Twelve Fantasias for Solo Recorder

“It is gorgeous music. What a beautiful CD. And the playing is stunning! Loved it!”
— António Carrilho (Portugal)

“Great concept, great material.”
— Kirsi Ojala, Wind On Wind (Finland)

“Absolutely incredible how Rodney can improvise in so many different styles."
— Joris van Goethem, Flanders Recorder Quartet (Belgium)

"Improvisation is a great passion of Australian recorder player and composer Rodney Waterman. He approaches it masterfully, bringing imagination to bear in service of mu-sic that is fluid, structurally coherent, and engaging—as he explores articulation, timbre, rhythm and melody. These qualities are present in his com-positions like Grass Tree Studies and of his Zana (for reviews of this music, see links at end of this review).Waterman studied with Dutch virtuoso Kees Boeke; worked for the late recorder maker Fred Morgan, testing his recorders; and teaches and plays at a variety of festivals. With Ryan Williams, he performs as Duo Windborne. In correspondence with me, Water-man notes that the twelve fantasias CD project developed from his desire “to do something creative during Melbourne’s Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ period in late 2020.” As the notes with the disc explain, sources of inspiration include G.Ph. Telemann’s fantasias for solo flute (which fit so well for recorder), particularly as performed by Genevieve Lacey, and his friend/colleague Linsey Pollak’s improvised pieces for each day in April 2020.

Waterman considered the acoustics in 12 particular locations as he recorded his improvisations in his home studio in Melbourne. Over the course of 12 consecutive days in October 2020, using Logic Pro recording software and reverb presets that he adjusted to match his memory of the locations, he created these recordings. On each of the tracks he uses a different instrument: recorders by Morgan on seven tracks (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12), by Moeck (track 9), Zen-On (tracks 4 & 7), and Swedish folk flutes by Gunnar Stenmark (tracks 6 & 11).The locations vary from the church of San Rocco, Pitigliano, Italy, to a swimming pool in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. The CD booklet provides descriptions of each location and the circumstances that led Waterman to revisit them in his improvisations. To sonically evoke each location, he used the remarkable technology of the Impulse Response reverberation effect. Using that process, the acoustics of a particular location can be reproduced such that one can record in that virtual space. (Technical information on this process appears at the end of this review.) Waterman’s creative work with improvisation, the 12 instruments, and this advanced recording technology gives us a beautiful travelog that takes us not only through specific geographic locations, but through times in his life—all meaningfully refracted through his experiences and memories. While I highly recommend the free streaming files available at BandCamp, purchase of the CD gives you the great benefit of Waterman’s notes in the booklet (including details of which instrument is played on each track). In addition to being able to enjoy the artwork and design by Martin Bennet (including his cover photo of Norman Bay, Wilson’s Promontory National Park in Victoria, Australia), purchase of the CD also allows download of the audio files in high resolution formats. This disc is a model of current improvised practice in recorder playing as well as creative use of technology. I recommend it highly."

REVIEWED BY TOM BICKLEY, American Recorder FALL 2021