Splinter Reeds - Dark Currents (2024)

Dark Currents is the third full-length recording by Splinter Reeds, the West Coast's premier reed quintet featuring Kyle Bruckmann, Bill Kalinkos, Nicki Roman, Jeff Anderle and Dana Jessen.

The album opens with Michael Gordon's majestic "Tall Grass," which cascades upward into undulating waves of melody before it spreads out on a moody canvas, surging with tension and emotion. By contrast, Paula Matthussen's "Antenna Studies" combines ambient soundscapes and found sounds; as the musicians quietly tease their instruments with breath control and percussive pad strikes, a somber melodic figure gradually begins to take shape. Taken together, these two 20-minute performances propel the listener forward on an ever-changing journey, by turns hypnotic, ecstatic, surreal and spooky, that tests the pre-conceived boundaries of modern chamber music.