Claws and Wings

While appearing on a variety of downtown jazz, modern classical, and rock projects, cellist Erik Friedlander has also made his own albums. They've often had an acoustic folk-jazz feel, particularly last year’s Bonebridge. Claws and Wings, on the other hand, is more urban and modern in disposition, with Friedlander accompanied throughout by laptop artist Ikue Mori and downtown jazz pianist Sylvie Courvoisier. Dedicated to Friedlander’s wife, who died of cancer in 2011, the album features the first music he wrote after her passing. The 15-minute “Frail as a Breeze” obviously refers to his wife’s degenerated condition, but the multifaceted music here covers a lot of ground with melodic lines, ebb-and-flow dynamics, and discordant sounds picking at the edges. More haunting is the ambient “Dreams of Your Leaving,” with Mori creating distorted shards of sound as Friedlander plucks a simple but hypnotic pizzicato line. Claws and Wings proves to be much more than a self-indulgent dirge; it closes with the lovely “Cheek to Cheek,” which is just one of several uplifting moments.