Gene Pritsker’s “Gene & The Strings” is an intriguing, deliciously botched culinary experiment in mixing and matching classical and hip-hop, winking toward sonic pandemonium. This album is something like taking a very traditional string quartet and then letting Kendrick Lamar and Bach collide, coming up with something utterly new.
The magic of the album is how it puts together what is usually two opposing entities in a harmonious relationship. Lara St. John‘s performance on solo violin pieces shows remarkable restraint, while with the larger ensemble pieces featuring the Kahlo String Quartet, a sense of urgency is injected. Just when you think you might have it pegged, along come David Banks‘ vocals to inject a hip-hop-like influence on the tracks, and pleasantly, your entire experience is derailed.
Pritsker is brilliant in the balance of the sacred and the profane. He picks up chaos with abandon and blurs every boundary of decency in the classic. It was as if a Jackson Pollock was springing to life before one’s very eyes, turbulent, lovely, and totally mesmerizing.
Yet what really sets “Gene & The Strings” apart, however, is a sense of community. This album is all about collaboration, bringing together disparate voices and styles to create something far greater than the sum of its constituent parts. It is truly a testament to music, where it binds us all in a shared experience without genre or style difference, and with which to fashion something truly original.
Despite the innovation, “Gene & The Strings” is inherently an album of nostalgia: a nod to times when music appreciated experimentation more than genre, and when the division between high and low art existed in a state of blissful ignorance. This is a call to action, an ongoing reminder that music is one potent catalyst for change, creativity, and beauty.
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Band members: Various musicians, including:
Lara St. John (violin)
Machiko Ozawa (violin)
The Kahlo String Quartet
CompCord String Quartet
William Anderson (classical guitar)
Warren Nicholson (classical guitar)
David Banks (vocals)
