1994 · Album
Stringology
Recorded September 1993, Sear Sound, New York City · Black Saint · Produced by Unknown
Strings in Conversation, Bass in the Middle
Cello and bass trade lines with a loose, unpredictable confidence that rewards close listening.
When Stringology appeared in 1994 on the Black Saint label, it did not arrive with fanfare. It was a small release, the kind that finds its audience through word of mouth and the patience of listeners already following the players. Reviews were mixed but engaged. AllMusic reviewer Ron Wynn called the music "loose, unpredictable, exciting fare," singling out the duets between cellist Diedre Murray and bassist Fred Hopkins as the strongest material. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings was less generous, arguing that Murray leans too heavily on a few limited ideas that don't quite sustain the pace of the record.
That split is a fair way into the album. Recorded at Sear Sound in New York in September 1993, the session puts Murray's higher-pitched bowing against Hopkins's plucked lines, and when the two are alone together they make the strongest case for the record. Marvin Sewell on guitar and the percussion of Newman Baker and Ray Mantilla add color, and the group moves through calypso and tango variations, outside dialogues, and a closing blues that turns the form upside down. Some tracks are playful, some are knotty, and not all of them land.
If you come to Stringology for Hopkins, who spent decades as one of the most dependable bassists in the New York scene, you will hear him at his most conversational. It is not his definitive statement, but it is a good, direct place to hear how he thinks in a duo. Listeners who want a broader view of Murray should expect a record that works best in its smaller moments.
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