21 December 2006
By Steve Langendorf
Chicago Reader original link
Critics' Picks 2006: Music
4. Eighth Blackbird | Strange Imaginary Animals | Cedille
The Eighth Blackbird sextetpiano, percussion (often marimba), violin, cello, flute, and clarinetis best heard live, with its tremendous energy as well as its precision on display. Their repertoire, often written for them, is unusual, and while they may have performed and recorded some preferable compositions, theyve never sounded betterits as if were overhearing a conversation in a language only they can speak.
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