Thom's Night Out
A lot of classical musicians mix musical genres only to wind up creating  superficial crossover music. But onThom's Night Out, the classically  trained Clogs have come up with a far more substantial fusion. The album evokes,  among other things, European modernist composition, Godspeed You Black Emperor,  tango, the Paul Winter Consort, and Middle Eastern music. The individual members  of the quartet display a striking instrumental range on the CD's eight  compositions (six by leader and composer Padma Newsome). Bassoonist Rachael  Elliott can riff hard or make gentle melodic statements; percussionist Thomas  Kozumplik is able to coax sweet tones out of steel drums or push the music like  a rock drummer. Guitarist Bryce Dessner lays down pretty, hypnotic patterns, and  he also plays flowing lines that may be improvised. Newsome produces eerie and  lyrical tones on viola (and violin) with equal aplomb.Thom's Night Outis all-inclusive chamber music for here and now.--Fred Cisterna