Theo Bleckmann: Elegy – life-affirming songs about death

German-born, New York-resident singer Theo Bleckmann is one of the true vocal innovators, a voice-as-instrument musician who combines the sonic adventure of the New York avant-garde with the precision and arch intensity of Weimar cabaret. As the title implies, his leader debut for ECM is a set of self-composed reflections death and transcendence, but it's nothing like as dark or morbid as that suggests.

With a front-rank group that includes guitarist Ben Monder, pianist Shai Maestro, bassist Chris Tordini and drummer John Hollenbeck, Bleckmann spins an ethereal web of sound that hovers on the brink of ambience – wistful, hopeful sounds that ebb and flow like wind through a graveyard.

[ propermusic.com ]