Now Magazine

By his count, Toronto cellist and double bass player Andrew Downing has played on over 200 recordings, working across many genres and scenes. All musicians like to think of themselves as beyond classification, but how many of them can say that on a typical day they might bounce between Turkish music, country and avant-garde jazz?

The concept behind Silents is well suited to showcasing Downing’s range. Split into two sections, the disc features scores he’s written for the silent films Impossible Voyage and The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari, which gives him the freedom to throw a lot of flavours into the pot. Parts of it pull heavily from classical music, but jazz and folk influences abound as well.

On the downside, when would you actually want to listen to the soundtracks of old scary movies independently of the films? Maybe you’ve grown a villainous moustache and need something to play while twirling it and making evil plans? Actually, now that we think about it, that sounds like fun.

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