Steve Reich (b. 1936)
Electric Counterpoint (1987)
Mirza Redžepagić (guitars)
rec. 2023, Berklee Valencia, ‘Ann Kreis Scoring Stage’ Studio, Valencia, Spain
Reviewed as a 24 bit WAV download
REKORD [14]

Many of us will have imprinted onto Pat Metheny’s iconic recording of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint on the Nonesuch label, but other recordings and arrangements since, including Trevor Babb on the Innova label (review), remind us that there are always new ways to give life to great music, and Mirza Redžepagić does a fine job here.

Mirza Redžepagić is a Bosnian composer and guitarist whose own work is an eclectic but personally filtered blend of flamenco and other traditional styles with the modernity of jazz and contemporary classical music. Among many other things he recently co-founded the independent label REKORDin Sarajevo which supports local and international artists, and by all accounts appears to be one of the good guys in today’s musical world.

Redžepagić writes on this recording: “My approach was to perform all guitar parts live, embracing subtle interpretive nuances and the physicality of performance, rather than relying on mechanical repetition. This method highlights the expressive integrity and human presence within the music, reflecting my broader interest in exploring the guitar’s capacity for precision, resonance, and emotional communication across genres… The result is a recording that breathes as a living, cohesive musical entity – one that invites the listener to experience the work in time, rather than as a consumable object.”

I don’t think it’s of great interest to try and categorise Electric Counterpoint into a ‘good, better, best’ race when it comes to different versions, but it’s worth observing a few differences. Pat Metheny’s recording is tighter in general, certainly in the first of the three movements. Redžepagić adds different sonorities, introducing filters of some kind towards the end of the first movement to add contrast and a strange intensity. The second Slow movement has a refined poetry in its character, with some subtle expression in the upper and middle parts, and a more effective sustain in the notes that makes Metheny sound oddly accented and even a bit heavy by comparison. The repeated tones further along are more of an ornamental wash compared to Metheny’s more charged and integrated sonics, but this is an intriguing approach, enhancing a more surreal ‘hall of mirrors’ effect. That gloriously groovy final Fast movement has more contrast in timbre between the voices so you can hear Reich’s development of each fragment. If pushed I would have to say the bass part is a touch woolly, but we have a mild chorus effect in those chiming chords above and the whole is a satisfying feast of minimalist fun. Is there a subtle ‘ting’ of percussion there on the last note..?

Fans and completist collectors of Electric Counterpoint should of course acquire this recording. The complexities of making such a multitrack production are worn lightly here, and the results stand both on their own terms and when compared to the best.

Dominy Clements