Complementary Colors
Things one can learn from listening toComplementary Colors:(a)bent notes sound as good on a violin as on a guitar;(b)pizzicatofrom a string quartet can be awfully similar to a banjo, given proper context; and(c)yes, one can play the blues on a cello. The second album from Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues is wonderfully odd, doing for the blues what cello quartet Apocalyptica did for heavy metal. Blending blues and classical sensibilities as easily as he combines the instruments traditionally assigned to each genre, Siegel handily illustrates just how well the two work together with scale runs, chord progressions, solo sections, and trading-fours between various instruments that walk the line between Beethoven and B.B. King. This is one of the few blues albums of 1998 that holds a genuine surprise around every corner, and fans of classical chamber music will find a great deal to like as well.--Genevieve Williams