Kevin Norton is the rare percussionist who composes with a strong ear for melody and theme. His releases on his own Barking Hoop label (especially "For Guy Debord" (In Nine Events) and Change Dance/Troubled Energy) show a flair for musicality and dramatic timing. The drummer doubles on vibraphone, either explaining or a product of that ear.
Music for Strings puts him in the midst of variations on the most purely musical of ensembles, the string quartet. Norton presented works for himself with a string trio, adding a second bass and a trumpet over the course of the evening. His percussion set the foundation for violinist Sam Bardfeld, cellist Tomas Ulrich and bassist John Lindberg. The through-composed pieces ranged from pastoral to jazzy without losing the richness a string group can build.
Norton's compositions for the group are lush and quite beautiful. Far from the scraping, bending, extended techniques usually associated with strings below 14th Street, the musicians more often than not played bowed lines, creating rich sonorities with vibes darting underneath. Norton, however, did "extend" his vibraphone, bowing the metal keys to create suspended, ringing notes.
The quartet was joined by Dave Ballou on trumpet and Mark Guiliana conducting for a piece by Ballou which created ever changing dialogues and counterpoints, building on a never stated theme and setting up a fairly remarkable duet between trumpet and cello. Guiliana took to the drums and electronics and Mark Dresser joined as second bassist for a final piece, with Guiliana sampling scratchy string recordings which the ensemble played against.
Norton spotlights his players, leaving plenty of room for his strong compositions to grow. But on top of that, he is a great soloist. Though he didn't claim much time for himself, the final piece was built around duets, and he played a strong segment against Giuli ana's drumming.
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