Sarah Bernstein - Exolinger (2020)

Sarah Bernstein is a poet, violinist, composer and fearless improviser, widely recognized for her relentlessly creative and boundary-pushing jazz music, and recently awarded 2020’s “Rising Star Violinist” by DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll. Performing solo under the moniker ‘Exolinger,’ Bernstein has been steadily focusing on the concepts captured by this recording: washes of distorted violin in long echoes, ecstatic vocalizations, and poetic spoken word, an expression of immediacy and a palpable tension between extremes. The music is fully improvised, loud and intense, maintaining the experimental, slow-building and otherworldly sounds that characterized her previous collaborative albums with Kid Millions like ‘Broken Fall’ and ‘Tense Life’ (577 Records). Like the projects from Kid Millions/Sarah Bernstein, ‘Exolinger’ features simultaneous performances of vocals, violin, electronics and words, and was entirely recorded live in studio, with the exception of the vocals on “Tree” and “We Coast” which were added at home during quarantine. The album is an urgent response to the latent unease of our current moment, affirming unsettling feelings while offering the sort of transporting mystery that Bernstein has long imbued with her innovative work.

Sarah Bernstein - violin, voice, effects, text
All music by Sarah Bernstein (BMI)
Poetry by Sarah Bernstein (BMI)