Cory Smythe - Accelerate Every Voice (2020)

Many muddled accelerations shape this: beginning with my longstanding but increasingly spellbound appreciation for Andrew Hill’s record Lift Every Voice and the James Weldon Johnson-derived lineage of optimistic songcraft it transforms; likewise, the fast-evolving sophistication of collegiate a cappella (a scene suggested by Hill’s vocable-singing choir) on its mutating path from the Kipling-glossing “Whiffenpoof Song” to iridescent cyborg pop; the calamitous choirs of piano-engulfing ocean waves presaged in Annea Lockwood’s music and presently hastening inland; the crowds gathering in America to greet them, the crescendo of our infectious chants and cheers.

Thanks so much to Kari, Kyoko, Michael, Raquel, and Steve for their brilliant, inspiring and enormously generous musicianship—and again to Kari for her direction and tutelage in all things ‘aca’; to Ryan and Scott for their incomparable sonic artistry; to David for his patience, care, and Socratic methods; to Kris Davis for her superhuman work; to Chelsea Hadley and The Shifting Foundation for their invaluable support; to Julian Charrière for the enormous privilege of associating my work with his; to July and Spottswood for the visual rhythms of their pseudonymous collaboration; and to Liz, beloved a capella fan, for all the inventive ways you wed my joys to yours. — CS

Kyoko Kitamura voice
Michael Mayo voice, looper
Raquel Acevedo Klein voice
Steven Hrycelak vocal bass
Kari Francis vocal percussion
Cory Smythe piano, electronics