You know how you like to put on an Erroll Garner CD sometimes and lie back on the sofa and imagine you’re somewhere–I know–that cool little bar with the piano downstairs at Blake’s in London–and you sit down and launch into “I Got the World on a String” and when you’re finished the killer Sloane Ranger at the far table walks over and asks you to play “Misty” for her? Or, maybe you’re at a Norwegian Christmas party and you’ve had a few Linjes and Elephant chasers and the band is really great except for the guitar player and you

Track three of Lullaby for my Favorite Insomniac, the latest album from the Ahn Trio, is a piano trio arrangement of “My Funny Valentine;” track sixteen is also “My Funny Valentine,” but this time with electronica beats and Korean rap thrown in. Track eleven is “This is not America” by David Bowie, Pat Metheny, and Jürgen Dahmen; so is track fifteen, but Superdrive calls it “This is America Mix.” There’s also some Susie Suh, Astor Piazzolla, Michael Nyman, and three new pieces by Kenji Bunch. The album is casual, eclectic, and cool–but don’t call it “crossover:” according to the group’s

…what would you do? Okay, you get as long as you want to write the piece, but it can only last 30″. That’s the concept behind the Microscores Project, which started at CalArts and has performed all over the place. Over the years, they’ve garnered some fascinating pieces by folks like Harold Budd and Pauline Oliveros (who wrote hers on a plane). Just before he died, James Tenney wrote them a gorgeous bagatelle. As part of their appearance at ARTSaha! 2008, the Microscores Project are putting out a call for new music. Anyone can send them a score for violin and

I’ll go first. Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, Sandstone (W.Va.) High School Gymnasium. 1959. Bill was pissed because the total gate was less than $200 but he was there with musicians and once he started to play the money thing disappeared. All the great ones: “Uncle Pen,” “Footprints in the Snow,” “Little Maggie,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Molly and Tenbrooks,” “In the Pines.” Update 1: Stop me if you’ve heard this one. I saw Charlie Mingus play one night at the Five Spot Cafe in 1963. First day of the first time I was ever in New York.

Institute & Festival for Contemporary Performance Marc Ponthus, Founder/director   JUNE 10-17, 2008 www.mannes.edu/ifcp 212.580-0210 ext 4884   • MONDAY, JUNE 16 All-CARTER 7:30 conversation: the relationship between Carter & Speculum Musicae 8:00 – Music of Elliott Carter – program 2 Speculum Musicae Elizabeth Farnum, soprano Program to include “A Mirror On Which To Dwell’ (1975 – Speculum Musicae Commission), ‘Figment lll’ (2007 – Written for Speculum Musicae bassist Don Palma), ‘Oboe Quartet’(2001) and the ‘Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord (1952)   • TUESDAY, JUNE 17 Music by APERGHIS and CARTER; Performed by IFCP Institute participants.    

This Ojai Music Festival season was one of those to remember. When the low point is a screening of a Chaplin film with live orchestra, that means that the high points are pretty consistently high. And they were, this season. No full-sized orchestra, spilling out the bounds of the stage, but quantity of performers can’t hold a candle to quality. Saturday night’s concert continued the Festival’s subtheme of music for voice with two works from composers new to Ojai, Phillippe Manoury and Michael Jarrell, selected by David Robertson. The Jarrell work, Cassandre (1994) was termed by Manoury a “spoken opera,”

Watch this video and tell me you don’t think that this will fundamentally change music, pretty much all genres, the day after it comes out (September). [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3SsYQrgcyA[/youtube] http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/moog-unveils-ba.html

Among the cats who know great charts, the names Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan are magic.  Eddie exited a long time ago; Bill, just last week.  [youtube]87_iN2xW6Ks[/youtube]