Longtime Valley residents are likely to have heard the musical efforts of two of the best players ever to have graced the area: cellist Gideon Freudmann and guitarist Mark Herschler. Freudmann is a purveyor of a style he dubbed “cello bop,” a marriage of technology ancient and modern in which he employs looping to create dense works either planned or improvised. Herschler used to play rock and roll with his brother Matt, and was often seen using tricks of the trade he learned from Gypsies in Europe, flailing away in virtuosic style on his classical guitar.
Eventually, Freudmann and Herschler teamed up to play the music of Bach, calling themselves Broque. The effort was at once a display of high-caliber musical skill and a pleasure to listen to, played with measured style but delivered with a clear passion. After two albums, the second in ’05, Broque stopped recording. Herschler took a break from music-making; Freudmann moved to Oregon. Tragedy didn’t help matters—Freudmann, a father of two, lost his wife to cancer.
Though Freudmann continued making music, solo and with a group called Caravan Gogh, it seemed that Broque was no more. Happily, that is no longer true. Herschler is now returning to the music scene with a vengeance, working on several musical projects. It’s especially gratifying that Broque is first in the queue with a new album called 7 in the Afternoon.
The duo’s past efforts leaned heavily on the music of Bach, but this time around, Freudmann and Herschler offer an album full of original material, only some of it under the sway of Bach.
The new disc is, in short, fantastically good. That should hardly be surprising in some respects. Not only are Freudmann and Herschler longtime players with extraordinary skills; they are, in their sophisticated musical conversation, greater than the sum of their parts. The record feels less like a voyage than a hard-won destination at the convergence of demanding roads. The tunes are engaging, inventive, and the product of a vast catalogue of influences, none of which holds permanent sway. Instead, they bubble to the surface for a while, only to be displaced by new and equally interesting sounds.
It’s a shame that the Valley lost Freudmann, but at least he does come back regularly to perform. And with 7 in the Afternoon, both musicians have returned to something only the two of them can create together. It’s a happy reunion.
Freudmann has also scored silent films, and on April 29, he provides audiences at Brattleboro’s Latchis Theatre with a treat when he plays live to accompany Metropolis.
The next night, Broque returns to the stage to celebrate the release of the new CD.
Metropolis: April 29, 7:30 p.m., Latchis Theatre, 50 Main St., Brattleboro, (802) 246-1500.
Broque CD release: April 30, 7:30 p.m., Universalist-Unitarian Meetinghouse, 121 N Pleasant St., Amherst, (413) 253-2848. Tickets $15 at the door.
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An update: Some time ago, this column visited the subject of a competition for new railroad bridge art to replace the “Dream” mural visible just before visitors enter downtown Northampton via Bridge Street (“A Call to Pontificate,” Jan. 7, 2010). There were several finalists, including kids’ art, a steel phoenix, a clear curtain, and a massive 3-D metal depiction of downtown.
The curtain was declared winner, but never materialized. About that winning project, I wrote, “J. Seth Hoffman, Penn Ruderman and Meera Deean propose a translucent curtain which would span the width of the bridge as well as rising a few feet above it. Theirs is clearly aimed at a subtler, more interactive notion, almost in the fashion of concept art. Theirs is the proposal most likely to be best judged only in place, because it relies, to a large extent, on what’s around the bridge, and on the ever-changing vagaries of time of day and angle of light.”
Now we’ll never get to judge that work in place—the Northampton Arts Council has re-opened the competition, calling for new proposals. The press release says the curtain artist withdrew backstage. Whatever occasioned the new round (entries due May 23, www.northamptonartscouncil.org for info), I’m just happy the Arts Council will get to reconsider, if only for a nanosecond, my own proposal for the expanse of metal on the railroad bridge: a permanent, free, unmetered and unreachable parking space.
