The title of this release by saxophonist Christian Forshaw and the choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short, makes it sound like a crossover effort aimed at aiding sleep. It might serve that purpose, but it is considerably more rigorous and original than the title might suggest. Forshaw composes music that could be termed minimalist, designed to showcase his instrument's glassy tone. He has released various albums under his own name, but he is especially effective in collaborations like this one. When Sleep Comes ...
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The title of this release by saxophonist Christian Forshaw and the choir Tenebrae, under the direction of Nigel Short, makes it sound like a crossover effort aimed at aiding sleep. It might serve that purpose, but it is considerably more rigorous and original than the title might suggest. Forshaw composes music that could be termed minimalist, designed to showcase his instrument's glassy tone. He has released various albums under his own name, but he is especially effective in collaborations like this one. When Sleep Comes offers three types of compositions: there are arrangements of choral polyphony (or chant) with a saxophone part introduced; these derive much of their appeal from the fact that Forshaw can hone his saxophone's sound to resemble the pristine lines from Tenebrae. There are original compositions for saxophone and voices by Forshaw, and there are tracks from the choir alone, without Forshaw, who gets credit for writing music that doesn't stick out in this context. To enjoy this, one has...
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