Rebekah Heller - ONE

The Free Jazz Collective 0

“This is my history”, speaks Rebekah Heller on the second track of her wonderful album ONE and makes it clear that what we are about to listen to is her story. Her story (not biographically) is played with her sounds and voice that together are layered to create a sonically rich album.

The album opens with a blistering solo bassoon track. We hear Heller strike the keys of the bassoon creating a duet between reed and keys to great effect. Soon we hear Heller’s breath, sharp inhales creating another kind of duet. And then the track is done. “My voice” the following track charts a completely different sonic landscape, Heller layers and pans her voice, singing, speaking, with what sounds like electronics and bassoon underscoring the track. “Gigi” is back to solo bassoon but again, we hear breath and keys, which creates counterpoint with the solo bassoon. Heller plays an insistent theme that gets looped and ever more insistent. The loop accelerates and eventually evolves and changes. By the end the bassoon screams beautifully, reaching a timbre I did not know was possible on the bassoon.

“Epic layering” is how the album is described on the Bandcamp description and that’s how it sounds. Heller weaves the sound of her voice, bassoon, her breath, the clicking of fingers of the keys, to create an ensemble of body and bassoon. ONE is a solo album but it’s also an orchestral album, an orchestra that comprises of Heller, and her bassoon.

It should be noted that the album is beautifully recorded and mixed; the sound of the keys and breathing is particularly well balanced, and the panning of the layers when listening on headphones has an incredible effect. This short album definitely delivers.