Rob Voisey sent along this about the upcoming Vox Novus concert at Jan Hus Church:
MARCH 28TH,2010 (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) Vox Novus in collaboration with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church is proud to present their monthly chamber concert series Sunday, March 28th at 1:00. This month’s special Women’s History Month concert features performances by Nadine Carey (voice), Jasmin Cowin (harp) Laura Jordan (marimba), Margaret Lancaster (flute), Milica Paranosic (voice, berimbau, electronics), Daisy Press (voice), Jody Redhage (voice, cello), Theresa Thompson (flute), Heesun Shin (violin), Mara Waldman (piano), and Sophia Yan (piano) performing the composition of Rebekah Driscoll, Emily Koh, Laura Koplewitz, Dorothy Rudd Moore, Milica Paranosic, Daisy Press, Jody Redhage, Faye-Ellen Silverman, and Molly Thompson.
One of Kyle Gann’s Favorite Women Composers of All Time, Milica Paranosic has also been portrayed: …”free-wheeling, performance-art-type cat “(Kyle Gann) …”a painter, a music Jackson Pollack”, (SEAMUS, Eric Somers) … and her music: “amazing….astonishing…” (Jack Anderson, New York Times), and “edgily comical” (Klaus Klingbeil, Der Lausitzer Rundschau, Germany). Allan Kozinn of The New York Times labeled her “Parabaraba,” a piece commissioned and performed by the New Juilliard Ensemble, the most captivating piece on the program.
The New York Times describes Molly Thompson’s music as “rhapsodic music with…jazzy outbursts and exuberant chaos.” The LA Times called her Draft of Shadows “a clever mash-up of tango, rock rhythms, and taped city noises, more party music than parlor music” and Spoleto Today called The Great Hush “eerie and lovely.”
“ Called an “adventurous cello songstress” (Time Out New York), cellist, composer, and vocalist Jody Redhage is “a new music dynamo…Redhage is cultivating a repertoire of indie art songs that breaches genre boundaries and makes for stirring listening” (MusicWorks Magazine). Her dual passions for chamber music and new music have led her to participate in an array of cutting-edge projects.
More info: robvoisey@voxnovus.com
Hailed as “our leading exponent of the avant-garde flute” (Kyle Gann, Village Voice), Margaret Lancaster has built a large repertoire of new works composed for her that employ extended techniques, dance, drama, multi-media and electronics. She has recorded on New World Records, OO Discs, Innova, Naxos and Tzadik, and was selected for Meet the Composer’s New Works for Soloist Champions project.
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times writes of pianist Sophia Yan, “…the music literally pulls her off the piano bench; she ranges up and down the keyboard so quickly and with such ferocity that mere sitting will not do.”
Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Started in 2001, the “Composer’s Voice” concert series is presenting its 46th concert Sunday March 28th.
This in from Nadia Sirota and the gang at WQXR’s Q2:
Listen in to Q2 now through Sunday toJacobTV on the Radio: a 5-day celebration of the omnivorous creative world of the game-changing Dutch composer, JacobTV. Festival features include:
JacobTV as DJ, introducing many of his seminal works (full archival versions to 20+ pieces available on-demand)
Full on-demand concert audio from Ethel Plays JacobTV: a recent New Sounds Live performance from Merkin Concert Hall with the string quartet Ethel
Hours of rare, never-before-heard recordings from live concerts and private recordings
Videos from upcoming pieces, recent collaborations, documentaries, and live performances
A limited time download of his break-through Grab it! inspired by the documentary Scared Straight!
One of the great losses of 2009 was guitarist Jack Rose, who passed away in December. Thrill Jockey Records has released his final album, Luck in the Valley, posthumously.
Rose’s early career is most often associated with his work in the experimental folk/drone outfit Pelt. His solo albums came later, and evinced a wider array of influences, keeping his interest in drone in the mix, but adding ragtime, raga, and blues styles as well.
