Release Date: March 9, 2018
Catalog #: RR7984
Format: Digital
21st Century
Chamber
Guitar
Large Ensemble

315 Ensemble

Chris Cresswell composer

315 Ensemble
Arjun Jethwa flutes
Luke Newby clarinets
Laurie McGee violin
Laetitia Van Wyk cello
Heather Duncanson piano
Chris Cresswell electric guitar, electronics

Ravello Records presents 315 ENSEMBLE, the self-titled debut album of composer/electric guitarist/sound artist Chris Cresswell’s sextet, recorded live at Birmingham Conservatoire in England. Cresswell’s 315 Ensemble is dedicated to exploring possibilities in electroacoustic music as well as commissioning works from outstanding composers worldwide. This album premieres two compositions by Creswell exclusively.

315 Ensemble is “a chamber ensemble masquerading as an electro-acoustic band or an experimental band masquerading as a chamber ensemble,” includes Arjun Jethwa (flute/bass flute); Luke Newby (clarinet/bass clarinet); Laurie McGee (violin); Laetitia Van Wyk (cello); Heather Duncanson (piano); and Chris Cresswell (electric guitar/electronics).

In Cresswell’s blurs the line between white noise, digital sampling, ambient electronic textures, and classical instruments, with an organic structure and a restrained instrumentation. This culminates in a provocative exploration of tonalities through which the listener is challenged to hear sound graphics as the foreground. This journey is aptly reflected in the first work “From Dreams, We Emerge,” about which, the composer writes: “the work explores subtle, shifting electronic textures built from white noise, sampled instruments, and static.” The album also premieres “The Lost Art of Losing Sleep,” the first work Cresswell wrote specifically for the ensemble. The music, an exploration of electroacoustic tone clusters, is accompanied by a poem:

woven fragments
wash over him
as he
rediscovers
the lost art
of losing sleep

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 From Dreams, We Emerge Chris Cresswell Arjun Jethwa, bass flute; Luke Newby, clarinet; Laurie Mcgee, violin; Laetitia Van Wyk, cello; Heather Duncanson, piano; Chris Cresswell, electric guitar, electronics 9:08
02 The Lost Art of Losing Sleep Chris Cresswell Arjun Jethwa, bass flute; Luke Newby, clarinet; Laurie Mcgee, violin; Laetitia Van Wyk, cello; Heather Duncanson, piano; Chris Cresswell, electric guitar, electronics 9:21

From Dreams, We Emerge
Recorded May 16, 2017 At Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, England
Recording Session Producer: Minoas Koutedakis
Recording Session Engineer: Marco Holtman

The Lost Art Of Losing Sleep
Recorded May 16, 2017 At Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, England
Recording Session Producer: Minoas Koutedakis
Recording Session Engineer: Marco Holtman

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Marina Altschiller

Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Mastering Levi Brown
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette

Art & Marketing Director Brett Picknell
Design Emily Roulo

Artist Information

Chris Cresswell

Composer

A composer, songwriter, educator, guitarist, and radio host, Chris Cresswell is a curious musician whose work betrays his affection for sonic wanderlust. With an ear that incorporates all sorts of sounds, from field recordings to a singer/songwriter at an open mic night, Cresswell’s music “… blurs the boundaries between industrial and organic, soothing and suspenseful, and introspective and anxious” (International Clarinet Association) and “…is not really my thing, but it’s cool to hear him on the radio.” (his Mom). Having once shared the stage with a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and a Top 40 country star (two different occasions), Cresswell’s music has been heard in coffee shops, concert halls, and venues around the world, from chic Brooklyn venues like Areté Venue and Gallery and The Firehouse Space, to Birmingham, England’s renown Symphony Hall and the Paleis voor Schone Kunsten in Brussels.