Cello

Cellist David Darling left some of the most beautiful impressions across the landscape of ECM, and perhaps none so indelible as the barely titled Cello. This 1992 album of improvisations for acoustic and electric variations on the titular theme is breathtaking in its depth of expression, cinematic allusions, and isolationist rewards. Deceptively simple in construction, much of what we encounter here evolves chromatically—sometimes looking inward, sometimes reaching outward. Darling’s custom eight-string instrument is capable of a fantastic variety of textures, all enhanced by spacious engineering to create an overarching mood that speaks for itself.