Johnson / Cauley / Frey - When The Streets Were Quiet [CD]

Composer, bassist, bandleader, and stylistic chameleon Max Johnson releases this collection of his recent through-composed chamber music, displaying his impressive versatility across many contexts. Unlike some musicians who wear multiple aesthetic caps, Johnson does not present a hybrid amalgamation of the various kinds of music he is involved in, instead we hear a cultivated and thoughtful compositional voice within the contemporary classical idiom, perhaps informed by his work in jazz, bluegrass, and other styles, but on a subterranean level that steers clear of asserting their influence on the surface presentation of the music.