Five stars: A varied program, beautifully recorded and played, and one of great musical value.
An idea in 2016 to commission new music by composers living in Central Florida led to The Orange Blossom Dances, a multi-composer suite that put creator and executant within driving distance of each other. The project also included a ground rule that some composers would be guitarists themselves others not to this was layered on requirement that a dance rhythms of some sort was included. There are in fact seven composers, as Phillips himself contributes a Prelude (itself prefatory to Jorge Morel’s Prelude y Danza. Phillips’ piece is based on Bach’s lute Prelude, BWV 998 (a snippet of which appears as a quote, but seamlessly interwoven). We move to darker climes for Orlando-based Jorge Morel’s Prelude y Danzaa. The dances in question originate from Argentina and Paraguy and are beautifully, sensitively handled by Phillips. It is almost as if the dances creep up on the listener one suddenly notices one is involved with the swinging rhythm and the charming motivic scenery. While we are on the subject of dance and South America, perhaps it is inevitable that a samba will crop up, and so it does in Charles Griffin’s Samba Variations. Beginning with bare-bones material, the music blossoms into a sophisticated meditation on samba itself. At times, it seems to be asking, via the guitar, philosophical questions as to the nature of the dance itself this is no facile variation set. I had not come across the name of Benoit Glazer before he was, it turns out, for years in charge of the Orlando Cirque du Soleil ‘s La Nouba (a site-specific show). Glazer’s captivating, gentle Tanval is a tango-waltz hybrid and is inspired by the idea of performing a dance on a high wire, its five-to-a-measure meter. Giving it just the right amount of lop-sidedness. An ideal counterpart, Troy Gifford’s Valsera, a traditional form waltz with nicely spicy modern if not modernist) harmonies. The performance once more reveals Phillips’ sensitivities. Although not strictly linear, the pieces in The Orange Blossom Dances do generally get longer as the suite progresses. The Rondo Diabolico plays with consonance and dissonance while not be the seat-of-the-pants ride Baphomet or Satan would doubtless encourage, it does include some devilishly clever harmonic sleights. The title of Howard Buss’ Dances and Interludes seems to balance that of Morel’s Preludio y Danza, perhaps bringing some symmetry. Buss’ music, though, is a mix of intellect and fun, taking us on a whistle-stop tour of Afro-Latin musics such as the Cuban Songo, the Brazilian Bossa Nova and flamenco. There is a complexity here that is most appealing the score places significant demands on the soloist, though, and Robert Phillips triumphs. It is fair to say that Phillips’ playing is generally defined by a musicianly clarity: clarity both of texture but also of clear-sighted structural awareness. And it is in this final offering that all of that pays off particularly handsomely: in particular, in the Buss, Phillips nails the music's warm spots, those moments when the harmonies suddenly invite one in from the cold. Not to be confused with the composer named John Powell from Virginia, John W. Powell hails from Nottingham in England (a now largely forgotten little island just off, but no longer a part of, Europe). Phillips plays three of Powell’s nine Nocturnes (written in 2012, 2014 and 2015 respectively), music that is deceptively simple. The music is, in fact, gently sophisticated Powell creates a veil of sound behind which mysteries lie, a sonic web woven magically by Phillips. This music requires neither the grand gesture, nor the seductive dances of the Americas it speaks, instead, directly to the heart. Powell’s music becomes more impressive each time one experiences it. A varied program, beautifully recorded, and one of great musical value. More, with his commissioning endeavors, Robert Phillips has facilitated the birth of much of the music into the world, and for that we should be grateful. Colin Clarke
