Shawn Jaeger, in "Letters Made With Gold," memorably reset the lyrics of three folk songs to spare, enigmatic melodies that leapt and oozed unpredictably.
In between: enigmatic silences, baying harmonies, dislocated melodies and – what kind of a black joke is this?
He offered an elegant performance of this enigmatic piece, in which fragments of melody are interwoven with rumbling figurations in the left hand.
The lineup on the first half of the concert included a lively riff on the nostalgic melodies of "Bad Boys" and an enigmatic, melancholy version of "The Izu Dancer".
Recorded on Madley Croft's digital eight-track to the accompaniment of a rinky-dink drum pad, it already suggested the xx's later style: a sultry melody with an uncluttered backdrop, and enigmatic but suggestive lyrics.
Pérez then plucked the piano strings in a spikier duet with Blade's clattery brushwork, Shorter began sounding as pure as a flute in the tenor's higher register over a gathering low-end hum, and a quiet bass riff ushered in a mixture of sax melody and ghostly whistling from the enigmatic boss.
It was either an extreme manifestation of dadaist anti-sentimentality or Satie's ultra-dry humour gone rogue; either way, Hannigan makes intimate confessionals of the plain text and archly non-eventful melodies, and clinches the art of enigmatic understatement.
Mr. Beilman, a passionate performer with a deep, rich tone, played the opening melody beautifully as it unfolded over the enigmatic piano motifs.
Her words sketch characters and situations in enigmatic glances and flashes of candor, while her graceful melodies promise more consolation than they words they carry.
But in this case, for once a little bit of knowledge does help me to set aside my defences and surrender to the melodies that float effortlessly and undramatically from this enigmatic, undemonstrative musician, who barely opens his mouth to let the sounds slip between his lips.
