Synergy With Samuels
This CD grew from a concert collaboration between Australia’s best-known percussion quartet and America’s finest vibraphonist, Dave Samuels. Together they cook up a storm.
Dave Samuels vibraphone, marimba
Nigel Westlake bass clarinet
Michael Askill percussion
Ian Cleworth percussion
Rebecca Lagos percussion
Colin Piper prepared piano
Brian Nixon percussion
Richard Miller percussion
Philip South percussion
Nigel Westlake composer
Peter Sculthorpe composer
John Cage composer
Dave Samuels composer
Bill Ruyle composer
The programme pairs Australian works by Ross Edwards, Nigel Westlake and Peter Sculthorpe with John Cage’s First Construction and three pieces by Samuels, including the four-part Reconstructions. Westlake’s Malachite Glass adds bass clarinet to the percussion line-up.
Artists
Synergy Percussion
Marimbas lock and skins crackle as Synergy Percussion drives Edwards's Dragonfly Dance, Westlake's Kalabash and Malachite Glass, and Pratt's hocketing Fantasy. Australian percussion writing at full tilt.
Dave Samuels
On vibraphone and marimba, Dave Samuels brings jazz-honed colour to concert percussion, pairing Australian scores and Cage with his own chamber writing in a full-throttle collaboration with Synergy.
Tracks
- Prelude and Dragonfly Dance Ross Edwards 8:08
- Malachite Glass Nigel Westlake 11:11
- From Jabiru Dreaming Peter Sculthorpe 6:52
- First Construction John Cage 10:56
- Reconstructions (I–IV) Dave Samuels 7:10
- #3 Bill Ruyle 6:50
- Night Rain Dave Samuels 7:26
- Square Corners Dave Samuels 5:28
Performers
- Synergy Percussion · percussion ensemble
- Dave Samuels · vibraphone, marimba
- Nigel Westlake · bass clarinet · track 2
- Michael Askill · percussion
- Ian Cleworth · percussion
- Rebecca Lagos · percussion
- Colin Piper · prepared piano · track 4
- Brian Nixon · percussion · tracks 4, 6 and 8
- Richard Miller · percussion · track 4
- Philip South · percussion · tracks 6 and 8
Composers
John Cage
John Cage’s prepared-piano Sonatas and Interludes turn the instrument into a gamelan of pings, thuds and quiet resonance. His late chamber piece SEVEN is a slow, almost static meditation; Dream floats in mellow sustained colour.
Ross Edwards
One of Australia's best known and most performed composers, Ross Edwards lives and works in Sydney. His commitment to music as a positive and regenerative force has led him to explore beyond the confines of Western art music.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014) was a Tasmanian-born composer whose orchestral and chamber music drew the Australian landscape, neighbouring Asian traditions and Indigenous materials into a clear, personal language. He wrote extensively for strings, piano and voice.
Nigel Westlake
Westlake has played in fusion bands and soundtrack sessions, with Australia’s leading instrumental groups, and as a soloist with orchestras and classical ensembles in Australia and in major cities worldwide, from London and Paris to Tokyo, Beijing and New York.
Contributors
cover art
Dennis Spiteri
Where to listen
Synergy With Samuels is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Synergy With Samuels is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- TP030
- Total playing time
- 64 minutes 1 seconds
- Producer
- Belinda Webster
Dave Samuels
Nigel Westlake
Susan Shineberg - Recording Engineer
- Belinda Webster
Craig Preston
Lana Lazareff
Neale Sandbach - Editing Engineer
- Belinda Webster
Meredith Brooks - Mixing Engineer
- Craig Preston
Neale Sandbach - Credit
- Dennis Spiteri
- Release date
- 4 Aug 1994
- Label
- Tall Poppies
- Musical work
copyright - © 1994 Tall Poppies Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1994 Tall Poppies Records
- Category
- Australian Classics
- Genres
- Contemporary Classical, Modernist Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9399000003021
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