NOW Ensemble is a New York collective of classical composers and performers whose collaborative efforts aid each individual member while contributing to the whole. This first release is a showcase for their talent, but despite their best efforts, the disk works better as a compilation than as a unified set. For this reason, I will address each composer in turn, rather than proceeding in track order.

First up is Brooklyn’s Judd Greenstein, the founder of New Amsterdam Records and the artistic director for NOW Ensemble. His compositions to date have been spread throughout the map, informed by such disparate sources as modern hip-hop and classical music’s late Romantic period. This latter period was one in which composers expanded their chromatic palettes, injecting dissonance, unexpected juxtapositions, and abbreviated transition points into their ink-drenched sheet music. In short, the music did not go where people expected it might go, the notes landed in places that initially seemed awkward, and traditional structure, while not turned on its head, was at least turned sideways. The fact that Greenstein’s harmonically complex compositions are friendly to the 21st century audiophile demonstrates how far the modern ear has come since the early days of dissonance. 

Greenstein’s contributions to the NOW Ensemble are placed in the opening and closing slots on the disk, sandwiching the more experimental tracks. “Folk Music” eases us into a sometimes-difficult disk, and later, “Sing Along” gently guides us back into the night air. The propulsive, piano-driven “Folk Music” speeds forward at approximately 120 BPM. As the song progresses, the piano steps back so that the Spanish guitar, violin, and bass clarinet may enjoy some time in the sun. The beauty of this piece is that it is always changing; at each turn, an equally pleasing transition waits. Despite multiple meters and lush countermelodies, the composition never loses track of its central theme. Ten minutes later, it’s all over, but because of the song’s many nuances, each repeated play feels like the first time. “Sing Along” is a somewhat shorter and thinner piece, more like a flower unfolding than a field of bouquets, but it makes for a fitting end to the set.

Patrick Burke, the second composer featured on NOW Ensemble, is a film composer and former Chilean rock guitarist. Like Greenstein, he demonstrates a polystylistic bent in his compositions, and is currently making the not-unexpected transition from the orchestral realm to the field of electronics. Burke’s experimentalism is evident on his two contributions to the disk. “Hypno-germ” is reed-led rather than piano-led, which may sound foreign to many post-rock aficionados, but much less so to chamber music devotees. The guitar on this track sounds downright angry, as if it wants to start a fight with the other instruments; by mid-track, they comply. After a few sudden silences, they seem to work things out, and glide to the finale arm-in-arm. In “All Together Now,” the flute and clarinet get agitated first, whipping the other instruments into a frenzy that continues right up to the final second. Subtle it is not. While I appreciated the artistry of these tracks, I found their mood to be overly monochromatic. 

Electric guitarist Mark Dancigers is perhaps the least accomplished member of Now Ensemble, although he has amassed an impressive oeuvre in only a few years. Dancigers hails from Virginia and currently contributes sound design for the Yale Repertory Theatre. Oddly, there is very little guitar in his first contribution to the disk, “Hanging There,” which focuses on clarinet, bass and piano. This is the album’s most avant-garde piece, heavy on percussive elements (albeit without drums) and intentionally random in its bipolar midsection. “Cloudbank” fares much better, gathering melodic elements as it strolls toward a confident flourish of high-pitched flute, anchored by a very light electronic gloss.

In contrast to Dancigers, Nico Muhly is well-known to fans of modern classical composition for his critically-lauded Speaks Volumes album of 2006, recorded in Reykjavik with Valgeir Sigurdsson. Muhly has also worked with Bjork and is currently conducting and arranging a film score with Ben Frost. With a pedigree such as this, one would expect Muhly’s contribution to be the best on the disk, but as Chris Berman is wont to say, “That’s why you play the game.” Muhly’s “How About Now” is technically proficient, but suffers from repetition and, as in many of the aforementioned tracks, a lack of emotional gradation. Too often the instruments are played with a level of vengeance that begs for restraint. In the future, Muhly would do well to increase the dynamic contrast of his compositions.

NOW Ensemble is frequently challenging but offers a window into one of the many possible futures of contemporary chamber music. While it is not for all tastes, most listeners will find at least part of it worth liking. Uncertain readers are advised to listen before purchasing. 

-Richard Allen