Resting within the broad, contemporary effort of historical reappraisal, seeking a more democratic and dynamic understanding of the history of 20th Century creativity, back in 2016 fans of experimental and avant-garde music were treated to a rare revelation. From the venerable hands of the Los Angeles based imprint, Recital, came In My Arms, Many Flowers, a body of previously unheard recordings by the almost entirely unknown American Gamelan composer and instrument builder, Daniel Schmidt. Minds melted. Copies disappeared as fast as they came. It was, quite deservingly, one of the most beloved and talked about records of that year. Now, again from Recital, comes Abies Firma, a second body of revelatory and mind blowing efforts by Schmidt, expanding our understanding of this remarkable voice, washing our ears in beautiful and challenging sounds. This one is just about as hotly anticipated and exciting as records get.

A long standing member of the Bay Area musical underground and current teacher of gamelan and instrument building at Mills College, Daniel Schmidt studied Javanese music at California Institute of the Arts. In 1975 he met the visionary American gamelan composer Lou Harrison, embarking on a series of regular discussions which would inspire his work and construction of instruments, ultimately helping him to forge the singular, decades deep territory in sound, which has only begun to emerge into the global consciousness during recent years.

Like In My Arms, Many Flowers, Abies Firma encounters Schmidt accompanied by his ensemble, the Berkeley Gamelan, otherwise notable for realising Pauline Oliveros’ striking effort, Lion's Eye For Gamelan, from 1985. Collecting works from 1976 to 1991, it opens a window into the composer’s second phase of compositional form - meditative and restrained, cracked open with space, moving away from traces of Javanese traditional formalism, and no longer deploying the constant stream of notes which defined his earlier works. Taking its name and inspiration from the Sierra fir, ‘abies firma’, imagistic metaphors rise, sweeping across the six octaves of the gamelan. But, perhaps even more remarkably, the album offers an even more diverse and dynamic range of recording than its predecessor, from an immersive tape-delay piece for the bowed Javanese instrument, the rebab, a semi-improvised flute and gamelan work, and two pieces co-composed with Lou Harrison.

Absolutely stunning and beautiful from start to finish, Abies Firma unquestionably fulfils the high expectations laid down by its predecessor, further cementing Schmidt in our minds as a seminal voice within the contexts of 1970s and 80s experimental music, forging a path unlike that of any of his peers. A window into the cooperative spirit and experimentation of its era, this one is as essential as they come. Each LP comes with a CD which also includes the work, “One White Crow,” a stunning three-part tapestry of melodic fragments which epitomizes his remarkable path through sound.