Apollo Chamber Players releases their eighth commercial album, BAN: Stories of Censorship via Azica Records. This release reflects on the threat of censorship, drawing from multiple cultures and historical episodes in this musically vibrant call to cherish and defend our freedom of expression...

Apollo Chamber Players' BAN: Stories of Censorship collects together works by composers across the globe and it's interesting to note the diversity of styles on offer here.

The album opens with Marty Regan’s 'The Book of Names', in which the composer draws inspiration from a comprehensive list compiled in 2022 of every person incarcerated in Japanese-American internment camps during World War II. The piece is narrated by actor George Takei (Star Trek) who, as a young child, was one of the thousands confined to the camps, along with his brother, sister, and parents.

Matthew J. Detrick, Apollo founder and Director, says: "BAN: Stories of Censorship is Apollo Chamber Players’ bold musical response to rising global threats against freedom of expression. Featuring new commissions by composers from politically embattled regions - including Afghanistan, Turkey, and the U.S. - the album amplifies voices often silenced. In connective harmony, these works form a musical call to conscience, reminding us that in dark times, art is both resistance and refuge."

Whilst I did find the themes tackled here to be wonderfully reflective, I wasn't so much a fan of the more avant-garde elements of the release. An interesting and important work which suffers (or benefits - depending on your point of view) from being a little too diverse.

Track listing:

Marty Regan
01. The Book of Names

Allison Loggins-Hull
02. BAN

Mark Buller
Firewall
03. I. Prelude
04. II. Through the Rye (Catcher in the Rye)
05. III. Unstuck in Time (Slaughterhouse-Five)
06. IV. Night and Day on the River (Huckleberry Finn)
07. V. Daisy & Jay (The Great Gatsby)

Jasmine D.E.E.P. Mouton
08. Revise?

Homayoun Sakhi
09. Arman (Hope)

Paul D. Miller AKA DJ Spooky –
10. Quantopia/The Thought Police

Erberk Eryilmaz
11. Sis Çani / Fog Bell

Marty Regan
12. The Book of Names

7

Darren Rea