Ottawa composer Jan Järvlepp’s reputation isn’t based on sounding like anyone else. Sure, you can sit through a recording of one of his pieces and name a lot of influences, if that’s what amuses you. Yet, in the end, his quirky and usually ingenius post-modern scores are a reality unto themselves. Järvlepp has just released a CD aptly named Flights of Fancy, which includes six pieces for various small instrumental ensembles, some of them a tad unusual. Along with such common combinations as a woodwind quintet or a saxophone quartet, there’s a piece for electric violin and electric guitar and another for flute and double bass. The most compelling offering is a three movement trio for piccolo, viola and cello, the last movement of which owes a simple but unmistakable debt to Shostakovich. Other pieces are at once engaging and broadly humorous, particularily the first movement of the Saxophone Quartet entitled Cadillac, an irresistable evocation of an old, old-fashioned high-end motor car.

– The Ottawa Citizen June 24, 2000 –

1. Pierrot Solaire

2-4. Saxophone Quartet

5-7. Trio No. 2

8. Tarantella

9. Robot Dance

10. Overture