Records’ UNQUIET WATERS, Roman takes listeners on a tour of the saxophone’s capabilities, from Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy syncopated rhythms to lyrical wedding marches, to complex works free of barlines. Each piece is different from the last, showcasing not only the breadth and potential of saxophone repertoire, but Roman’s own virtuosity and technique as a performer. Roman is accompanied by longtime collaborator and pianist Casey Dierlam Tse, another herald of new music who plays in lockstep to enrich the saxophone’s tone.

On AND NOTHING REMAINS THE SAME from Eight Strings & a Whistle and Navona Records, the flute-viola-cello trio explores the constant cycle of transformation that defines human existence. Since 1998, Eight Strings & a Whistle have earned a reputation for championing Baroque, Classical, and Romantic repertoire while also premiering new works from living composers. AND NOTHING REMAINS THE SAME focuses on the music of contemporary composers, some of whom composed their pieces specifically for the trio. The performances heard on the album offer a rewarding and intimate listening experience with a deeply evocative sound rife with stark dissonance and rich harmony.

The second volume of James Dashow’s SOUNDINGS IN PURE DURATION offers listeners a unique audiophile experience. The album of Dashow’s music for electronic sounds and instrumental soloists includes the last four works in the Soundings in Pure Duration series as well as the re-release of his Bourges Magisterium prizewinning work …at other times, the distances. The album is also available on DVD, giving listeners access to surround-sound (5.0) mixdowns of the pieces as well as composer-prepared stereo mixdowns that have been spatially enhanced to approximate a wider audio field. According to Dashow, this presentation of his octophonic and quadraphonic electronic music is second only to a live concert performance in terms of realizing his artistic vision for the music.

Ravello Records presents Soprano Summit from revered saxophonist Paul Cohen. Alongside his work as a performer, Cohen is known for his passionate scholarship, rediscovering long-forgotten saxophone works as well as arranging related music for the instrument. In this, his latest contribution, Cohen presents an album of music for the soprano saxophone in chamber and solo settings. The range and diversity of the soprano saxophone is stunning, from Cohen’s arrangement of Percy Grainger’s Arrival Platform Humlet (solo soprano saxophone) to Amanda Harberg’s first piece for saxophone, Feathers and Sax, (soprano saxophone and piano) and Jeff Scott’s new work The Gift of Life (piccolo, soprano/alto saxophone and piano). SOPRANO SUMMIT is both a celebration of the soprano saxophone as a concert instrument and a revelation of new, lost, revived, and beloved works.