PETER HERBERT & KOEHNE QUARTET - musique humaine /music for strings (Aziza Music 1004)

Austrian born and New York based contrabassist extraordinaire, Peter Herbert, came to visit and left us with his two new releases. Each of his releases, which include a solo bass effort and a duo with Dave Tronzo, has knocked me out. The Koehne String Quartet have worked with Wayne Horvitz and Dave Liebman and are considered to be one the leading string quartets for new music. On 'Musique Humaine', they are joined by the composer Peter Herbert on contrabass. Peter's distinctive bass is at the center, as he is the featured soloist throughout much of this piece. His writing is also adventurous, spirited and diverse and well played by this fine string quartet. This release is lusciously recorded, so that all the strings sound warm and perfectly balanced. Peter explores a rich variety of sonic textures whether plucking, bowing or banging on his bass strings. The thing I dig most about this work is that it is full of strong, haunting melodies, never going too far out there. Peter Herbert will have another new cd out on Between the Lines in the next few weeks, so that will be two superb releases in a row from this wonderful bassist and composer. Austrian import CD release for $15.