Nearly five years in the making, Ziggurat is the brain child of Ontario-based trombone virtuoso, Neal Bennett. This album explores four major Canadian works for multiple trombones, all multitrack recorded by Bennett: Jocelyn Morlock’s thunderous Sequoia, which evokes both the majesty and fragility of Canadian West Coast forests; Farshid Samandari’s Ziggurat, a muscular evocation ancient ritualism and competition, pitting two soloists against one another over a roaring chorus of trombones and percussion; Continual Awakening by Roydon Tse, a unique and deftly-crafted work inspired by a conductor’s plight with anterograde amnesia; and Toronto composer Scott Good’s Liquid Metal, a kaleidoscopic tour de force for ten trombones. This album also includes three works for solo trombone: Indigo, Rob McKenzie’s tribute to the trombone’s history as a revered vehicle for jazz and blues; Morlock’s After the Rain, a piece inspired by the artwork of Max Ernst, especially commissioned by Bennett for this recording; and the infamous Basta by the Swedish composer Folke Rabe.

Performers: Neal Bennett, trombones; Brian Nesselroad, percussion
Producer: Mark Takeshi McGregor
Sound Engineer: Ryan Noakes
Assistant Engineer: Brian Garbet
Digital Editing: Brian Garbet, Ryan Noakes
Mixing: Brian Garbet
Mastering: Don Harder
Recorded at: St. Philip’s Anglican Church, Vancouver, BC, September 17-21, 2012 
Cover art: Playin #3 by Kevin Snyder
Photography: Geneviève Lagrois  www.genevievelagrois.com
Graphic Design: Simon Butler
Translation: André Cormier

The Wholenote Review