On September 15, composer/guitarist Mark Vickness will release a new album, entitled Interconnected, featuring his ensemble of the same name – Interconnected.
The ensemble is comprised of Mark (acoustic guitars), Mads Tolling (violinist), Joseph Hebert (cello), Dan Feiszli (upright and electric bass), and Ty Burhoe (table).
Virtuosos all, each member of the ensemble brings a different impact to the fusion of innovative music on the album,
As Mark states, “The ensemble is a perfect vehicle for connecting different styles, eras, and cultures.”
At age six, Mark began piano, followed by learning the complexities of fingerstyle guitar. Later, he attained his bachelor’s and master’s degree in composition, along with studying classical piano, guitar, sitar, and table. He played as half of Glass House and performed with The Turtle Island String Quartet, Michael Manring, Alex DiGrassi, and Don Ross.
About the album, Mark shares, “The music on this recording is intended to convey interconnectedness, the reality that we live in an interconnected, interdependent world, that we are all one human race. Instrumental music is an ideal means of expressing this because it is a universal language. This ensemble is comprised of musicians who are capable of a wide range of styles from different cultures and different eras. I worked hard to write this music with interconnectedness in mind, within each piece individually and in the relationships between the pieces themselves. Some of the pieces on Interconnected come from a deeply personal place. ‘For Every Child’ was written for every person who has either experienced or known someone who has gone through the trauma of losing their innocence to childhood sexual abuse as I did before age ten. ‘One Day Over A Thousand’ is dedicated to all those who lost their lives to Covid-19, and to my dear friend Holli Ross, who died while this piece was being written.”
Encompassing nine-tracks, Interconnected begins with “Interwoven,” opening on delicately interweaving colors of guitar and cello. When the bass and violin enter, the tune takes on initially gossamer textures, followed by adding the resonant oomph of swelling elegant layers.
Personal favorites on the album include “Bodega Blue,” with its delicious dripping blues flavors attended by hints of nuanced Latin tinctures. “6 in 7” travels on wonderfully bleak Celtic aromas, exuding austerity and lusciously severe coloration. When the guitar and table arrive, the tune thrums with plush washes of tonality, low-slung, and rumbling with melancholic surfaces. “6 in 7” is exquisitely gorgeous and evocative.
The final track, “One Day Over A Thousand” generates leitmotifs both somber and beautifully, romantically quixotic, as if recollecting something of value lost, never to be regained.
Interconnected is superbly arranged, rife with dazzling layered textures, soft elegant sonic hues, and remarkable musicianship. Don’t miss this album – it’s marvelously lovely.
