Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra is a live album by multi-instrumentalist Alan Silva. It was recorded in May 1999 at St. Nicholas of Myra Church in New York City during the annual Vision Festival, and was released in 2001 by Eremite Records. On the album, Silva is joined by a large ensemble known as the Sound Visions Orchestra.
Reception
In a review for AllMusic, Steve Loewy wrote: "Silva gathered some of the cream of the East Coast avant-garde for this huge production... The results are loud, brash, brassy, and violent, pulverizing with squalls of power... All three parts of the composition are laced with plenty of solos, which explode with giddiness... This is a majestic and magnificent recording, and if it is difficult to listen to at one setting, it is nonetheless worth the effort."
The authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings stated: "the recording quality simply isn't good enough to handle such a complex entity, and some absorbing solos and ensemble passages get lost in the mix."
Derek Taylor, writing for All About Jazz, commented: "The sheer magnitude of the instrumental arsenal at Silva's disposal makes for some unbelievably dense collective dissonance and the undulating unified sound fills the audio space in gargantuan gusts... With the Visions Orchestra Silva has accomplished a rare feat in creative improvised music, a sustainable large-piece ensemble that makes full and impressive use of both its girth and diversity."
In an article for Paris Transatlantic, Dan Warburton wrote: "when [Silva's] 23-piece Sound Visions Orchestra is in full flight, we might as well be back in the glory days of the Celestrial Communication Orchestra... Silva, like nobody else I can think of except perhaps Cecil Taylor, knows just how to set ensembles on fire... Play this mother loud and let these guys throw their sound against your walls."
Track listing Composed by Alan Silva.
"I" – 21:26 "II" – 17:56 "III" – 13:14
Personnel Alan Silva – synthesizer, conductor Elliot Levin – piccolo, flute, soprano saxophone William Connell Jr. – bass clarinet, flute Karen Borca – bassoon Ori Kaplan – alto saxophone Rob Brown – alto saxophone Sabir Mateen – tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute Andrew Lamb – tenor saxophone Edward "Kidd" Jordan – tenor saxophone Scott Currie – baritone saxophone J. D. Parran – bass saxophone, alto clarinet Raphe Malik – trumpet Stephen Haynes – trumpet, brass Taylor Ho Bynum – trumpet, brass Roy Campbell Jr. – trumpet, flugelhorn Art Baron – trombone Steve Swell – trombone Bill Lowe – bass trombone, tuba Mark Taylor – French horn Joseph Daley – tuba Mark Hennen – piano Wilber Morris – bass Jackson Krall – drums Steve Dalachinsky – voice (poet)
References