Temkin & Jackson & Chernyshev - Temkin: Colors (CD)

COLORS, American composer Daniel Temkin's debut chamber album, is a rich and evocative musical statement, almost a defiance of prevailing modern trends. Rooted in classical, but not bound to the trappings of that medium, it draws from pop but moves beyond hooks and loops. Each track is visceral and organic, unpredictable, direct and expressive. Temkin's origins as a percussionist are clear, even while writing for winds, strings, piano, and harp, as we hear glimpses of intense drumming accents, flowing marimba arpeggios, or the bright sheen of a glockenspiel. Temkin's compositional voice reveals both extroverted intensity, and an inner calm.Across the album, through the blending of distinct modes of thought - pop and classical - Daniel Temkin shows us that new musical terrain exists not at boundary edges but centred between two established worlds.