Luck in the Valley is a fitting, if premature, valedictory statement, encompassing Rose’s wide-ranging interests and featuring some truly beautiful performances. It includes lustrous dronescapes such as the title composition, a raga-inflected “Blues for Percy Danforth,” and a more authentically bluesy sounding rendition of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues.”
Fans of Robbie Basho, John Fahey, and Stephen Basho-Junghans will recognize a kindred spirit in Rose, and regret that he will not be around longer to truly inherit the alt-folk acoustic guitar crown.
Seven Fields of Aphelion
Periphery
Graveface Records CD
Periphery
It may not be the most economical stage name to adopt, but keyboardist Seven Fields of Aphelion certainly makes up for it with graceful compositions. Her debut CD is a departure of sorts from the type of music she plays with the group Black Moth Super Rainbow. Rather than trippy/glitchy electronica, Periphery adopts a more ambient demeanor. Vintage synthesizers and piano blend together in a number of lush, slowly unfolding instrumentals.
Elsewhere, as on “Mountain Mary,” she adopts a spacy minimalism, crafting triadic oscillations into a busily supple, sci-fi tinged canvas.
All too often, side projects can be seen as one-dimensional affairs. Happily, Periphery gives listeners a sense of SFoA as a compelling solo artist in her own right, while occasionally allowing us glimpses into the extent of her contributions to Black Moth Super Rainbow.
Happy Birthday’s debut LP is out tomorrow (3/16) on Sub Pop. But in the spirit of ‘try it before you buy it,’ The label’s been generous enough to share the entire album with us in the streaming player below.
Aloha’s new LP, Home Acres, is now out on Polyvinyl.
I’ve long been a fan of the band. Way back in 2000, Steve Brydges of Copper Pressturned me on to their debut LP, That’s Your Fire (also on Polyvinyl and well with worth seeking out!)
Back in 2000, Aloha often created a boisterous noise. Part of their sonic signature included copious vibraphone flurries, matched by experimental rock guitars and mathy time signatures.
Over the years, Aloha’s sound became more layered and progressive in presentation. One hesitates to say that their sound has mellowed, exactly; indeed Home Acres includes some of their most rocking music in a while. Mallet instruments remain an important part of their music-making; but on Home Acres, its often the marimba that takes center stage rather than vibraphone. Here mallet instruments and other post-rock gestures are integrated parts of the whole, rather than noticeable mannerisms. Â And while there are catchy hooks aplenty, Aloha’s rightly vaunted instrumental passages are still given enough time to develop.
All in all, Home Acres is an excellent addition to their catalog.
For those who like to ‘try before they buy,’ Spinner is streaming the album in its entirety here.
Brooklyn Vegan has also posted a couple of songs for download here.
ETHEL Quartet’s forthcoming release (June 2010, Thunderbird Records) chronicles their series of collaborations with eleven young composers from the Chickasaw nation; the first-ever recording of Native American student composers.
Q2 has posted podcasts about the recording project here, providing a preview and some context for this fascinating endeavor.
Over the years, Ethel has engaged in a number collaborations with Native American musicians. Here’s a video of them performing with Navajo singer James Bilagody.
The Kronos Quartet is in residence at Carnegie Hall this week from Mar. 11-14, presenting four concerts in Zankel Hall and mentoring emerging string quartets.
I’m writing about their 3/11 concert for Musical America. Devoted entirely to the music of Terry Riley, it featured a number of new works by one of the founding fathers of the minimalist school of composition.
On Sunday I’ll be attending Kronos’ Music Without Borders concert, which features guest performers Dohee Lee (Korea), rubâb master Homayoun Sakhi (Afghanistan), and Azerbaijani mugam performers Alim and Fargana Qasimov. The latter artists also perform on Kronos’ latest recording for Smithsonian Folkways, Music of Central Asia, Volume Eight (CD/DVD).
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