music

Violist/improviser/composer Mat Maneri envisages his music as one of activity in stasis, or motion within stillness. His music continues from the lineage of master improvisers Paul Bley and Paul Motian with a sound that is distinctly his own and developed over years of discovery and practice. Maneri’s new recording, Dust, showcases his stirring playing alongside an ensemble of communicative and exploratory musicians.  The compositions are mostly Maneri originals with Ban adding a couple of his own. The pieces are not typical jazz pieces with A and B sections but are more open-ended, providing a jumping off point for improvisation. There is an intriguing quality to the tunes as they marry a harmonic lushness with a bluesy quality and the exotic microtonalities that Maneri has mastered.  There is an introspective stillness that predominates Mat Maneri’s music even though there is much going on. Dust is a fantastic document showing how there can be depth in seemingly placid sounds, like the minute details fomenting in slow moving clouds.