Sunday, March 5, 2017

“Histories Repeating as 1000 Hearts Mend”



Welcome to another edition of Sunday Music on Robert Frost’s Banjo.

The featured artist for Sundays in March is the Montreal-based ensemble Esmerine. Esmerine has been described as a “chamber rock” group, but whatever term or terms we choose to describe their sound, to my ear it’s unique & exquisitely beautiful. The combination of cello & marimba (& bowed marimba at that!) is just wonderful, & Esmerine brings other instruments to their mix as well, while eschewing the guitar sound—which even (or especially?) as a guitarist myself, I find refreshing.

Esmerine formed in 2000 as the duo of percussionist Bruce Cawdron and cellist Rebecca Foon. The ensemble’s current line-up is Bruce Cawdron, Rebecca Foon, Jamie Thompson, & Brian Sanderson, while past members include Sarah Pagé & Andrew Barr. The groups members are associated with other Montreal-based acts such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Saltland, Fifths of Seven and Mile-End Ladies' String Auxiliary. They’ve released five albums, & I’d encourage you to support these fine musicians by purchasing their music.

Histories Repeating as 1000 Hearts Mend is included on their 2005 Madrona release, Aurora.



Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:
Esmerine, 19 June 2014
Photo by Rfphotos who make the image available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unportedlicense.



2 comments:

  1. Wow! This is very interesting indeed. There's something very Arvo Pärt-ish about this music, and I can see why you were attracted to it. It looks like March is going to be a very interesting month on Robert Frost's Banjo!

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    Replies
    1. Let's just say very interesting that you mention Part in connection with Esmerine! More shall be revealed : ) In the meantime: glad you liked it!

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