Reginald Mobley and Agave: American Originals
Acis

American Originals is distinguished by many things, its performers first of all. Countertenor Reginald Mobley illuminates the material with his rich, resonant voice, and Agave Baroque, a San Francisco Bay Area-based sextet specializing in string chamber music of the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, partners with him splendidly and also elevates the recording with a number of instrumental performances. Critical to the recording's impact is its set-list, which celebrates the music of composers of colour, among them Florence Beatrice Price, Scott Joplin, and Justin Holland, and others unjustly overlooked such as Esteban Salas y Castro, Manuel de Zumaya, and José Mauricio Nuñes Garcia. The album isn't the first joint effort from Mobley and Agave (violinists Aaron Westman, Anna Washburn, and Katherine Kyme; cellist William Skeen; guitarist Kevin Cooper; and pianist Henry Lebedinsky) either, the collaborators having released Queen of Heaven: Music of Isabella Leonarda in 2015 and Peace in Our Time three years later.

In keeping with the words “A New World, A New Canon” accompanying the album title, Mobley (in liner notes) acknowledges that at the same time as he was absorbing the classical music canon he was also suppressing the disappointment that seemingly nothing in that canon had ever been written by someone “who looked like me.” American Originals therefore presents Mobley and Agave's desire to amend that canon by including several composers from the last few centuries who they believe deserve a place within it. Of course the unfortunate reality is that there had always been composers creating music who looked like Mobley, but in not receiving the recognition it was due their work wasn't sufficiently well known to the listening public. It's true that new recordings of Price's music have appeared in recent years and prompted a newfound appreciation of her artistry, but more needs to be done. A release such as American Originals thus represents one more step towards achieving that goal.

The words of Acis' founder, Geoffrey Silver, are worth citing too: “(W)hen people are passed over for growth and advancement by racial segregation or institutional sexism (or both), we all suffer from cultural malnutrition. Price (1887–1953) was in fact the first Black woman to have a symphonic composition played by an American orchestra (in 1933), but it is only seventy years after her death that she is now gaining the exposure she so richly deserves.” With eight of the recording's seventeen pieces by her, she's certainly well-represented on the sixty-six-minute set. She truly is, as Mobley notes, “our guide throughout the album.”

Price is represented by original compositions, including songs written in a spiritual style, and string quartet renderings of the traditionals “Shortnin' Bread” and “Oh My Darlin' Clementine.” Her opening “Resignation” vividly conveys the suffering endured by Black slaves and their longing for release (“My life is a pathway of sorrow / I've struggled and toiled in the sun…”), especially when Mobley delivers the words with passionate feeling and Lebedinsky and Westman provide heartfelt accompaniment (while many of the pieces feature all six Agave members, a number are performed by sub-units). Whereas “Out of the South Blew a Wind” is uplifting in its intimations of hope, “Sympathy” is touching in its lyrical expression of Paul Laurence Dunbar's text (“I know what the caged bird feels, alas! …”). Later, an arrangement by Holland (1819-1887) of “Dream Faces” by Scottish composer William Marshall Hutchison (1854-1933) pairs Mobley with Cooper for a tender song of delicate longing.

In addition to the African-American composers' works, material by Cuban-born Creole composer Esteban Salas y Castro (1725-1803), Mexico-born Manuel de Zumaya (1678-1755), Rio de Janeiro-born José Mauricio Nuñes Garcia (1767-1830) also appears. Salas's regal “Tú, Mi Dios, Entre Pajas” and plaintive “Taedet Animam Meam” amplify the album's Renaissance-styled dimension and are particularly good fits for Mobley's luminous delivery and Agave's baroque expertise. Capturing as effectively the group's excellence at playing in that style is the “Trio Sonata in F,” which, though carrying an anonymous credit, is thought to be the work of Domenico Zipoli (1688-1726) due to its Corelli-like character. Zumaya's “Como Aunque Culpa” exudes the kind of stateliness and elegance one associates with Bach and Vivaldi, while Garcia's 1800 motet “Te, Christe, Solum Novimus” suggests Mozart and Haydn as influences.

As captivating as the performances with Mobley are, those by Agave alone are no less striking. A standout in that regard is “Bethena, A Concert Waltz” by Joplin (1867-1917), which charms as a sweetly melancholic remembrance of his second wife, who died from pneumonia ten weeks after their wedding. The string quartet renderings of “Shortnin' Bread” and “Oh My Darlin' Clementine” are also a delight, as is Cooper's dextrous rendition of the folksong “Sweet Memories of Thee” in an 1871 Holland arrangement. Ultimately, though, American Originals exerts its greatest impact when Mobley and Agave both appear, so much so that one expects a fourth release pairing the two might well materialize a year or two from now. It's clearly a partnership that benefits both parties and deserves to continue.

November 2021