Light in the Corner
Kate Steinbeck, flutes
Byron Hedgepeth, percussion, vibes and marimba
NAVYA N104

Kate Steinbeck, who studied in Belgium and California, plays on a modern wooden Boehm flute by Chris Abell, and on Kingma alto and bass flutes. Her style is robust and confident, at times calling to mind the native North American flute, at other times a little reminiscent of Peter Lukas Graf. The music she has chosen to play is a refreshing mixture of styles – Oriental pastiche, jazz, Negro spirituals, tender waltzes and exploratory original compositions - all well prepared and enjoyable to listen to.

For me, the highlight of the disc is the Concerto No. 1 for flute and percussion by Lou Harrison, in three short movements full of somber but lithe cutting-edge invention and atmosphere. Lou Harrison, who taught at Black Mountain [College] in North Carolina in the 1940s and died in 2003, clearly remains a composer worthy of serious interest.

By way of touching base, we are also given a movement from Bach’s Sonata in E minor, accompanied by the marimba, which is more than capable of holding a candle to the harpsichord lute-stop.

This disc has earned a place in my drawing-room cabinet, thus saving it from languishing with many others in the loft or garage. What more can I say? I keenly look forward to further chances of hearing Kate Steinbeck’s playing.

– Richard Stagg
PAN, The Journal of the British Flute Society
March 2005