STARLINGS
Billy Martin
Tzadik, 2007Jennifer Choi/violin Jill Jaffe/viola
Okkyung Lee/cello
TD/bass
Helen Campo/flutes
Alexandra Knoll/oboe, english horn
Doug Wiesleman/clarinets
Charlie Porter/trumpet
Vincent Chancey/french horn
Jacob Garchik/trombone
Anthony Coleman/conductor
If you told me you were going to jam on a bunch of mbiras then give Anthony Coleman the recordings to transcribe and arrange for chamber ensemble I'd look at you sideways and then punch you in the jaw.
Unless, of course, you were the great percussionist Billy Martin. I'm on 8 of the tracks on this CD which also includes a couple string quartet pieces and the Whirligig Percussionists. The pieces I played on are rhythmically complex and the bass parts rarely go below middle C. Mostly I'm up in the stratosphere hanging on for dear life, wondering what excuses I can make, why I didn't go to a conservatory and whether or not I should sit in the sauna later. Certainly though, nothing happens in the past or in the future. Mr Coleman's touch is unmistakeable–giving true beauty to awkwardness and putting a strain on inner calm and visa versa.