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“Like the best of today's composers…Cuomo has developed a lingua franca that is international enough to allow the speakers of different musical languages to communicate... The music occupies a space that is not bound by geography or chronology." — John Schaefer (WNYC)
“[Nels Cline is an] avant-guitarist extraordinaire." — Time Out NY
“[The Aizuri Quartet] are expert collaborators, who cogently traverse a range of repertoire staples and modern works.” — The New York Times
Seven Limbs, composed by Douglas J. Cuomo, is based on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of purification. It juxtaposes Cline's wildly inventive guitar playing and use of electronic effects with the Aizuri Quartet’s classically-based, forward-thinking musical style.
Seven Limbs sets the musicians in a landscape that is slightly unfamiliar—where the ground under their feet is always shifting a bit in unexpected ways. Playing both electric guitar with effects and acoustic guitar, Cline’s musical input will be partially notated but largely improvised following specific direction and guidelines in the score. The Quartet’s score will be entirely notated, utilizing the full range of techniques, colors and effects available to the 21st century string quartet. Both strings and guitar are shapeshifters in that the roles of soloist and accompanist will be fluid.
Nels Cline is best-known as the lead guitarist for Wilco, with more than 160 recordings exploring a diversity of styles from jazz to rock to punk to experimental. The award-winning Aizuri Quartet’s debut album,
Blueprinting, was nominated for a 2019 Grammy. The Quartet draws its name from aizuri-e, a style of predominantly blue Japanese woodblock printing that is noted for its vibrancy and incredible detail.