Stephen Scott

On paper, Scott's approach to music-making -- members of his ten-piece Bowed Piano Ensemble saw, hammer and pick at the strings of an open grand piano -- seems like little more than a stunt. On CD, it's anything but. Scott, a professor at Colorado College, has found a way to...

By Michael Roberts

June 24, 2004

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On paper, Scott's approach to music-making -- members of his ten-piece Bowed Piano Ensemble saw, hammer and pick at the strings of an open grand piano -- seems like little more than a stunt. On CD, it's anything but. Scott, a professor at Colorado College, has found a way to turn a single instrument into the equivalent of an entire orchestra, and he uses it to create classical music of a particularly forward-looking type.

Paisajes Audibles incorporates spoken word and the operatic warbling of soprano Victoria Hansen to evoke the wild landscape of Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands. This is a first for Scott, and it shows. Some vocal tracks work better than others, with the evocative fragment "El Aparato Caballeresco" and the stirring "Salida" outdistancing "Cenicero" and "Le Canaris," in which the singing tends to overwhelm the instrumentation. Perhaps that's why "Entrada" is such a delight. The offering is a deliberately paced soundscape accented by melodic plucking and a steady, pulsing rhythm.

Paisajes Audibles isn't an unalloyed triumph, but its creator maintains his status as a sonic innovator and a true Colorado original.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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