Il lavoro ispirato all'artista Jay DeFeo (1929-1989) - e in particolare agli studi da lei condotti su una tazza in ceramica regalatele nel suo ultimo anno di vita da Ron Nagle, Seven Pillars of Wisdom - cui da tempo Zeena Parkins si è dedicata assieme al fidatissimo William Winant è ora in uno splendido album su Tzadik: Modesty of the Magic Thing.
Performing with veteran free improv percussionist William Winant, Zeena Parkins - probably one of the greatest living harpists - returns with a poetic, magickal set inspired by visual artist Jay DeFeo. Gorgeous, stirring sounds. Always reliable, whether she's working alone or with regular collaborators like Ikue Mori or Fred Frith, Parkins is an incredibly distinctive player. We can't think of many other artists who can make an instrument like the harp sound so different and so open-ended. And playing against Winant's microtonally-tuned set of bells and gongs she sounds fully refreshed, playfully following his resonant chimes with plucks and runs that skewer perceptions of the instrument. It's almost too easy to label Modesty of the Magic Thing as hypnotic, but Parkins has a way of casting a spell as you're listening - no doubt inspired by DeFeo's captivating and often illusory visual art, like her sculptural masterpiece 'The Rose', a huge dazzling starburst motif chipped out of paint. DeFeo was fascinated by the options offered to her by different media and different techniques, playing with photography and collage at the same time as paint and balancing her themes by offering differing versions of the same theme. Parkins' approach here can be viewed through a similar lens as she plays in shifting patterns, mirroring herself and Winant, and fixing odd, unexpected lines in her broad, bold compositions.