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Review · All About JazzMusic For An Imaginary BalletNed Rothenberg, Arkady Gotesman, Nate Wooley, Charles Gayle, Mark Sanders, Liudas Mockūnas, Martin Küchen
All About Jazz
★★★★

The choreography in Music for an Imaginary Ballet unfolds in the listener's imagination in tandem with the sound. As a release, it stands out as a compelling example of contemporary chamber-improvisational music. Its structured compositional intelligence and aesthetic subtlety—heard in the carefully shaped forms, the calibrated pacing, and the deliberate contrasts between settings—give the album a clarity of design that encourages the kind of listening one would experience of an elegant, finely detailed performance in a theatre. Compositions are consistently absorbing: Each contributes its own relational tension, balance and dramaturgy, yet all share a disciplined attentiveness that elevates the music beyond moment-to-moment spontaneity. Within the field of small-ensemble improvised music, the album distinguishes itself through its combination of refined musicianship and compositional acuity. Nothing feels casual or provisional, even though the music arises from real-time creation. While it does not seek to be a career-defining opus, it excels on its own terms, presenting a focused, expertly-realised collection whose coherence and depth sustain meaningful engagement. In this sense, album is excellence without grandiosity, and rigour without rigidity.

Originally published by All About Jazz.Read the original article on All About Jazz