The Tight Lines Project

WE LAST RELEASED A RECORDING ON THE STEREOPHILE LABEL SIX YEARS AGO—A JAZZ ALBUM FEATURING ATTENTION SCREEN, THE LATE BOB REINA’S FREE-JAZZ ENSEMBLE. THIS DRY SPELL WAS MAINLY DUE TO THE INCREASING DEMANDS MADE ON OUR EDITORIAL TEAM’S TIME BY SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE MAGAZINE’S WEBSITE, BUT ALSO BY JOHN ATKINSON’S RECORDING ACTIVITIES WITH THE PORTLAND STATE CHAMBER CHOIR, WHO ISSUE THEIR RECORDINGS ON THEIR OWN LABEL. NEVERTHELESS, WE’VE BEEN KEEPING OUR EYES AND EARS OPEN FOR SUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES.

- John Atkinson & Art Dudley

Back in 2011, composer Sasha Matson asked John Atkinson to produce his jazz opera about baseball, Cooperstown, which was released on Albany Records and was subsequently chosen by music editor Robert Baird to be our "Recording of the Month" for April 2015.

The studio is set up for the string quartet in Cut to Bar Interior. The Neumann M50 room mikes can be seen above the conductor's podium. Photo: John Atkinson

Following the release of Cooperstown, Sasha was putting together a program of his music for various chamber ensembles (see sidebar, "The Music"), and once again asked JA to produce the project, this time for Stereophile. The result is Tight Lines, available on CD, a 180gm LP, and as a high-resolution (24-bit/96kHz) download (downloads available shortly), from the Stereophile Shop and, we plan, from on-line music retailers.

Art Dudley on the Music
Some composers are attracted to the purely abstract, but not Sasha Matson: "All of these works on Tight Lines are deliberately programmatic," he says. "Not only stories, but watercolors and oils and film—all play a role. I am comfortable in this mode, utilizing the experience I gained from years of scoring for film and media."

Of the four movements comprising Sasha Matson's Tight Lines suite, the first I heard was