Overnight Mail

The music of Torke is dynamic, brilliant, upbeat, exciting, rhythmic, syncopated, bouncy, repetitive sometimes like dance music ("Overnight Mail"), sometimes through processes similar to those of minimalism ("Telephone Book", "July", "Flint"), and always entertaining. But here, in these works composed between 1995 and 1997, it also goes, significantly more than his earlier works collated on the two previous Argo CDs devoted to him in the early 1990s (Michael Torke's Color Music,Chamber Works) in the direction of "pretty" but inconsequential lounge music (the slow movements especially), big band jazz, sometimes souding like no more than a minimalist version of the fluffliest music of Poulenc (Finale of "Telephone Book"), "easy-listening" music-for-entertainment-only, consumption music. By the way, in case you wondered, the titles of Torke's works have no particular meaning or relation with the content of the pieces: by his own admission, he composes abstract music, then finds the titles, to make the pieces more appealing to the public - sorry, that's an interpretation: "to help bring it into the world and make it real" in his own words.The likening of Torke to Brahms in the otherwise informative liner notes might have seemed a good idea, but ultimately it is rather embarrassing. Why not Bach, while they were at it ? Like, you know, that direct line that goes from Bach - Beethoven - Brahms - Wagner - Mahler - The Beatles - Torke - and me. No kidding: "what Brahms, Torke and the best of popular music share is instant memorability. What Brahms and Torke also share (which is only true of a very small percentage of popular music) are layers of structural logic that support the memorable tunes which make repeated listenings a constant adventure of discovery... ".No, this is not Brahms, this is entertaining like a good jazz band. When you've had enough Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington, listen to Torke.And, Michael, in a hundred years from now, we can convene and discuss the jugements of posterity on the basis of the four major symphonies that you will no doubt some day compose, four concertos, major chamber and piano music, and not just on the basis of your entertaining but rather fluffy "Hungarian Dances"... Best wishes.TT 67:12.

You'll love this CD.On the other hand, if you don't like Torke (after all, with him it's mostly a love-hate thing) you won't like this CD. It's as simple as that.It seems that people who slam this CD aren't really slamming the performance, they are slamming the composer.If you don't like Minimalism (aka "broken record music), you won't like Torke, and therefore you won't like this CD.But if you have an open mind about the music, and judge it for what it is, you'll find that this is a very accessible performance, and one worthy of immortalizing on compact disc.And as a classical saxophone player, I found the recording of "July" a special treat... it's tough to find decent quartet recordings in mainstream stores!

I am a big fan of Michael Torke. His music tends to be upbeat and his compositions put a smile on my face. For those who enjoy so-called 'minimalism', there is a decent chance that you will really enjoy Torke's music, and find his unique orchestrations and compositional techniques to be invigorating and original. Now, there are certainly many people who would not enjoy this music at all... I hope my brief words here can help you to figure that out for yourself (if you are new to his music, of course) That being said,The fist piece 'Overnight Mail' is awesome, I love the instrumentation here (lots of smooth brass and sultry saxes) and the music is catchy and fun. One of his best pieces in my opinion, it is wrought with the rhythmic dynamicism and melodic ingenuity that I have grown to love, and has a sort of 'late-night out in the city' feel. (I was living in San Francisco when I bought this disc, hehe)The rest of the disc is good and, at times, great. The last piece, change of address, has not grown on me all that much, though I find it to be novel at least. 'The Yellow Pages', the part of 'Telephone Book' that existed on its own originally, is probably one of Torke's most well known chamber works and it is very charming.Another reviewer commented on the (perceived) superficiality of emotion in this music... It is true that Michael's music tends toward the blatantly positive/cheery side of things emotionally - I believe, however, that the emotions conveyed are genuine. Perhaps some of us are more able than others to embrace this kind of transparent, high-frequency positive energy. (Understandably so). I admit that there have been a few times when i popped a Torke CD in and found it to be completely obnoxious... (but I attribute those instances to temporary losses of sanity)

This compilation really shows what Torke is capable of. His chamber music is generally excellent, and "Telephone Book" is intelligent, well-crafted, and well performed on the CD.In my opinion, "Overnight Mail", with its jazz roots, really plays a supporting role to "Telephone Book". It makes for easier listening, especially in this performance.The other works on the CD, while not in the same class as the title work and "Telephone Book", are by no means unbearable. All round, this CD is a gem, containing Torke's best chamber music, with great performances.