COLLECTIVE WISDOM | THE ARTS DESK - REVIEW

Sybarite5 REVIEW

by: Graham Rickson

October, 2023

Collective Wisdom’s opener, “Movement and Location”, should draw you in within seconds. This ingenious arrangement of a track by avant-garde bluegrass outfit Punch Brothers is scintillating, uplifting stuff, the rhythms taut and springy, a solo violin singing over the top. Sybarite5 is a New York-based string quintet, their extra voice being Louis Levitt’s double bass instead of the usual viola or cello. Some chamber groups attempt to let their hair down and fall flat - what’s striking about this disc is how fearlessly, how naturally Sybarite5 own and inhabit what they play. Violinist Sami Merdinian’s Armenian heritage is referenced in arrangements of folk songs transcribed over a century ago by Komitas Vardapet. “The Red Shawl” is all limpid grace, while “Spring” is hesitant and questioning, a three-minute musical awakening. “Con un Nudo en la Garganta” by Pedro Giraudo is a sublime slice of contemporary tango. You’ll swear you’re listening to a bandoneon at several points, the five musicians speaking with a single voice.

The other works are new commissions. Jessica Meyer’s “Slow Burn” is four minutes of tremulous intensity, the percussive effects really ringing out. Curtis Stewart’s “Mangas” is a lot of fun, the reggae ostinati never sounding self-conscious. Michael Gilbertson’s title track makes superb use of col legno effects, the aggression and energy tempered with sheer joy. The longest item, Jackson Greenberg’s “Apartments” adds electronics to the mix, the constant sound of an AM radio broadcast and heavy rainfall occasionally joined by distorted speech. Ideas drift in and out of focus. A terrific collection, superbly played.