Neomonology (Innova 833) furnishes a sort of 3-D portrait of the contemporary contrabass in modern concert music today. Jeffrey Weisner appears to us as an extraordinarily well-heeled (in the aesthetic sense) contrabassist, tackling with distinction three contemporary works for the instrument alone: Armando Bayolo's pomo "Mix Tape," David Smooke's "Introspection #11,072," and Michael Hersch's "Caelum Dedecoratum."
The works are less in the avant garde camp per se as they are in a post- mode. In other words they are directed more toward synthesizing the music around us, before us and behind us than they are sheer sound events.
Weisner does a fine job of it. This will appeal to lovers of the contrabass on the modern scene.
