Michael Sahl – In Fashion At Last

Long before people began talking about postmodernism, Michael Sahl was living the postmodern life. Back in the 1970's there was a definite barrier between the Accepted High Art of modern classical music and the field of popular music (not so between jazz and rock-hence the fusion-jazz of Weather Report or Herbie Hancock). But Michael Sahl dared to write "classical" music with jazz chords and folk-music rhythms. Today, the Kronos Quartet plays rock music, and someone once even suggested that it would be perfectly normal for Sir Michael Tippett to write a piece for an established rock group. So, now we have Michael Sahl who is finally coming into his own, with his cabaret-style melodies riding smoothly over pungent jazz harmonies, and his rock-flavored rhythm section filling out his classical forms nicely. The music may strike some as "eclectic," but in Sahl's own mind, the contrasting elements fit perfectly together. The fusion is smooth, with its own personality: energetically syncopated, with a cool sense of restraint.