Jami Sieber's Unspoken
An electric cellist goes global
Jami Sieber Unspoken (Out Front Records)
by John Diliberto
The cello isn't your father's classical instrument anymore. It's not even Yo-Yo Ma's. A new generation of cellists is taking the most soulful of classical strings in new directions. You can hear it in rock acts like Loreena McKennitt, Rasputina, Apocalyptica and Cursive. Jami Sieber takes a quieter approach than most of them, joining cellists like David Darling, Zoe Keating, Rena Jones and Hans Christian from Rasa in creating an ambient chamber music. Jami has been a favorite on Echoes since her debut solo album, Lush Mechanique in 1994.
Unspoken, her latest CD started out as a poetry and music project she released with Kim Rosen called Only Breath. I have to confess, when I hear the words poetry and music together, my ears glaze over. But on Unspoken, Sieber leaves the spoken words out and let's the poetry of her music speak. It's a richly textured album featuring Sieber's multi-tracked and looped cello, often joined by an ad hoc world music ensemble. "The River Between" is a spiraling dance centered on Sieber's cello and the bansuri flute of Steve Gorn, while the title track explodes in a serge of rhythm and a pulsing bass line from Kai Eckhardt (bassist with Stanley Clarke, Randy Brecker, John McLaughlin). Sieber has a wonderful sense of space, sending accenting cello arcs dipped in reverb through the stereo spectrum.
While there are no words on Unspoken, Sieber brings some soulful wordless vocals to bear. She intones an ethereal choir on the darkly brooding "Night Song" and exuberant chants on "The River Between." She also drops in a few solo cello pieces, just to show she can do it, but it's her looped and ensemble pieces that stand out.
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