Texas Platters

Balmorhea

Recorded late last year at the Saint Elisabeth Church in Belgium, a massive stone cathedral from 1873, Balmorhea's first live album begins with a call to service, the opening swell of "Settler" off the expansive neoclassicism to 2009's All Is Wild, All Is Silent. The nine-minute gold rush that follows exemplifies what separates this concert document from its studio counterpart. Chemistry more immediate in the moment, the local sextet performs with an intensity that's never quaint or overly composed. Their small choir of voices in the refrain – "Now I'm on my way home" – could pass as a hymnal, beatific and soaked in the church's natural reverb. The hourlong set lends equal weight to the graceful temperance of 2010's Constellations ("To the Order of Night," "Night Squall"), but the newer works, "Clamor" and the "Untitled" closer, add a visceral urgency. Masterful in his restraint and pacing, pianist Rob Lowe steals the spotlight – twice. His circuital arpeggios on centerpiece "Steerage & the Lamp" suggest Keith Jarrett, not unlike the epilogue "Constellations," which he delivers as an understated soliloquy. Live at Sint-Elisabethkerk offers a definitive summation of Balmorhea's last four years as well as a promise of what's still to come.