Laura Andel Orchestra
SomnambulisT by David Lewis
Cadence Magazine New York, USA
October 2003
"[...] this minimalist orchestral project
is one of the most impressive large ensemble recordings that I have heard
in quite some time. [...] The more I immerse myself in Andel's sonic universe,
the more extraordinary I find it. I urge you to check this out."
Read
complete article here
Laura
Andel Electric PercussiveOrchestra / In::tension:. by Massimo
Ricci
Touching Extremes Roma, Italy,
November 1, 2005
"[...] there is no doubt that the short
repetitive melodies and thematic fragments going around like a bunch of
stray dogs running in an open field - typical of the majority of the album
- are unconventional, anticonstitutional sonic declarations which sound
like no one else."
Read
complete article here (scroll down until you find the review)
Laura
Andel Electric PercussiveOrchestra / In::tension:. by
Bruce Gallanter
Downtown Music Gallery New York,
NY, November 11, 2005
"[...] Eerie morse-code like percussion,
mysterious processed vocals, layers of odd electric guitar sounds and two
pianos submerged in the waves of turbulent waters. [...]
Laura
does a fine job and controlling the subtleties and balance, as different
instruments float amongst the ghost-like spirits that wander through the
entire work. [...]"
Read
complete article here (scroll down until you find the review)
Laura
Andel Orchestra SomnambulisT by Elliott Sharp
SomnabulisT CD Booklet New York, NY April 2003
"Spinning dazzling arcs from mere wisps of sound and gesture, Laura
Andel brings us a music not just of notes but of the life around her [...]"
Read
complete booklet here
Laura
Andel Orchestra SomnambulisT by Ken Waxman
JazzWeekly.com USA, August 2003
"Occupying that mid-range between jazz
and classical music, Laura Andel is a composer to watch, as much for her
audacity as for her conception. [...]"
Read
complete article here
Laura
Andel Orchestra SomnambulisT by Bruce Gallanter
Downtown Music Gallery New York,
NY May 2003
"[...] This strange dreamscape seems closer
to Xenakis or Penderecki than to any jazz composer I can think of. Laura
uses space and deals with textures in a most careful way, as each kernel
of sound is there to evoke a specific vibe. [...]"
Read
complete article here (scroll down until you find the review)
Laura
Andel Orchestra SomnambulisT by Francois Couture
All Music Guide USA, July 2003
"[...] SomnambulisT features three works
by composer Laura Andel, whose music defies categorization since it draws
from avant-garde jazz and modern ensemble music without hitting the creative
pitfall of "third stream." [...]"
Read
complete article here
Laura
Andel Orchestra SomnambulisT by Massimo Ricci
Touching Extremes Roma, Italy June 2003
"[...] Lovers of hard-to-cathegorize artists must have their ears burning
right now. [...]"
Read
complete article here (scroll down until you find the review)
An
unusual medley by DJ Jazz Kidd
Jazzfiles Magazine Berlin,
Germany, July 1999
"[...] The group's unusual medley of players
generates a creative aura and attracts an audience who comes for the music
and not for the event. Avant garde meets conservatory establishment, improvisation
meets notation, young musicians meet young composers and a young audience.
At the Kalkscheune on this late summer evening the atmosphere is anything
but dull. With cunning and endurance, Laura Andel and Oli Bott are creating
a reputation which is beginning to carry them. [...]"
Read
complete article here
Editorial Profile by James Isaacs
Boston's CitySearch Boston,
MA, May 2000
"[...] Andel is one of New England's most
provocative writers for large improvising ensembles [...]", and mentions
that "[Andel] was for a time based in Berlin and was a figure of some consequence
on that cosmopolitan city's avant-garde scene.[...]"
Jazz
Composers Alliance Orchestra Celebration of the Spirit by Jay
Collins
One Final NoteSt. Paul,
MN, June 2004
"[...] The fiery winds do rule on the
shortest piece of the set, Andel's "Nodes" that, like the previous piece,
builds to a bright apex before subsiding to a slow crawl. [...]"
Read
complete article here
10
Years of Red Toucan Records Amalgam(e)by Matthew Sumera
Red Toucan: Then and Now, One Final
NoteSt. Paul, MN, July 2004
"[...] The Laura Andel Orchestra is featured
on track eight (from somnambulist) in a four-minute take on sustain—bowed
cymbals, heavy on the strings, with some processed (?) white-noise accompaniment.
A haunting piece, truly. [...]"
Read
complete article here
Jazz
Composers Alliance Orchestra In, Thru, and Out by Steven
Loewy
All Music Guide USA, July 2003
"[...] While few of the players on this
album are well-known beyond their locale [...], the key is in the writing,
which is universally superb. [...]"
Read
complete article here
Eight Days a Week
Boston Phoenix Boston, MA,
June 2000
"[...]her line-up boasts a diverse crew
of some of the best improvisers in town [...] whom you rarely see playing
together.[...]"
Das erschossene Klavier (The Piano That
Was Shot Dead) by Josef Engels
Die Welt Berlin,
Germany, June 3, 1999
"[...]Andel concentrates with an ironical
approach on the power of sounds. For example, in her piece "The Squirrel",
she develops a ludicrous but strictly organized duck-singing out of grunt
sounds in the reed section. Original and amusing, Berlin deserves more
Big Bands like this.[...]"
Beyond
Tango by Rob Hochschild
Berklee Website Archives
Boston, January 1999
"Laura Andel is a composer whose work
defies categorization. Her broad musical pallette sometimes blends Latin
and Middle Eastern styles; other times it mixes Asian with American moods.
There are moments when her music holds the seriousness of classical symphonic
music, and then moves suddenly and seamlessly into wild flights of free
improvisation. [...]"
Read
complete article here
Writers' Orchestrations Do The Talking
by
Bob Blumenthal
The Boston Globe Boston,
May 26, 1998
"[...] Andel’s "Dream Colors" was more
assaultive, and more military as band members stomped their feet in formation
at start and finish; yet surprisingly delicate colors from muted trumpet
and guitar also wove their way through the volatile ensembles that surrounded
combustible solos [...]"
Young Jazz Composers Move To The Forefront
by
Willard Jenkins
BMI Music World Magazine Fall
1997
"[...] It has often been argued that these
young artists know their way around their instruments, but purely in a
technical sense; the standard put-down said very few of them had real personalities
on their instruments, and fewer still were writing music that advanced
the art form. [...] there are a number of thirty-something jazz artists
writing and arranging increasingly significant music. Among the newcomers
are two examples of jazz unique exportability: Argentine composer Laura
Andel [...], who recently copped the first BMI Foundation/Jerry Harrington
Composers Award for her piece "El Pire" [...]"
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