Praise from an article in the Seattle Times, by Paul de Barros:

"Smith's Essay, the first piece on the disc, has a light and cheerful feel, with capricious fluttering and twinkling."

"Variants For Two Clarinets... features half-clarinets, with eerily beautiful flute sounds and a deep, low humming produced by affixing a Harmon mute on the end of the horn."

"[Francois] Houle's Polestar ... has a poignant emotional touch, as the two clarinetists enact their mutuality, moving gradually apart and back together on the same notes."

"Smith's Quartet For Two Double Clarinets has astonishing orchestral heft...given there are "only" four instruments playing."

The CD release concert, on December 15, 2007, was hailed by de Barros as "one of the 10 best concerts of 2007."

About the album:

A project across musical and generational boundaries, collage/décollage is the exciting new release on Present Sounds Recordings by clarinetists William O.Smith and Jesse Canterbury. Smith, long known the world over for his exploration of other-worldly sonorities, unveils three new works, including the amazing Quartet for Two Double Clarinets.  The disc also includes mind-bending world premieres by Seattle favorite Tom Baker and Canadian phenom François Houle. Contact me to order a copy!

Works included on the disc (all world-premiere recordings):
William O. Smith's Essay (1995), Variants for Two Clarinets (2006), and Quartet for Two Double Clarinets (1999). The Quartet calls for the two clarinetists each to play two clarinets simultaneously!

Tom Baker's Two by Four (2005). Baker's ethereal work uses multiphonics, circular breathing, and double-clarinets to create a mysteriously compelling sonic world.

François Houle's Polestar (2005), in contrast, eschews clarinet pyrotechnics in favor of an intimate, closely matched soundscape.

My arrangement of Eric Dolphy's Something Sweet, Something Tender. Dolphy's beautiful music provides a poignant interlude.