In Exhaling Space, Alejandro Rutty and his cast of performers create one hour of fresh, captivating music combining Latin and world music styles with the classical tradition. With tracks like the futuristic tango 'Martian Milonga' and the meditative 'More Music for Examining and Buying Merchandise', Rutty composes the album like a breathing exercise, taking in an anxious pace in one movement, and then in the next, letting the melodies exhale gently through the piece...

The North Carolina-based composer Alejandro Rutty delivers an interesting blend of South American styles, rhythms, and lyrical melodies with powerful evocative intensity. In this release he plays with traditional compositional styles and mixes in experimentation - a brave and risky manoeuvre which could so well have seen him land flat on his face.

However, the mix works incredibly well. Not only does Rutty's identity shine through in these 10 (1 hr, 12 min, 02 sec) compositions, but it puts the listener's emotions through the wringer, as the composer explores so many musical avenues.

How can anyone not be moved by the beauty of 'As You Say'?, while 'Martian Milonga' draws on a number of musical genres and time periods delivering something that sounds both modern and outside the realms of time.

'Transparent Sun' interweave piano and violin beautifully, building tension between the two instruments into an engaging conflict. The title track inhabits a classically-infused world, yet the rhythms weave in South American tropes as if they were transported into a fourth dimension.

It's an album that's worthy of your time, and a listening experience that matures with each additional play.

9

Darren Rea