Story telling among friends. That was the impression given during Wednesday nights Ecstatic Music Festival performance. The Merkin Concert Hall stage was a gathering of old friends and collaborators who wanted to play some new music that they had written. Timo Andres–whose new song cycle Work Songs was the impetus for the gathering–Gabriel Kahane, Ted Hearne, Becca Steven, and Nathan Koci each brought their unique charms to create a musical quilt in celebration of their musical friendship.
The reserved approach to the evening could have done with another uptempo number or two, but the relaxing atmosphere added to the storytelling effect apparent in most of the pieces. Each whisper or shout had a supporting role to the stories being told, and was wrapped up in the warm, if often subdued, sounds behind them.