Patricia Brennan

Of the Near and Far

Pyroclastic

Vibraphonist, marimbist, and composer Patricia Brennan received much critical acclaim for 2024’s Breaking Stretch and takes her compositional voice to an even higher level with Of The Near and Far.  Constellations have inspired countless artists across genres for songs or album themes, but none have explored them deeply in terms of musical structures as Brennan does here. As a hobbyist astronomer, she imagined a ‘universe of sound’ where notes would orbit each other, where they would form clusters akin to galaxies, or to carve their own shapes and mysterious paths. She developed a process that allowed her to collect tonal and numerical data from constellations. Music is another form of math, in this case, geometry. She says, “I overlaid the shapes of constellations onto the circle of fifths, intrigued by the idea that their symmetry could yield musical symmetry, harmonic or melodic. The circle of fifths already embodies a highly symmetrical structure organizing pitch relationships. By mapping the constellations onto it, I discovered new relationships between pitches, chords, and even key signatures, relationships born entirely from the symmetry of the stars, not from traditional music theory.”  Sounds esoteric, right? There’s no denying that, but the resulting music is fascinating and more accessible than that quote would imply.

Only bassist Kim Cass returns from the septet on Breaking Stretch.  Brennan formed a large ensemble of pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, guitarist Miles Okazaki, drummer John Hollenbeck, and electronic musician Arktueye. Brennan plays vibraphone and electronics. Augmenting this core is a string quartet (Brennan composing for strings for the first time) of violinists Modney and Pala Garcia, violist Kyle Armbrust, and cellist Michael NIcolas, conducted by Eli Greenhoe.  Pyroclastic’s ‘go-to’ producer David Breskin is at the helm again. Note the absence of horns and the merging of the electronics with the acoustic. You could think of it as a jazz sextet with a string quartet, which is not that unusual in itself. We saw several of this ilk at Big Ears last year. It’s the diverse ground covered that makes it intriguing, as we hear a mashup of jazz, chamber music, rock music, and electronica, not to mention the cosmic strains that run through it. It’s a new form of futurism, if you will.

The opening “Antlia” is named for an air pump. The piece begins with minimalist interlocking phrases that Brennan envisioned as gears of a machine. The pitches generated combine into a single chord, and we hear solos from Brennan and Okazaki. Careful listening reveals strains of Afrobeat, electronic dance music, and chamber jazz. “Aquarius (The Water Bearer)” is deeply ethereal, as if floating through space. Again, Brennan and Okazaki lead the melody. Each string plays a unique rhythmic pattern with specific pitches that collectively evoke the image of light reflecting off a shimmering aquatic surface (as Brennan envisions it). The entire ensemble revs up for “Andromeda (the Chained Woman).” Brennan uses time signatures of five, four, seven, and three, constantly shifting the patterns. It is frantic, rock-like, and dizzying as the strings conjure a cosmic storm, and the solos are drenched in distortion. The segue into the electronically driven “Citlali” is direct and seamless. The word comes from the Nahuatl language of the indigenous Mexican people (Brennan grew up in Mexico), meaning star. The piece is culled from a series of improvisations sparked by the score. Arktureye pieced together these improvs into this stirring, mesmerizing electroacoustic track.

“Lyra (The Lyre)” was chosen for the rich mythology behind it. The doomed love story of Orpheus and Eurydice inspired the piece.. The harmonics between the vibraphone and the strings are especially intriguing. Given the tragic element, the strings deliver serious melancholy strains at the end of the piece.

“Aquila (The Eagle)” takes the form of a fugue, chamber music-like, though it has several open-ended, improvised elements. The flowing effect resembles the flight of the soaring eagle, with such attention to detail as adding a chattering texture to reflect the density of the air. The closer, “When You Stare Into the Abyss,” is by far the most ambient of the seven pieces; the second half is starkly beautiful, by turns bright and eerie at the same time. It truly captures that awe-inspiring feeling one would get by staring at the universe for a concentrated period of time. Like “Citlalli,” there’s a strong psychedelic component in the piece.

Brennan’s fascination with the universe comes through in a stunning, kaleidoscopic way. This is a ‘must hear’ and not only a major departure from Breaking Stretch, but a major leap forward. Brennan is totally reshaping the role of the vibraphone and is a major force in Creative Music.

• Jim Hynes

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