Cosmo Cosmolino plays at Drysdale next week.
ERIN PEARSON
SOUND booths and headsets were redundant when recording the latest album for string and piano accordion quintet Cosmo Cosmolino, according to member Judy Gunson.
She said the jazz and gypsy-inspired classical musicians instead used the acoustic characteristics of a heritage building.
Gunson credited South Yarra Church hall for imbuing Bel Air with resonance.
“We decided that, because we have strings, accordion and voices, a nice-sounding room would be good,” she said.
“I’ve had some awful experiences in booths with no air-conditioning with sweat running down my face as I struggle to play. The whole recording process is quite amazing these days.”
Gunson believed Cosmo Cosmolino had built a reputation for “virtuosic yet sensuous instrumental work”.
Gunson formed the group in 2000 with Hope Csutoros and Helen Mountfort before the addition of contrabass and violin players.
The band’s new release comes on the back of its highly acclaimed, ARIA-nominated second album, Nektar.
Gunson said Bel Air was the quintet’s most traditionally classical album yet.
“There are a lot of things in this album that remind me of somewhere with that minimalist sound,” she said.
“Although it has pop music elements too, this album sees our bass player sing a rather amazing high falsetto.
“We do some covers of old gypsy and tango but most we write ourselves and that has brought out our classical side.”
Cosmo Cosmolino will play at Drysdale’s The Potato Shed on August 7.
