Short Stories

Tracklist

Musicians

Credits

All music composed by Gernot Wolfgang (BMI/AKM).
Engineered by Rich Breen.
Executive producers: Judith Farmer and Gernot Wolfgang.
Produced by Judith Sherman.
All music published by Doblinger Music Publishers.

“Winning sonic arsenal from composer with jazz, film and TV music background … although there are many nods to jazz, folk and Latin music, the influences come across as partners to Gernot Wolfgang’s creative individuality … the repertoire embraces everything from puckish humour and jubilance to haunting modernism and lyrical radiance. Wolfgang is especially inventive in frisky and poetic material for such pairings as bassoon and double bass, as in Low Agenda, and viola and bassoon, which weave Three Short Stories.”

“Rolling Hills and Jagged Ridges is the finest work on the disc. Its inspiration is the imaginary landscape of the title, which begins and ends enveloped in mist, with an impressive view of the rugged landscape in between. The music for violin is particularly inventive, with a recurring ‘Hills’ theme and imaginative use of silence and plucking, and even a Bach-like cadenza. As the mists descend towards the end of the piece, there is time for once last, quick flourish … [this CD is] an attractive prospect. The soloists all give committed performances, Brian Dembow’s viola in particular, and the sound quality is very good.”

“Wolfgang really explores the reaches of this undervalued solo instrument [the bassoon] with writing that is both soulful and dramatic … The playing on this whole disk is uniformly excellent, especially from Judith Farmer on bassoon, finding expressive extremes of that instrument I didn’t think possible.”

“Gernot Wolfgang knows what he’s doing … Theremin’s Journey is a mixture of old electronics, new media and traditional piano with more than enough incident to transcend its vernacular idiom into something very cool, clever and seductive.”

“Gernot Wolfgang is a composer who uses a broad canvas of musical styles, adds a palette of colorful orchestral timbre to his perfect ear for jazz and melds them into coherent contemporary music.”

Bill Peters, Peters Music News

“Compelling … Judith Farmer and her colleagues make a persuasive case for these pieces, Farmer, in particular, masterly in the flexibility and clarity of her playing.”

“There is variety in this music, and the performances are exceptional.”

“This album has much to offer: performances of the highest quality, extremely fine recording and engineering, and interesting musical content.”

“Its [Three Short Stories] three movements—Uncle Bebop, Rays of Light, and Latin Dance—make for an effective triptych with two riotous rhythmic romps framing a rhapsodic, cadenza-like centerpiece. The performance by Ms. Farmer and violist Brian Dembow is jaw-dropping, with syncopations, cross-rhythms, and the frequent long general rests perfectly unanimous … the whole of this CD, very well-recorded and presented, is a most valuable introduction to this cosmopolitan composer’s music.”