Norman Meehan - Small Holes in the Silence (2015)

Following the popular and critically acclaimed Buddhist Rain and Making Baby Float, Norman Meehan and Hannah Griffin teamed up with saxophonist Hayden Chisholm for this third instalment in their New Zealand poetry series. The relaxed serendipitous style of Norman and Hannah fits Hayden like a glove. A musician of remarkably understated confidence and sensitivity, Hayden's wonderfully nuanced phrases float effortlessly around the restrained sensitivity of Norman and Hannah. This is music born of years of dedication to craft and commitment to musical integrity. As Norman and Hannah proved with their previous releases, and as Bill Manhire points out in his perceptive liner notes, it takes great skill and humility to ensure that the original poetry can freely speak when it would be easy to overwhelm it with music. Instead, these three fine musicians have created a framework in which sound and text enjoy a harmonious artistic partnership. "I had mixed feelings when Norman first got in touch about setting my poems. Didn't they have music already? But I liked what he did with them enormously - I felt that he had somehow found new cadences and melodies in the words that were as true as anything I felt was there originally. And I loved Hannah's voice."