NIGREDO “Lunas Negras” (Small Scale Music)



“Lunas Negras”, which translates to English as “Black Moons”, is a chaotic and breathtakingly beautiful album by Canadian jazz ensemble Nigredo. Their label, Small Scale Music, is dedicated to small batch cassette releases. The music is sourced from a concert which took place in Montreal earlier in the year.

The ensemble has five core members who masterfully take care of the strings contributing to the release. A paradox is created. The strings guide the mood of each piece yet each player’s emotions are clearly guiding them as they come together to create dense soundscapes. The percussion was apparently played “by the public” and as risky as that sounds it was well executed. Vocalist Géraldine Célérier Eguiluz’s voice continues to haunt me long since I’ve turned the music off to the point where my brain begs me to put the tape back in for another listen. It’s been a while since my last community college Spanish class so I am missing out on actually understanding the lyrics. But even with the language barrier, I still can’t help but be in awe of her talent.

PLEASE give this tape a try. I typed please in all caps because I am begging you. It’s important to me that no one misses out on good music. Even though it’s impossible to consume everything worth hearing in a lifetime, when a project like this passes someone by it’s a tragedy. Prevent that from happening to you.



-- Roy Blumenfeld