Joe’s Pub, Lafayette Street, N.Y.; July 11, 2006
Anonymous 4 is back – with a twang. Having left medieval chant and somewhat later polyphony behind and moved, musically, to America with their last CD (“American Angels”), the four women are still exploring. At Joe’s Pub (at The Public Theater), they presented a sneak preview of their next CD, “Gloryland” and for the first time they’re accepting the tonalities of instruments: they were joined by Darol Anger on fiddles and mandolin and Scott Nygaard on guitars. For their move up a few centuries and across the Atlantic, the women’s impeccable tonal purity remains but a decidedly American twang has been added to some of the folksier, Southern-mountain based tunes and revival songs. It’s as accurate and enchanting as everything else they do – their sense of history, the when and where of the music they perform, manages to avoid academic stuffiness: this music communicates.
Some of the songs begin with the simple singing of musical syllables (fa-sol-la-mi) – called “shape-note” singing because they were originally notated in different shapes (fa=triangle, sol=circle, etc) for teaching purposes – and then sung with the correct text. “I’m on my journey home,” begins in shape note; it is sung by all four women (but only in three voices). Most of the harmonies and arrangements are by the women but some are traditional. Some songs are presented as duets or solos; Marsha Gerensky and Susan Hellauer sing “Like Noah’s Weary Dove” with utmost simplicity; the instruments back them up with equal modesty and a ravishing violin solo from Mr Anger. In one selection, his rapid, quiet strumming of the mandolin is a perfect contrast with the long, legato singing of the 4. I could attempt to describe the concert song by song, but you get the point: These women are in a new phase of their careers, putting themselves spiritually and harmonically into a new time, a new place. The concert was an event of great vibrancy; one awaits the CD.
Robert Levine
