Many muddled accelerations shape this: beginning with my longstanding but increasingly spellbound appreciation for Andrew Hill’s record Lift Every Voice and the James Weldon Johnson-derived lineage of optimistic songcraft it transforms; likewise, the fast-evolving sophistication of collegiate a cappella (a scene suggested by Hill’s vocable-singing choir) on its mutating path from the Kipling-glossing “Whiffenpoof Song” to iridescent cyborg pop; the calamitous choirs of piano-engulfing ocean waves presaged in Annea Lockwood’s music and presently hastening inland; the crowds gathering in America to greet them, the crescendo of our infectious chants and cheers.
Kyoko Kitamura voice; Michael Mayo voice, looper; Raquel Acevedo Klein voice; Steven Hrycelak vocal bass;
Kari Francis vocal percussion; Cory Smythe piano, electronics
June 2020, Pyroclastic Records
Engineered and mixed by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio in Mount Vernon, NY
“The music on Accelerate Every Voice is densely layered — simultaneously music and cryptic puzzle. This is virtuosity-driven chamber music with fluctuating levels of oxygen, shadows, and light.”
“Pianist and composer Cory Smythe evokes cyborg choirs and coastal floods on Accelerate Every Voice, his second release for Pyroclastic Records and the follow-up to 2018 album Circulate Susanna. Bringing together five vocalists from the a cappella, new and improvised music scenes, AEV cradles Smythe's piano in an uncanny valley of voices before submerging it in an undersea expanse.”
“The vocal ensemble is colorful, singing dissonant chords accompanied by Smythe’s piano chords and single notes, electronic drums, and a bass looper. Along with Smythe, each member takes the solo spotlight while the rest of the ensemble follows and interacts. The freedom that the vocalist exhibit is inspiring, and even though the music is tense, there is still a cohesive quality that propels it forward and in a unified direction.”
“The vertiginous flights and tightly choreographed maneuvers undertaken by his five superb singers produce a visceral thrill that’s wholly seductive.”
“Written for five vocalists and himself on piano, this linked suite of pieces boasts a broad architecture of references. These include hyper-complex contemporary classical styles; the jazz-meets-vocal music of the pianist Andrew Hill’s 1970 record “Lift Every Voice”; and American a cappella music — both the white-tie-and-tails aesthetic of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and modern groups like Rockapella and Take 6, whose performances include vocal percussion.”
My involvement with Accelerate Every Voice came out of multiple post-concert conversations with Cory Smythe in which my background in popular a cappella came to light. I got the impression Cory had already been ruminating on Andrew Hill’s Lift Every Voice for some time, and was marinating in musical ideas relating to The Whiffenpoofs and snapshots of a brand of a cappella singing that interweaves the collegiate/varsity college aesthetic in the American Ivy League, particularly in the early twentieth century.
As the group’s vocal percussionist, Cory gave me leeway to choose my preferred sounds within the general scheme of high-mid-low, to meet with the rhythmic parts he had composed; many strictly notated, some free or improvisatory. Recorded in late 2018, with score editing and album mixing continuing into the following year. During our recoding sessions at Oktaven, I got to play vocal producer in the booth, offering an extra ear and suggestions for tweaking the vocal performances of the incredible Kyoko, Raquel, Michael, and Steven.
Aside from his dazzling talents at the keyboard, Cory has a luminous mind for composition. His writing is at turns — and simultaneously — striking, surprising, and thought-provoking. I hope you’ll give Accelerate Every Voice a listen.
—Kari Francis
