by Jarrett Hoffman
If an album has a musical half-life, which we’ll define here as the amount of time its impact will remain to be felt, it’s likely longer than that of a concert performance. So in order for the classical music world to diversify in a lasting way, programming has to change not only on the concert stage, but also in the recording studio.
The Catalyst Quartet and Azica Records have taken that to heart with the Uncovered series, conceived in 2018 and devoted to music by Black composers. The first volume, released in February, focuses on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, spanning three beautifully performed, remarkable pieces: quintets on either end featuring pianist Stewart Goodyear and clarinetist Anthony McGill, and a quartet in the middle.