DAVID OCCHIPINTI

LOOKING GLASS

Elastic Recordings

David Occhipinti, guitar/composer; Aline Homzy, violin; Steven Dann, viola; Maria Zachariadou, cello; SPECIAL GUESTS: Beverley Johnston, vibraphone/crotales; Alex Hetherington, mezzo-soprano; Charlotte Mundy, soprano.

David Occhipinti is a Canadian guitarist and composer. His compositions and arrangements often defy genre.  This recent release titled “Looking Glass” mirrors the introspection and identity of Occhipinti, as a composer using strings, vocals and guitar to embellish his work. These original compositions are a combination of Chamber music and jazz, fused together with European classical nuts and bolts.

This album opens with Six Bagatelles. These short, light pieces of music are plush with strings accenting Occhipinti’s guitar lines. They play like brief poems, musical haikus of a sort. All six are strung together, offering a brief seven minutes of original music. The cello sets the pulse and tempo of the music, with Maria Zachariadou plucking a single note beneath the guitar exploration and other string accompaniments. Each short piece invites one of the string players to feature and express themselves. A violin soars.  The viola of Steven Dann dances and sometimes creates a drum-like rhythm. All the while, the guitar is front and forward, leading them like a guiding light. I enjoyed the urgency projected during the sixth interpretation of the Six Bagatelles, where Aline Homzy’s violin soaks up the spotlight.

David Occhipinti offers us morsels of songs, sprinkled along his musical path like breadcrumbs.  We are the hungry listeners who quickly gobble up his music. But, by the time we are fully engrossed in the tune, it is finished!  Then, we are on to the next bagatelle.

The first full-blown song that lasts over thirteen minutes is titled, “The Frumious Bandersnatch.”  It highlights an inventive, customized guitar sound that Occhipinti has added to his instrument. It allows the guitarist access to pitches found above his left hand’s fingered notes, giving him ability to play up to twelve simultaneous notes.

“I have felt a bit like Alice going through the ‘Looking Glass’ and discovering things that were nearby, yet outside the realm of our everyday realities,” Occhipinti states about his custom guitar.

The remaining portion of this album invites special guests to participate.  Folks like renowned percussionist, Beverly Johnson, who is a frequent collaborator with Occhipinti. Listen for her vibraphone, glockenspiel and crotales that are additions to his arrangements.  David also adds the magnificent mezzo soprano voice of Alex Hetherington who is a staple in the Canadian Opera Company and the Vancouver Opera. Occhipinti blends a nylon-string guitar with the vocals during their presentation of a tune he composed for his stepmother, “Sotto le Stelle.” The opera singers also lend voice on “You Stepped Out” in a more playful way.

Although this is much more classical music than jazz, Occhipinti’s distinctive style and personality is woven into the fabric of this music to produce a soundscape that is both unique and beautiful.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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