Flute and percussion duo, Caballito Negro, recorded this EP as a celebration of their 2016 tour of the Pacific Northwest, and a re-mastered version is being released on Bandcamp. It includes half of the Songlines tour program, which in itself is a description of some of the inner and outer landscapes humans must travel, using diverse instrumentation of six flutes, all kinds of western and non-western percussion, and sung and spoken word. This is the first Caballito Negro recording from flutist Tessa Brinckman and percussionist Terry Longshore.

 

 

Described as “music of hope”, David P. Jones’ Music For South Africa was inspired by the struggle against apartheid. Three movements in the work – Amandla, Ububele and Hamba Kahle, draw from traditional South African vocal and instrumental music, and the sounds of Johannesburg night-club jazz, and is a premiere of Caballito Negro’s arrangement.

William Kraft’s Encounters XVI marries the cool sexiness of LA studio jazz with the impressionistic colors of Debussy and Ravel. Written for flute with marimba, vibraphone and percussion, it was premiered by Caballito Negro in 2012 and recorded for the world-renowned composer in 2014.

This Is Like Jazz! by Ivan Trevino (commissioned by Caballito Negro and five other duos) is a groove-heavy piece that mirrors Turkmen music’s rhythmic and metric complexity. Featuring percussive contrabass flute (think bass “riffs”, lyricism and amplification) in conversation with marimba and spoken word, Trevino creates a musical narrative of his time in Turkmenistan.

Caballito Negro’s EP Songlines …”bring(s) the music to life from the first note played…expertly produced and played…jumping out of the speakers in a way that suggests a live performance would be worth hearing” – Flutist Quarterly Fall 2016

“The performances are near flawless! Brinckman plays with an absolutely gorgeous tone throughout the full range of all the instruments – even the sensuous, breathy contrabass flute, which really doesn’t call for much bel canto and Longshore’s understated virtuosity is percussion poetry at its best” – Joshua Cheek @ blue-sky-music.com, 2017 (Full review)