Every album released by Maria Schneider is a sonic event, but this one is particularly important, as it not only contains two discs of music, but it touches on an important topic, namely balancing the tension between living in a digital age and the natural world around is. The disc and themes are divided into two, “The Natural World” and “The Digital World” with the compositions and arrangements at times trying to sound like the environments that they represent. Obviously, since there are no words (apart from the copious liner notes) the listener is able to decipher the medium and message through the ears.
The almost dystopian moods of “Digital” are felt with dark and mood tones along with Ben Moder’s guitar and Rich Perry’s tenor sax on “A World Lost” while Google is scorned on “Don’t Be Evil” with squawking trombone by Ryan Keberle, and Mahleresque colors anchored and supplemented by Jay Anderson’s bass. “Sputnick” has spacey computer sounds, and the tribute to the Morse Code and Ham radio on “CQ CQ, Is Anybody There” includes messages spelled out by the rhythm section with Donny McCaslin’s tenor and Greg Gilbert’s electric trumpet going out through the static’d waves. Fascinating, as Spock would say.
On the more John Denver side of things, “Our Natural World” has a clever use of space and silence as a sound on “Stone Song” with meldings of Steve Wilson’s soprano and communications by the team of Anderson, drummer Johnathan Blake, pianist Frank Kimbrough and Gary Versace on accordion. The aviary “Bluebird” takes you on a kaleidoscope of colors, while “Sanzenin” is a Bodhi tree of contemplative themes. Each movement, and even each moment takes you to a new frontier. Would the Star Trek or Star Wars cast approve, or long for the lost world?