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Signs of Life (Peter Apfelbaum album)

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Signs of Life
Studio album by
Peter Apfelbaum
Released1991
GenreJazz
LabelAntilles
ProducerHans Wendl, Wayne Horvitz
Peter Apfelbaum chronology
Pillars
(1979) 		Signs of Life
(1991) 		Jodoji Brightness
(1992)

Signs of Life is an album by the American musician Peter Apfelbaum, released in 1991.[1][2] He is credited with his band the Hieroglyphics Ensemble.[3] "Candles and Stone" was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Arrangement on an Instrumental".[4] The album was nominated for a Bammie Award for "Outstanding Jazz Album".[5]

Production

[edit]

The album was produced by Hans Wendl and Wayne Horvitz.[6] More than 15 musicians contributed to the recording sessions, including Will Bernard on guitar and Paul Hanson on bassoon.[7][8] "Folksong #7" is a reworking of the traditional spiritual "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore".[7] "Grounding" is dominated by the interplay between bassoon and electric guitar.[9]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Chicago Tribune[11]
MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide[6]
Oakland Tribune[9]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP & Cassette[12]

The Chicago Tribune stated that "the pieces with the greatest range and change work best, while more static numbers ... seem the most strained."[11] Fernando Gonzalez of The Boston Globe included the album on his list of the 10 most notable albums of 1991 and wrote, "Wildly ambitious and fearless, reedman and composer Apfelbaum and his large ensemble mix extended forms, subtle colors, unusual instrumentation and a big punch."[13] The San Francisco Chronicle called the album "a dancing melange of Afro-Cuban, funk and reggae rhythms, jazz improvisation, gongs, bells and chanting voices."[14]

The Houston Chronicle opined that "the band's earnest enthusiasm occasionally exceeds its abilities, and the lyrics hint at post-hippie pretension, but the spirit never wavers."[15] The Boston Herald included Signs of Life on its list of the best underheard albums of 1991.[16] The Tucson Citizen listed it as the 10th best jazz album of the year.[17]

In 2000, Signs of Life was included in The Essential Jazz Records, Volume 2: Modernism to Postmodernism.[18] In 2009, the San Francisco Examiner deemed it an "Essential Bay Area Jazz Album", praising "not only by the shear power of the big-group sound but the way Apfelbaum's delicate engineering of the tunes allows individual voice to shine through."[19]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Candles and Stones" 
2."Walk to the Mountain (And Tell the Story of Love's Thunderclapping Eyes)" 
3."Grounding" 
4."The Last Door" 
5."The World Is Gifted" 
6."Chant #11" 
7."Forwarding, Parts 1 & 2" 
8."Samantha Smith" 
9."Folksong #7" 
10."Waiting" 

References

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  1. ^ Chadwick, Alex (August 8, 1991). "Apfelbaum Is Accomplished Musician". Morning Edition. NPR.
  2. ^ Nicholson, Stuart (1998). Jazz Rock: A History. Schirmer Books. p. 332.
  3. ^ Oullette, Dan (September 1996). "Working through adversity". DownBeat. Vol. 63, no. 9. p. 43.
  4. ^ "Other Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times. January 10, 1992. p. F10.
  5. ^ Sumrall, Harry (November 22, 1991). "Metallica, Huey Lewis Dominate Bammie List". Eye. San Jose Mercury News. p. 22.
  6. ^ a b MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 43.
  7. ^ a b Karlovits, Bob (August 29, 1991). "Entertainment". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D5.
  8. ^ Elwood, Philip (June 11, 1991). "Two winning local CDs". San Francisco Examiner. p. C3.
  9. ^ a b Kelp, Larry (May 26, 1991). "Pop". Sunday. Oakland Tribune. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Signs of Life Review by Scott Yanow". AllMusic. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Heim, Chris (August 22, 1991). "Recordings". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  12. ^ The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, LP & Cassette. Penguin Books. 1994. pp. 40–41.
  13. ^ Gonzalez, Fernando (December 19, 1991). "Top 10 Records of 1991". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 14.
  14. ^ Hamlin, Jesse (June 4, 1991). "Something Else". San Francisco Chronicle. p. E2.
  15. ^ Mitchell, Rick (June 16, 1991). "Signs of Life Peter Apfelbaum and the Hieroglyphics Ensemble". Houston Chronicle. Zest. p. 15.
  16. ^ Katz, Larry (January 3, 1992). "A music reviewer's reward is finding those unexpected gems". Scene. Boston Herald. p. 15.
  17. ^ Buckley, Daniel (December 19, 1991). "Best jazz of '91 not all new". Calendar. Tucson Citizen. p. 16.
  18. ^ Buium, Greg (December 16, 2000). "Ragtime, fusion and all that jazz". The Globe and Mail. p. D8.
  19. ^ Becker, David (July 17, 2009). "Essential Bay Area jazz albums: Peter Apfelbaum". San Francisco Examiner.
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