[…] The revered Montréal-based Quatuor Bozzini are great modern explorers. Transcending musical traditions is their entire raison d’être. Anyone who releases a rendition of Steve Reich’s Different Trains certainly deserves an asterisk next to their name for being too cool for school. The fourth volume of its collection, and latest, Canons + Hoquets (out on Ambiances Magnétiques / Dame), pairs the complete string quartets of Japanese composer Jo Kondo and the UK’s Howard Skempton. To quote the group, "the styles are drawn through Skempton’s deployment of long canons, versus Kondo’s persistent hockets and refined choice of timbre." Okay, okay, some may not consider this jazz, more actuelle or chamber-like obviously, but I could care less about genre classifications. I’ve stuffed it in my jazz section like a rebel without a cause! The viola of Stephanie Bozzini, the cello of Isabelle Bozzini, and the shared violins of Clemens Merkel and Nadia Francavilla combine here for a confident work of art; something other-worldly, textured, occasionally repetitious, fragmented, canonic and medieval. It’ll freak your entourage, and inspire you to new heights. It’s gloriously pompous, really. […]
