Cult of Color

Soundtrack to the ballet Cult of Color refuses to sit obediently in any single genre, instead straddling several over the course of 55 minutes. Traces of jazz, rock and industrial music are discernible alongside soundtrack styles and a gothic, theatrical streak runs through this music too.  The liner notes describe the ballet as a mythic, tribal world where colour is dreamt of, then discovered in a subterranean world. Reynolds' compositions are, appropriately enough, a mixture of starkly rendered monochrome and more subtly coloured music. A World Without Color begins in commanding style with brutally methodical percussion and braying saxophone. The music then continues without pause into the echoing, gentler sound world of Sesom's Dream, shaded with marimba and vibes. Betto's Lament could be mistaken for a Tom Waits instrumental, made up of twanging guitar, plangent strings, heartbeat percussion and kalimba. Elsewhere, The Darkness Babies is pleasingly strident, drums are beaten mercilessly and Paul Klemperer's saxophone rages and snorts into darkness. The Golden Arm Trio belies its name by comprising 17 musicians, a little under half of which are string players. Their presence, although integral, mostly comes second place to the prominent rhythm section. When heard on their own, halfway through Sesom And His Disciples, they emphasise an anxious, forbidding strain to the proceedings.

A Ballet Austin Production in Association with Arthouse

Music Composed & Produced by Graham Reynolds

Story and Visual Concept by Trenton Doyle Hancock • Choreography by Stephen Mills

Premiered April, 2008 at AustinVentures Studio Theatre, Austin, Texas

Narrative Consultant: John Riedie • Production Director: Bill Sheffield • Costumes by Susan Branch Lighting Design by Tony Tucci • Sound Design by Buzz Moran

Composed and Produced by

Graham Reynolds

Recording, Mixing, and Sound Design by

Graham Reynolds and Buzz Moran

Recorded at Red House Studio, Austin, TX

Published by Rickey Fence Music, ASCAP

Mastered by Ben Blank at Ben Blank Media

Musicians:

Paul Klemperer: soprano and baritone sax

Brandon Rivas: upright bass

Bruce Colson: violin

Kathryn Orr: violin

Catherine Price: violin

Maurice Chammah: violin

Jason Elinoff: viola

Jonathan Dexter: cello

Marcus Graf: trumpet

Wayne Myers: trombone

Mike Hoffer: tuba

Dan Schwartz: oboe

Seetha Shivaswarmy: flute

Chuck Fischer: vibes, marimba, drums

Jeremy Bruch: drums

Buzz Moran: guitar, drums, percussion

Graham Reynolds: piano, drums, percussion, vibes, marimba, guitar, electric bass,

kalimba, keyboards, programming

Cover photo of Sesom by Alina Prax, ladolcevitaphoto.com

Photo of Darkness Babies by Hannah Neal

Artists’ photo by George Brainard

Costume sketches by Susan Branch

Original layout and design by John Riedie

Reissue layout configured by Buzz Moran