About this item

Cistern is the second album by prodigiously talented musician, collaborator, composer, arranger and producer Jherek Bischoff. Gloriously cinematic, these modern orchestral recordings showcase Jherek’s unerring ability to pull at the heartstrings.

Intrinsically linked to the space in which it was conceived, Cistern was born from time spent improvising in an empty two million gallon underground water tank in Washington state. A space which forced Bischoff to slow down, to reflect, to draw on his childhood growing up on a sailing boat; an emotional journey from the city back to the Pacific Ocean, via the Cistern.

The album itself was recorded with a live orchestra, the New York-based Contemporaneous ensemble, in a converted 19th century church in Hudson, NY.

Cistern follows on the heels of Strung Out In Heaven, a moving string quartet tribute to David Bowie, created with Amanda Palmer and featuring the significant talents of Anna Calvi and Neil Gaiman. They performed ‘Black Star’ at the recent all star Bowie tribute show at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Jherek will also take part in the Bowie tribute at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms in July.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Haunted, dusty chamber-classical mini-movements. Staccato strings and violin sweeps. Cataclysmic percussion bursts and ambient echoes mix to form a cacophonous cocktail before breaking into multi-part melodies. Terse peppered electronic shards slowly morph into triumphant but cautious minor-key swells and ethereal waves of symphony. Superb.