John Luther Adams: Darkness and Scattered Light
Cold Blue Music

It's heartening to see this latest release by John Luther Adams appearing, as so many have before, on Jim Fox's Cold Blue. The long-standing association between the two has been to their mutual benefit. The West coast label supported Adams long before he received the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for Become Ocean and a Grammy a year later for the recording of it issued on Cantaloupe; his ongoing relationship with Cold Blue subsequent to that recognition continues to broaden awareness of the label. It's one of those special cases where the aesthetic sensibility of artist and imprint seamlessly align, each less fixated on issues of commerce and more the integrity of the musical project. It's possible to imagine Adams' music appearing on, say, Deutsche Grammophon, yet the fit would seem odd. Testifying further to their connection, Cold Blue's understated visual presentation seems a perfect match for the composer's material.

Yet while Darkness and Scattered Light is inarguably an Adams release, it's as much Robert Black's, not only because the double bassist is the sole performer but because the release serves as an epitaph of sorts, Black having passed away in June 2023 from colon cancer only three months after recording the material. That an entire album exclusively devoted to performances by this extraordinary musician and educator—two for solo double bass and the third for five—would appear soon after his passing is wonderful, if also bittersweet. The one-time Bang on a Can All-Star was, of course, a virtuoso on the double bass, yet one comes away from the recording more cognizant of the eloquence and humility with which he communicates through the instrument. As David Lang accurately notes, Black's presentation of Adams' pieces is “pure and plainspoken,” as well as honest and honourable.

Dedicated to his Alaskan neighbour Gordon Wright (the composer now lives in New Mexico), Three High Places (2007) is quintessential Adams. With all of the sounds generated by natural harmonics or open strings, the music is as natural as it could be. The work was originally composed for solo violin, which meant Black had to retune his strings to perfect fifths (C/G/D/A) to perform it. Needless to say, the material in no way suffers from the translation, with the opening “Above Sunset Pass” drawing the listener in with its stillness and serene aura. As the simple bowed patterns emerge, they manifest a timeless folk quality that suggests this meditative music could have been written yesterday or a century ago. “The Wind at Maclaren Summit” unspools at a comparatively faster tempo, its cycling patterns and insistent bowing giving the material an hypnotic character. Inhabiting the instrument's lower register, the groaning strokes of “Looking Toward Hope” make it as captivating as the other parts.

October 2023