| Palle Mikkelborg's most recent work, "The Voice of Silence", was written for the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra and is an almost 75-minute long glorious homage to the Louisiana Museum in Northern Zealand (Denmark) and its creator, Knud W. Jensen. Mr Jensen has now passed away, but he was present at the first performance of the work at the museum in Humlebæk in January 2000.
It's not jazz, it's not "contemporary compositions", it's not techno or new age. It's simply music having as its source Mikkelborg's indomitable fascination with human pictures, desires and spirit, and which - in spite of the composer's lack of musical will - has been arranged by an orchestrator beyond compare for the DRJO's numerous instrument combinations.
Mikkelborg's first large-ensemble work since 1984's Aura is a nine-movement suite composed in honor of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. (The museum is located not in the Bayou State, but in Humlebaek, Denmark.) Conducting the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, Mikkelborg pays homage to a number of visual artists and art movements and leans heavily toward the electric side of the jazz spectrum. Veering between minimalist soundscapes like "Prologue" and "The Voice of Silence" and funk/fusion blowouts like "Tempus/Pop Art" and "The Forest," Mikkelborg sets up a dichotomy that is quite jarring at first. "Authenticity," a dreamy movement featuring the unaccompanied bass of Thomas Ovesen, opens up new dimensions -- a process that continues with the agitated, "Birdland"-style groove of "Snapshots," the vaguely old-world sound of "Those Who Build," and the jazzy waltz of "Joy." ~ David R. Adler, All Music Guide |