Pianist and Pyroclastic owner Kris Davis had two things on her mind when she created The Solstalgia Suite – the ongoing effects of climate change and the desire to write for a string quartet. Both of these come together here, as she pairs with the Polish string ensemble Lutoslawski Quartet to give voice via this forty-five minute suite to our hurting environment. Though well known, of course, as one of the best jazz musicians working, Davis proves herself equally adept as a classical composer, pulling ideas from sources like post-modernism, minimalism, and Romanticism – whatever serves her melancholy, yet defiant, melodies best. The Quartet rides right along with her, turning corners on a dime if need be, and showing deep sympathy to her timbres and tones. Davis responds with equal empathy, holding back with simple, minimalist arpeggios one minute, and playing the keyboard like percussion the next. There’s little here that one might call “jazz,” yet the composer’s performance certainly hearkens to her day job. Discordance meets melody meets atmosphere meets direct contact – if that doesn’t illustrate the world’s suffering in these dangerous times, it’s hard to imagine what would.
