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David Long: Cross Creek

Almost all of this music was composed as accompaniment: for live performances by dance companies led by Douglas Wright or Raewyn Hill, or for Leanne Pooley's documentary 'Being Billy Apple'. The title track was an International Arts Festival commission. As with all soundtracks, the question is, does it hold up on its own? The answer is a resounding yes - and I can tell you that, because I've seen none of the work that it accompanied. The quality is such that I have no doubt it was as much collaboration as accompaniment, and that Long's music would have had a profound effect on those he was working with. Long is, as usual, aided and abetted by many of Wellington's Happy (live music venue) musicians collective, such as Jeff Henderson, Chris O'Connor and Riki Gooch, in a variety of combinations. The likely results of which will be familiar to anyone acquainted with New Zealand's free improvisation scene. Long, too, gets his own banjo and guitar licks in without dominating or featuring. Cross Creek itself, a portrait of a small railway settlement in the Rimutaka Ranges, is performed by Stroma, conducted by Hamish McKeich. And all of these beautiful sounds are beautifully recorded.

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