Lee - Through the Mangrove Tunnels [CD]

Inspired by his childhood growing up in the swamps and bayous of Florida, composer Scott Lee's "Through the Mangrove Tunnels" featuring the JACK Quartet, pianist Steven Beck, and drummer Russell Lacy is an eight movement album length work whose stylistic flexibility facilitates a multi-dimensional portrait of this unique ecosystem. References to the natural landscape and historical context of the region frame the music in this genre straddling work. Praised as "colorful" and "engaging" (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Scott Lee's music often takes inspiration from popular genres, exploring odd-meter grooves and interlocking hockets while featuring pointillistic orchestration and extended performance techniques. His music marries the traditional intricacy of classical form with the more body-centered and visceral language of contemporary popular music, creating a complex music of the present with broad appeal. The Berkshire Edge described the world premiere of his Slack Tide at Tangle-wood Music Center as having "moments both of calm and maximum tension... we've never heard anything like it."