Concert Review: Low Key Chamber Concert #8

Concert Review:
Low Key Chamber Concert #8
Franz Hackl - trumpet, Max Pollak - tap dancer/bode percussionist & Gene Pritsker - guitar
@ The Sky Vault
presented by Composers Concordance
November 23, 2021

     Host Robert C Ford once again started the evening with a most topical poem exploring the zeitgeist of our times: reality tv, social media conformity pressures, and societal expectations.
     Max Pollak, a renowned Austrian tap dancer and body percussionist, accompanied by Gene Pritsker on guitar, started the music set at the Sky Vault in lower Manhattan.
     1st was the poignantly titled Pandemic Dance #29, written by Gene during the onset of the pandemic. Gene’s guitar notes played especially well with Max’s body percussion and tapping. Rather an impressive choreography.
     Max’s composition cleverly spelled pandemic backwards, started quite soulfully and then picked up tempo in a big way. His body percussion flourishes are quite inspiring in their own right.
     Franz Hackl and Gene performed another Pandemic Dance, #31, specifically meant for a trumpet/guitar duo. This piece allowed for an undulating performance by Franz, at times contemplative followed by a robust stretch of notes.
     The trio then premiered a world release, “Get it Back”, a composition written by Max long ago, lamenting societal conditions and a return to normalcy. Prescient for sure, Max’s singing lends an everyman’s credibility to the song.
     Gene, on solo guitar, introduced a New Music piece written by David Shohl, a delicate and sensitive composition as played by Gene, this performance highlighted the range of styles, instruments and tones that New Music encompasses.
     Franz and Max performing as a duo on the next piece set a light and upbeat tone in another well matched choreography. Franz, who has performed for the Austrian President, demonstrated his remarkable versatility on trumpet.
     A rework of the CBS Sunday Morning theme song formed the basis for the next composition performed by Gene and Franz with Max miming and on body percussion. Certainly a value added arrangement.
     Another reworking of a classic, “The Blue Danube”, into a blues song yielded elements of introspection, and folksiness that the original waltz had not contemplated. A fabulous version in short.
 

    - Thomas