Music / “Techno Folk”, Ensemble Offspring. At The Street Theatre, March 29. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

MESMERISING music that mixes chamber pieces with jazz and folk influences is not something you experience every day, after hearing this concert, maybe it should be.

Ensemble Offspring regularly changes its line-up. This is just one of the interesting aspects of this unique group. Performing in Theatre 3 of The Street Theatre in a sold-out concert, titled “Techno Folk”, were Claire Edwardes, percussion; Jason Noble, clarinets and Benjamin Kopp, piano.

They opened with “Paisaje Folklórico No. 2” (2017), by Sebastián Tozzola, for bass clarinet and piano. The ambience of this space was just right for this type of alluring music. The active rhythms and, at the same time, introspective music of this Argentinian composer, spoke more about a personal statement than anything about a country or style. A sensual work.

“Bull in a China Shop” (2020), by Samantha Wolf for percussion and piano is a “beautifully messy” work, as Edwardes said. Composed in different keys, yet still, the instruments spoke in one voice. It’s full of rhythms. Playful and driving rhythms set up an aural landscape of many things. Its subtle framework and personal voice made it more dream-like than anything else.

For solo piano, Karen Tanaka’s thrillingly fast “Techno Etudes” (2000) came next. In three movements, it was full of syncopated complex rhythms. It starts at full tilt. It’s notes on notes within notes, but all with a structure that says listen and you will find something fresh. It was a lot like rock ‘n’ roll as it drove its rhythms into a listener. Kopp played it with extraordinary virtuosity.

Alice Chance’s “Mirroring” (2021), for vibraphone, has an introspective nature that sits in a world by itself. It was like a quiet conversation saying something personal. The beauty of sound and a human life could be heard in this meditative music.

Another work composed during the covid lockdown, “Dissemble” (2020), by Nicole Murphy, for clarinet and percussion, said as much and maybe more than the previous work about a personal response to a human tragedy such as a pandemic. The previous two and Wolf’s works were part of Ensemble Offspring’s Noisy Women Commission composers.

Joe Chindamo’s “Triangolo di pensieri” (2023) for clarinet, piano and percussion followed. It was a world premiere. The clarinet spoke strongly in this piece. It was the central instrument. But the work slightly missed its mark as a musical story. In only two movements, and not three as the title might suggest, maybe a third is required to bring it together.

Finishing with three movements from Chick Corea’s much-loved “Children’s Songs”, which were arranged by Ensemble Offspring, all had a playful yet slightly dark voice. Like most of the music in this concert, it had vitality and held a distinct social essence that was performed by some of the best musicians in the business.