Colin Currie with Sam Walton and Robin Michael - Striking A Balance: Contemporary Percussion Music (1998)

An hour of great marimba & vibraphone-based music, released in 1998 to herald the fresh new talent of percussionist Colin Currie, born right here in Edinburgh in 1976.  The well chosen and sequenced programme takes in big name composers from Bach to Reich, with some lesser known ones in between.

The album starts with its knottiest piece, written by Tosh Ichiyanagi in 1982 as variations on a Caprice by Paganini.  Here, as with about half the album, Currie is accompanied by pianist Robin Michael, who also features on the following quartet of miniatures from Chick Corea's Children's Songs.  Currie is also paired on a few tracks with another marimba player, Sam Walton, resulting in a beautiful Alborada Del Gracioso from Ravel's Miroirs, a little bit of Bach from English Suite No. 2, and Reich's Nagoya Marimbas.  Lovely chilled weekend listening.

Alternate cover

link
pw: sgtg