ORCHESTRAMAXFIELDPARRISH — The Silent Breath of Emptiness

ORCHESTRAMAXFIELDPARRISH is Mike Fazio, a composer, as well as a member of New York City's Black 47. The Silent Breath of Emptiness seems miles away from the Celtic inspired rock of Black 47. It's important to note then, that Fazio, and a couple other members of Black 47 originally backed up Avant-Garde musician and poet Copernicus (Joseph Smalkowski). Maxfield Parrish was a Philadelphian painter and illustrator, who lived from 1870-1966. Though he was a commercially successful illustrator, his paintings were quite often fantastical. I'm not sure how his work ties into Mike Fazio's project, but Parrish's art is well worth exploring.

The silent Breath of Emptiness consists chiefly of four segments of live improvisations recorded in one take at the Luna County Observatory, with no overdubs. The music was created solely on electric guitar, but the sounds presented here rarely conform to the traditional sound associated with the instrument. Instead, Fazio treads ground which runs the gamut from pleasant ambience ala Eno or Bill Nelson to sheets of drone, which could be more closely tied to Andrew Chalk and his work with Mirror.

Fazio's technical ability certainly shows through, as these pieces rarely sound like music created by one individual. The improvisations are distinctly different from one another, yet they run together nicely. The music runs from quiet, neo-orchestral ambience to fairly noisy drones. Apart from the previous comparison to Andrew Chalk, the latter passages remind me quite a bit of John Duncan's seemingly straight-lined drones (though Duncan doesn't use guitars), which upon closer inspection are anything but.

The feeling of event is paramount to the success of any spontaneous performance, and the Silent Breath of Emptiness is steeped in that spark of inspiration. Perhaps that inspiration was the result of the observatory setting, but judging from the mastery of the different approaches on display here, it's more likely that Mike Fazio's enthusiasm and technical ability are responsible. It's rare for a performer to pull something together which is subtle and genuine, while displaying obvious skill. More often than not, those with technical ability are more interested in showing how well than can play, rather than investing their music with soul and depth. The Silent Breath of Emptiness, thankfully, is honest, unpretentious and, in it's own odd way, soulful.