COLLECTIVE WISDOM | MUSICAL AMERICA - REVIEW

New American Chamber Recordings

by: Clive Paget | January, 2023

Collective Wisdom is the latest from genre-defying New York string quintet Sybarite5. The opening Movement & Location is a sharp, snazzy arrangement of a Punch Brothers number about baseball player Greg Maddux, who was obsessed with his movement and location while pitching.

Curtis Stewart’s Mangas was inspired by his mom’s Greek Jazz fusion band—yes, really. Slinky and stylish, a traditional melody passes through a series of filters from folk to reggae. Commissioned to be performed alongside a burlesque dancer, Jessica Meyer’s Slow Burn ranges from sexy grind to sensual mooch, riffing on the idea of the one that got away.

Three folk songs collected by the Armenian priest, musicologist, and composer Komitas provide a breather. Arranged by violinist Sami Merdinian, himself of Armenian heritage, they exude a wistful nostalgia for a lost homeland. Pedro Giraudo’s “Con un nudo en la garganta” (With a lump in the throat) was originally composed for big band. His arrangement for Sybarite5 feels like a mournful late-night tango that gradually fills with hope.

The two final numbers are the most complex. Michael Gilbertson’s angsty Collective Wisdom crackles with snap pizzicato. Jackson Greenberg’s Apartments adds found sounds—rain, bursts of radio programs, etc.—to slow moving, partly improvised string chords and splashes of electronics to build a multi-layered collage where each player represents a human being isolated in his or her private space but drawn together by shared sounds. Like all Sybarite5 pieces, the more you hear it, the deeper it gets. A richly satisfying album.