“Lunas Negras”, which
translates to English as “Black Moons”, is a chaotic and breathtakingly beautiful
album by Canadian jazz ensemble Nigredo. Their label, Small Scale Music, is
dedicated to small batch cassette releases. The music is sourced from a concert
which took place in Montreal earlier in the year.
The ensemble has five
core members who masterfully take care of the strings contributing to the
release. A paradox is created. The strings guide the mood of each piece yet
each player’s emotions are clearly guiding them as they come together to create
dense soundscapes. The percussion was apparently played “by the public” and as
risky as that sounds it was well executed. Vocalist Géraldine Célérier Eguiluz’s voice continues to haunt me long
since I’ve turned the music off to the point where my brain begs me to put the
tape back in for another listen. It’s been a while since my last community
college Spanish class so I am missing out on actually understanding the lyrics.
But even with the language barrier, I still can’t help but be in awe of her
talent.
PLEASE give this tape
a try. I typed please in all caps because I am begging you. It’s important to
me that no one misses out on good music. Even though it’s impossible to consume
everything worth hearing in a lifetime, when a project like this passes someone
by it’s a tragedy. Prevent that from happening to you.
Stream + Buy: https://smallscalemusic.bandcamp.com/album/lunas-negras
-- Roy Blumenfeld
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