there is still time

Paul Griffiths, author of many books on music and a frequent ECM New Series liner note contributor, jumps to the front of the booklet with cellist Frances-Marie Uitti, who improvises in, around, and through his recitations of original verses. Using only the 482 words available to Ophelia in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Griffiths works with an extensive magnetic poetry set on a refrigerator that runs on Uitti’s visceral electricity. Our protagonist’s tragic fate is constantly (if not always blatantly) reinscribed by moments of fear and trembling, as well as ephemeral dips into the font of carnal love.