By S.G.S.
Classical CD Review

Eighth Blackbird has become the "new" new music group, in the tradition of Tashi and Speculum Musicae. It consists of six members, most of whom play more than one instrument, including the über-percussionist, Matthew Duvall. I heard them recently on NPR's St. Paul Sunday Morning. Apparently, Duvall has two vanloads of instruments, each stuffed to the metal. Eighth Blackbird doesn't confine itself to a sliver of the contemporary-music spectrum. On the other hand, I've never heard them perform junk either — astonishing when new-music ensembles, including this one, take chances as a matter of course, practically as their raison d' ętre.