Accelerate Every Voice Cory Smythe

• 1 Northern Cities Vowel Shift 02:34
• 2 Accelerate Every Voice 04:12
• 3 Marl Every Voice 02:38
• 4 Kinetic Whirlwind Sculpture, No. 1 03:29
• 5 Vehemently 03:57
• 6 Kinetic Whirlwind Sculpture, No. 2 05:16
• 7 Knot Every Voice 01:50
• 8 Weatherproof Song 03:39
• 9 Piano and Ocean Waves for Deep Relaxation 19:02
• Total Runtime 46:37

Info for Accelerate Every Voice

Many muddled accelerations shape this: beginning with my longstanding but increasingly spellbound appreciation for Andrew Hill’s record Lift Every Voice and the James Weldon Johnson-derived lineage of optimistic songcraft it transforms; likewise, the fast-evolving sophistication of collegiate a cappella (a scene suggested by Hill’s vocable-singing choir) on its mutating path from the Kipling-glossing “Whiffenpoof Song” to iridescent cyborg pop; the calamitous choirs of piano-engulfing ocean waves presaged in Annea Lockwood’s music and presently hastening inland; the crowds gathering in America to greet them, the crescendo of our infectious chants and cheers. Cory Smythe)

"Smythe explains his fascination with the history of a cappella as a type of American bright-siding whose early fundamentals are personified in the race-based imperialism of poet Rudyard Kipling. Smythe explains in press materials that the vocal style may be a "poisoned-by-whiteness American kind of optimism." However, the abstract nature of Accelerate Every Voice doesn't show its political hand in listening without the benefit of an information pipeline. This is hard-to-explain, challenging music, and not like anything else. It should be given an unprejudiced listen." (allaboutjazz.com)

Cory Smythe, piano, electronics
Kyoko Kitamura, voice
Michael Mayo, voice, looper
Raquel Acevedo Klein, voice
Steven Hrycelak, vocals bass
Kari Francis, vocals, percussion

Recorded by Ryan Streber in December, 2018 at Oktaven Audio (Mt. Vernon, NY)
Vocal direction/additional production by Kari Francis
Mixed by Ryan Streber and Cory Smythe in August, 2019 at Oktaven Audio
Mastered by Scott Hull in January, 2020 at Masterdisk (Peekskill, NY)
Produced by Cory Smythe and David Breskin

Cory Smythe
works actively in new, classical, and improvised music. He has performed widely, making appearances as soloist and chamber musician at the Darmstadt International Festival for New Music, the Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City, the Green Mill jazz club in Chicago, and the Mostly Mozart festival at Lincoln Center. In recent seasons, Smythe has played alongside violinist Hilary Hahn in concerts throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. A Washington Post review of the duo’s performance at the Kennedy Center praised Smythe for “…the ferocity and finesse of his technique.” Their Grammy-winning album, In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, documents Hahn’s diverse collection of newly commissioned encores for violin and piano.

As a core member of the new music group the International Contemporary Ensemble, Smythe has given numerous premieres, collaborated in the development of new pieces, and worked closely with composers John Zorn, Philippe Hurel, Dai Fujikura, George Lewis, and Alvin Lucier among many others. ICE’s 2013 release on Mode Records features Smythe as the piano soloist in Iannis Xenakis’s ‘Palimpsest’. Smythe has also been a featured guest and soloist with many new music ensembles throughout the United States, including Milwaukee’s Present Music, the Boston-based Firebird Ensemble, Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. He performs regularly in collaboration with many of the leading concert artists of his generation, appearing this last season with the cellist Joshua Roman, violinist Karen Gomyo, the Imani Winds, and members of the Providence and Rubens string quartets.

An innovative improviser, Smythe performs as a soloist and in collaboration with a wide array of jazz and creative artists, among them, most recently, Peter Evans, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, and Anthony Braxton. This season will see the release of recordings featuring Smythe in projects led by Tyshawn Sorey and Nate Wooley. Smythe’s own album, Pluripotent — described by celebrated jazz pianist Jason Moran as “hands down one of the best solo recordings I’ve ever heard”.

Smythe holds degrees in classical piano performance from the music schools at Indiana University and the University of Southern California, where he studied with Luba Edlina-Dubinsky and Dr. Stewart Gordon, respectively. He currently resides in New York City.

This album contains no booklet.