One Year and a Day

Cordis: Sam Kassirer (vintage keyboards), Dorothy Lawson (electric six-string cello), and Richard Grimes (electric cimbalom, marimba)

How to explain this ever-growing collection of chamber ensembles who want so badly to be bands? Seems MTV and subscriptions to Spin have ruined what would have otherwise been a perfectly fine generation of conservatory grads able to play Haydn and Beethoven quartets ad nauseum on performing arts series across the country. When allowed to escape their practice room cages, they show themselves to be living and thinking artists. In this particular case, Grimes may be counting too much on studio novelties and common stadium rock strategies (tension, tension, now make it really loud!) to past muster with some new music fans, but his ensemble Cordis offers an intriguing mix of instrumentation and Grimes uses them well to show of his unique perspective on 21st century chamber music.

—MS