The
Sarahbanda
ensemble does not play Renaissance sarabandes. Instead, it is named for hornist
Sarah Willis
, principal horn of the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
.
Willis
has traveled to Cuba and released several albums there with the
Havana Lyceum Orchestra
under the "Mozart y Mambo" rubric. Those albums included tracks on which the players experimented with incorporating
' horn into a traditional Cuban ensemble, and the
takes the experiment a step further, with a Cuban ensemble of saxophone, violin, piano, bass, and a pair of percussionists joining
, and mostly Cuban material, although there are two pieces originating in melodies by
Mozart
and
Bizet
, respectively. The collaboration is artfully done, with a mix of Cuban song melodies (sample the lovely
Contigo en la distancia
) and music of a more Afro-Cuban orientation. This allows the ensemble to put
in a variety of roles; she may be the leader, a rhythm setter, or far in the background. All this has a pleasing quality of cross-cultural experimentation, and
herself, an enthusiastic salsa dancer, proves an adept player in Cuban styles. Lots of fun, with superior recording at Berlin's Traumton studio. How about a live tour with this group? ~ James Manheim