Excellent cello record from Portuguese player Marina Hasselberg – 10 concise cuts on Red (REDSHIFT RECORDS TK495), some solo works but also collaborations drawn from pool of contributors Aram Bajakian, Kenton Loewen, Giorgio Magnanensi and Jesse Zubot.
The pieces are a mix of improvisations (usually duo or trio settings) and compositions, or in one instance both – ‘At A Distance’ an original Martin Resile composition allowing for guitar improv by Bajakian (whose name may be familiar to Zorn and Tzadik-label fans). I suppose if you want to count up and tick boxes for genre conventions, Vancouver-based musician Hasselberg scores highly in areas of free improvisation, modern chamber music, and even elements of rock music, but what comes over strongest on today’s spin in her confidence and assurance, not just technical mastery of the instrument, but knowing exactly how she wishes to sound and which avenues she chooses to explore. I’d suggest you can see this reflected in her poise and expression on the cover photograph here. Although she does produce some nice lower-end growly textures on occasion, and isn’t afraid to distort the sound of the strings, she’s not one of these insecure players who feel the need to push their “extended technique” in our face every five minutes, another index to that quiet confidence of hers. Also nice that tape and electronic parts, the latter supplied by Magnanensi, are used very sparingly and to great effect.
Red is quite a downbeat set in some ways, but Marina Hasselberg isn’t out to deliver a “message” to the world as far as I can discern; even ‘Where The Sand Is Hot’ does not carry a warning about climate change. I believe this is her debut album, although she’s been active for a while, arriving in Canada in 2008, after studying the instrument in Lisbon. Red vinyl edition also available! (21/09/2022)