Guided by Voices – La La Land (Guided by Voices, Inc.) A colleague recently quipped that “it is a new fiscal quarter, so there must be another Guided by Voices album coming out.” Indeed, Robert Pollard and company (a rotating list of musicians) are prolific almost beyond measure, a situation in which one might wonder about issues of quantity versus quality: they needn’t worry. Joining Pollard on La La Land are a slate of long time collaborators: Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare, Jr., guitars, Marc Shue, bass, and Kevin March, drums. They know Pollard’s style thoroughly; even in
Read moreA new recording of the March 2022 performance by pianist Nic Gerpe of Makrokosmos Volume I, by George Crumb is now available for digital download. In 1972 George Crumb composed his Makrokosmos Volume I, a major 20th Century work for solo piano. To mark the 50th anniversary of this innovative piece, Nic Gerpe performed all twelve sections in concert on March 15, 2022. As Gerpe states on the website: “To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its composition, I have commissioned twelve composers to each write a response to one movement of Crumb’s original epic piece, to create a brand new
Read morelove & light iSing Silicon Valley, conducted by Jennah Delp Somers Esteli Gomez, soprano; Cheryl Ann Fulton, harp Avie Records On love & light, the girl’s choir iSing Silicon Valley performs a program of ancient liturgical chants and Latin motets by contemporary composers. Many include the dulcet accompaniment of harpist Cheryl Ann Fulton, who arranges early music for the harp. Os Mutorum by James Macmillan opens the recording with a gentle spirit, introducing the listener to a program emphasizing healing and uplift. Star power and fetching lyrical singing is provided by soprano Esteli Gomez. Her performance on Kile Smith’s
Read moreAerocade Music’s Because/Patterns is an album of experimental music by composer Isaac Schankler. Three new works are featured and performed by top Los Angeles-area musicians. Each piece is the product of the relationship that develops between the acoustic instruments and accompanying electronic constructions. Schankler is perhaps best known as the artistic director of People Inside Electronics, an organization dedicated to ambitious and innovative uses of electronics in new concert music. This album marks the high level of his efforts in this area. The first piece is Because Patterns/Deep State, with Aron Kallay on piano, Vicki Ray on prepared piano and
Read morePanorama – Olivia de Prato (New Focus) Violinist Olivia de Prato has established herself as a staunch advocate of new music. In addition to her work with Mivos Quartet, she is a talented soloist. On her second solo release for New Focus Recordings, Panorama, she undertakes a recital disc of female composers. A number of the pieces include electronics, fleshing out the solo texture in diverting fashion. The album opens with Missy Mazzoli’s violin plus electronics piece Tooth and Nail (2010). The original version was written for violist Nadia Sirota; this is a transcription for violin. The
Read moreThis Island Susan Narucki, soprano; Donald Berman, piano Avie Records Soprano Susan Narucki has long been known as an advocate for contemporary music, as has collaborative pianist Donald Berman. On their latest recording, for Avie, the duo present a program of art songs by female composers active in the first half of the twentieth century. Three of the song sets are world premieres. Narucki was inspired to begin collecting the songs for this recording by Rainer Maria Rilke. Specifically, in one of his letters he mentioned the Belgian Symbolist poet Émile Verhaeren, one of the most highly regarded
Read morePharoah Sanders – Karma (Impulse, 2023 reissue) Karma is one of saxophonist Pharoah Sanders most important releases. Recorded in 1969, it was his third as a leader, and featured a long suite, “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” that was in part an homage to the recently deceased John Coltrane, with whom Sanders had performed and recorded. Coltrane’s own extended suite, “A Love Supreme,” is quoted during “Karma,” and the use of a vocal refrain and free jazz solos on top of modal harmonies also hearken back to “A Love Supreme.” Impulse has reissued the recording as a
Read moreHearing Landscapes Hearing Icescapes Lei Liang New Focus Recordings From 2012-2022, composer Lei Liang did a residency at the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego, where he is a full professor. At Qualcomm, Liang worked with scientists in a variety of disciplines – software developers, robotic engineers, material scientists, cultural heritage engineers, and oceanographers – to infuse his music with ecological and ethnographic elements. The result, Hearing Landscapes Hearing Icescapes, are two electronic works that incorporate samples, folk songs, and a few live musicians. Hearing Landscapes is an homage to Huang Binhong (1865-1955), a gifted landscape painter. The audio
Read moreNo Cosmos -You iii Everything Else (Lighter than Air) Montreal-based trumpeter Scott Bevins has played in the band Busty and the Bass and collaborated with Pierre Kwenders and the collective Moonshine. You iii Everything Else is the debut of his No Cosmos project, which combines fusion-inflected jazz with experimental electronica. “Watercolor Ghost” is propelled by a circular electric piano riff with high soprano Sarah Rossy scat-singing on top of it. Bevins and saxophonist Evan Shay continue with the tune, lightly adorned here and there, but emphasizing basic contours of the melody. Drummer Kyle Hutchins creates economic, flowing grooves that
Read moreThe Song is You Enrico Rava and Fred Hersch CD/LP ECM Records ECM Records has begun resuming production of their releases as vinyl LPs. This is the first I am reviewing. As one expects from ECM, its sound quality is superlative. Those who remember ECM’s vinyl releases in the pre-CD era will welcome this return. In addition to production values, another aspect of ECM’s curation ethos is bringing together artists from their roster to make music together. Both trumpeter Enrico Rava and pianist Fred Hersch have created memorable releases for ECM. Pairing them is an inspired choice. The Song
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