I Haz a Cover

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It is not unknown for musicians to use origami for cover art (Jay Ansill‘s album “Origami,” with a range of Elias figures on it, comes to mind), and I always like the combination. Origami and music just naturally seem to go together. Sometimes that is, for me, literal; the occasional 16-hour day in the Origami-d’oh! Studio is lightened by KXPR’s Classical Stream or WPR’s Classics by Request with Ruthanne Bessman. But they always belong together metaphorically! In both origami and music, composition and performance are distinct expressions of the art, and in both, we can admire technical virtuosity but true art taps into something that cannot be quantified or measured. (I do wonder how many musicians get asked questions like, “which of your pieces has the most notes? Which is the hardest to play?”)

But I digress. Covers. As some folks may know, I’ve composed several origami instrumentalist action figures over the years. Some months ago I received an email from a member of The String Contingent, an acoustic trio from Scotland and Australia, asking if they could use folded versions of three of my instrumentalists for their cover. Of course, I was thrilled to let them do so. Time passed, and a few weeks ago I received a CD copy of the album in question, “TSC II”.

(For you youngsters out there, a “CD” is an archaic form of musical distribution. Think of it as a little like a thumb drive, but round, flat, and shiny, and you can’t reuse it for something else. In the olden days you would go to a “store” and “buy” them. Ask your grandparents to tell you about them sometime.)

I’ve just loaded TSC II into iTunes and am listening to The String Contingent. They’re good, fun, and lively! It’s somewhat reminiscent of O’Connor/Meyer/Ma’s enjoyable “Midnight on the Water” album. So, if you’d like to hear some fine music and gaze at some enjoyable origami cover art while doing so, by all means check out TSC II, available from their website and from fine music shops everywhere.

TSC II: The String Contingent
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