Whether invoking ancestral tradition or innovating modern sounds, string musicians strive for a connection with listeners that seems sui generis to their craft. Here are some recent examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF7s5-NAXO0
Kôrôlén (World Circuit) captures a historic meeting between kora master Toumani Diabaté and the London Symphony Orchestra. The Mandinka word for “ancestral,” Kôrôlén consists of six delightful pieces and is the first recording of kora (a large African lute) with a symphony orchestra. Joined by five other Malian musicians, Diabaté is showcased on arrangements by Nico Muhly and Ian Gardiner with the LSO (conducted by Clark Rundell). The gentle and sometimes playful music, which is filled with memorable yet sophisticated melodies (and singing by Kasse Mady Diabaté on one piece), was first performed by this unique collaboration in 2008; now the recording is finally available. It shows listeners that there is much more to African music than its stereotyped function of providing rhythm for dancing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vjtw0z-_V0
Pat Metheny’s Road to the Sun (BMG/Modern Recordings) defies expectations, even for a work from the consistently adventurous guitarist. In fact, although Metheny contributed two suites and a song, he is barely on this album. Instead, the four-part “Four Paths of Light” features the brilliant classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. He displays his virtuosity during the first part, interprets a sensitive ballad during the next, and is at his best on the third section which is colorful and even a bit playful; the final section is a brief and quietly spiritual closer. The six-part title suite is performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Metheny plays on the two sections (2 and 5) that have the most energy, taking a fine solo on Part 5. Much of the other music on “Road to the Sun” is a bit sleepy although impeccably played. The composer closes the CD by performing Arvo Pärt’s “Für Alina” on his 42-string Pikasso guitar, mostly playing quiet sounds that he lets fade before moving on to the next idea, creating a piece that could serve as an ideal background for meditation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAt8_M1UC2Q
Descension (Out of Our Constrictions) from the Eremite label finds the Natural Information Society welcoming soprano saxophonist Evan Parker as their main soloist throughout a 75-minute, four-part composition that was performed live. Leader Joshua Abrams, who founded the group in 2010, has called their music “ecstatic minimalism,” and the description is apt. A repeated six-beat bass pattern on Abrams’ guembri (a type of African bass guitar), which is soon echoed by drummer Mikel Patrick Avery and Lisa Alvarado on harmonium, is heard throughout the piece and quickly becomes hypnotic. Parker plays melodically at first and sometimes sounds surprisingly like John Coltrane, at least until he engages in his ferocious use of circular breathing. Bass clarinetist Jason Stein is also an important part of the ensemble (à la Bennie Maupin on Bitches Brew) and occasionally recalls Eric Dolphy in tone if not choice of notes. Depending on one’s mood, the repetition on this endless piece will either be magical or tedious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQv81QLEXI
Notes With Attachments (Impulse), a project co-led by bassist Pino Palladino and Blake Mills (who is heard on more than a dozen instruments), is quite intriguing. The music itself is fairly conventional, with Palladino’s lightly funky bass lines often setting the groove. But the extensive use of electronics infuses the set with an otherworldly atmosphere. Instrumentation on the eight originals, which are performed on various tracks by a total of 13 musicians, includes electric sitar, Poly-Sax, guitar synthesizer, bass synthesizer, calabash, rubberized guitar, ngoni, sampled celeste, fixed reeds, single-note guitar, Senegalese percussion and prepared piano, in addition to more conventional axes. While the supporting cast features keyboardist Larry Goldings, saxophonists Sam Gendel, Marcus Strickland and Jacques Schwartz-Bart among others, it is the conception of the co-leaders that gives this set a unified purpose and its unusual tone colors. 
