"A bright girl, a jungle girl, shining quick as a snake" is the gutsy narrator of 'This Morning.' The voices have strong, syncopated rhythmic figures on "nn" and "la" sounds, and slide upward on "girl" for well-crafted-and enjoyable-instrumental effects. In 'To My Girls,' the poet tells her four graceful, nearly grown daughters. Reflective homophonic sections tell the mother's hopes. They alternate with ostinato patterns of simmering energy, reflecting the dancing excitement of four girls ready to burst forth, out into the world. The most percussive of the set, 'Sisters' features schoolyard-style partnered handclap patterns for singers in pairs. That's in addition to finger snaps, and cymbal, brush, and sticks-on-the-rim vocal percussion effects, all painting a lively picture of the "very same place" that "you and me," sisters, come from. |