Music Consumer Guide by Kyle Gann

Ingram Marshall: Alcatraz (New Albion) After 15 minutes, the Alcatraz gate swings shut, and moments later, cell doors slam like thunderclaps. Marshall and his photographer/collaborator Jim Bengston set out to capture the legendary prison in tone and film, and their nocturnal collage conveys some chilling moments. What comes across, though, isn't the place's legendary cruelty, but warm, romantic acoustics and the dark night of the soul that sensitive types might experience wandering the barren halls. Marshall, the foggy postminimalist, recreates a tragic tonality in his piano arpeggios, but he blurs all the edges. The patterns never stay put, and slip endlessly through your mind's fingers. A

Typed by Cheryl Vega 5-18-95