eMusic Review 0
The Dowland Project features the voice of John Potter, former member of the renowned Hilliard Ensemble and one of England’s most thoughtful and expressive singers of both early music and considerably more modern fare. As the name indicates, The Dowland Project began as a way to reinterpret some of the timeless songs of the Elizabethan composer John Dowland, and included contributions from Stephen Stubbs on lute and baroque guitar, Maya Homburger on baroque violin and then, in a gently subversive and totally effective touch, the modern bass of Barry Guy and the sax/clarinet player and composer John Surman. But each succeeding album has expanded the group’s range, backward to medieval music and forward to pieces created by the musicians themselves. These latter works are what make Night Sessions different from earlier Dowland Project records: About half of the album consists of medieval songs, but the other half features works improvised very late at night in the same church where the ensemble has made most of its recordings. The pieces flow together beautifully, linked by a sonic environment and a noir-ish approach that often makes it difficult to guess (without peeking at the liner notes) which are the old works and… read more »
