A collaboration between saxophonist/clarinetist John Ellis and playwright Andy Bragen, 2020's The Ice Siren is a spooky and surreal cinematic "jazz opera." An hour-long piece, the album showcases Ellis' classical-influenced arrangements and Bragen's fantastical libretto about a man mourning his lost love, a ghost named Melusina. Borne out of Ellis and Bragen's previous Dreamscapes poetry and jazz project, and originally staged at New Yorks' Jazz Gallery in 2009, The Ice Siren finds the duo expanding the scope of their ...
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A collaboration between saxophonist/clarinetist John Ellis and playwright Andy Bragen, 2020's The Ice Siren is a spooky and surreal cinematic "jazz opera." An hour-long piece, the album showcases Ellis' classical-influenced arrangements and Bragen's fantastical libretto about a man mourning his lost love, a ghost named Melusina. Borne out of Ellis and Bragen's previous Dreamscapes poetry and jazz project, and originally staged at New Yorks' Jazz Gallery in 2009, The Ice Siren finds the duo expanding the scope of their partnership, crafting a narrative structure that pairs the quirky, horror-movie aesthetic of Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman with the eerie storytelling tradition of Edgar Allan Poe. Giving voice to the characters of the man and Melusina are singers Miles Griffith and Gretchen Parlato, both of whom bring a nuanced believability, not to mention virtuosity, to their roles. Joining them are a cadre of equally talented musicians, including guitarist Mike Moreno, tuba player Marcus Rojas, vibraphonist Chris Dingman, percussionists Daniel Sadownick and Daniel Freedman, string players Hiroko Taguchi, Olivier Manchon, Todd Low, and Christopher Hoffman, and conductor JC Sanford. There is an achingly doomed and romantic quality to much of The Ice Siren, with songs like "Heaven or Hell" and "Melusina's Siren Song" detailing the yearning sadness that connects the man and his dead lover. Ellis illuminates this sadness with shimmering string sections and surprising moments of clashing dissonant anger. That said, there is also an underlying dark sense of humor running through the album. For example, when the man finally comes face-to-face with Melusina, they engage in a Mel Brooksian conversation over whether he really loves her, harmonizing back and forth, "Are you sure?" I'm sure." "You're, suuuuure?" "I'm suuuuuuuuuure!" This might seem too farcical were it not for Ellis' deeply textured and harmonically edgy arrangements, which bring to mind the '70s ECM work of singer Norma Winstone and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. Griffith and Parlato's atonal duets on "She Shows Her Face" and the album-ending "Entombed in Ice" are especially impressive. Elsewhere, Ellis and Bragen fill their production with Eastern European folk melodies, Kurt Weill cabaret stylings, and flowing post-bop improvisation, all of which help bring their haunting tale vividly to life. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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