Experimental Music

CD Review, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music

Reinier van Houdt & Andrew Liles – AMBIDEXTROUS CONSTELLATION


On August 15 of this year, Reinier van Houdt and Andrew Liles released a new album titled Ambidextrous Constellation. With narration by Ash Kilmartin, Ambidextrous Constellation is a radio play that chillingly incorporates “…lists of gun specifications and transcripts of experiences of gunshot victims.” Although this album is entirely the work of European artists working in Rotterdam, it is sure to have an immediate emotional impact on those hearing it in America.

Reinier van Houdt studied piano at the Liszt-Akademie in Budapest and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and is a well-known presence in the contemporary music scene. He has performed premiers by Robert Ashley, Alvin Curran, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, and Charlemagne Palestine, among others, and has collaborated with luminaries such as John Cage, Alvin Lucier and Olivier Messiaen. Andrew Liles is a prolific solo artist, producer, re-mixer and studio engineer, who has been active in recording experimental music since the 1980s.

Ambidextrous Constellation consists of eight short pieces that run between four and seven minutes each. Each track is a mixture of electronic sounds with an overlying narration. The liner notes state that a gun is “A machine without morality or judgment.” and the electronic tones consistently support this. The overall feeling is devoid of any sense of humanity, excepting only the warm voice of narrator Ash Kilmartin.

My World opens the album with a series of electronic whooshes that could be abstract gunshots, followed by series of sinister bass chords. A menacing, matter-of-fact narration follows with no musical tones or singing: “In my world, everything is flat. Nothing moves.” The background sounds are sterile and mechanical with the only human presence being the spoken word. There is the description of a bullet flying towards a head. The electronic sounds now become a series of pulses, siren-like, mysterious and uncertain. We have entered a static world where: “nothing moves, nothing propagates.” My World ends quickly, without any resolution.

Iron Sights follows, and this second track is perhaps the most unsettling piece in the album. It begins with a strong percussive beat and electronic sounds that suggest the rapid firing of a weapon. The narrative description of an automatic rifle follows, deadpan and matter of fact: “L1A1, self-loading. barrel length, 20.4 inches. Rate of fire: 610 up to 775 rounds per minute.” Chilling in its dry, clinical description, the focus of the piece now shifts to the point of view of an automatic assault rifle. “Range 400 Meters. Muzzle velocity 940 Meters per second. Unit cost, 1,300 pounds. Aperture, Iron Sights.” Sustained electronic sounds fill the space between the words, adding to the alien and disconnected feeling.

Finally, a single tone is heard with fragments of unintelligible words that slowly fade into silence. The juxtaposition of cold, alien electronic background tones with the straightforward recitation of the assault rifle specifications make Iron Sights a powerful commentary on our fascination with such deadly weaponry.

Other tracks follow with a similar structure and pattern. The descriptions of the weapons get ever more intimidating. Body, Gas Operated, track 3, opens with mysterious bell tones and low rumbling sounds followed by faint, rapid gunfire in the distance accompanied by a rapid snare drumming. The narration begins “… 45 mm NATO cartridge. Barrel length 11 to 20 inches. Gas operated, short stroke piston, rotating bolt. 850 rounds per minute. Effective firing range: 300 meters.” 1984 To Present, track 5, begins with the sharp noise of static below a strong and rapid tom-tom beat. “Barrel length, 20 inches. Rate of fire: 700 to 950 rounds per minute. Muzzle velocity 945 Meters per second. Effective firing range 550 Meters…” Blackout Detachable, track 6, features the sound of a distant siren as the narration states: “AAC Blackout 300. Barrel length 35.7 inches. Unit cost $2233. Muzzle velocity 940 Meters per second. Rate of fire 800 to 900 rounds per minute. Effective firing range 503 Meters.” The listener feels as if buried under these vast and deadly descriptions of firepower.

Two of the pieces do, however, contain a human perspective. Trapped In A Constellation, the title track, starts with loud and harsh scratchy sounds, followed by lovely bell tones and electronic harmonies. The narration switches to a human point of view: “The habit that binds me to my limbs is suddenly gone – space extends.“ A background of beeps and bloops is heard, combined with ‘spacey’ electronic sounds. “I’ve become infinitely small and fall in all directions… Impossible to escape… I’m trapped in a constellation.” The listener is left with the distinct impression that this is a portrayal of instant death by gunshot.

Someone Else, the final track, is even more graphic. Electronic, alien sounds open this track, providing a remote and distant feel. The narration begins: “Silence. I don’t hear anything… [the bullet] entered my body almost quietly… Must have been very sharp and smooth. After an initial sting, I could feel my muscles contracting. I feel I should not move and stay very still. How do you breathe? I thought the bullet would quietly exit my body… “ Now the solemn electronic tones of a pipe organ are heard – distinctly spiritual. More narration: “Of course I moved eventually and then the real pain started. A dazzling pain that strikes your depths, my cells spitting out its electric suffering.” The music turns darker, with cold, spacey beeps creeping into the warmer pipe organ texture. The organ tones gradually diminish, replaced by distant electronic sounds at the quiet finish. A very moving final track to this very powerful album.

Ambidextrous Constellation is a compelling portrait of the unforgiving existence of the modern assault rifle. The emotional power of this album is all the greater because of the straightforward simplicity of its musical materials and a direct narrative approach. Ambidextrous Constellation is precisely the sort of artistry we need in a society besotted by a fascination with violence, guns and death.

Ambidextrous Constellation is available for digital download at Bandcamp.

by Paul Muller
Classical Music, Commissions, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, Microtonalism, Piano, Review

Georg Friedrich Haas’ 11,000 Strings At Park Avenue Armory

11,000 Strings at Park Ave Armory
“11,000 Strings” by Georg Friedrich Haas at Park Ave Armory in NYC (credit: Stephanie Berger)

At first glance, it seems like a stunt: 50 pianos and pianists, plus 25 other instrumentalists, all arranged in a circle around the perimeter of the vast Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. They were there to perform 11,000 Strings, a 66 minute composition by Georg Friedrich Haas, commissioned and performed by the Austrian new music ensemble Klangforum Wien. Performances began September 30 and run through October 7, 2025 (I attended on October 2).

At the onset, I was ready to condemn this work as B.S., a party trick, but it’s definitely more than that. Each of the 50 pianos were tuned differently from one another, in 50 steps of microtones. The carefully constructed piece began quietly, on a major chord. One would think it would be difficult to create dynamics any softer than forte, but this performance exhibited a great range of dynamic and timbral nuances.

Almost from the start I recognized that this was a visceral experience for me, similar to the way out-of-tune chords can sometimes invoke a queasy feeling. But this was not nausea. Instead, it was a pleasant vibration deep in my chest, bringing a sense of anticipation and occasionally excitement.

The overall aural effect was cinematic and evoked visual images like a swarm of cicadas, the spookiness of a horror film, mysterious anticipation and thunderous cacophony. As the piece wore on, I caught a glimpse of the digital readout in front of one of the pianists: 21:38. I was discouraged to realize that it indicated 21 minutes elapsed, therefore 45 more to go. At that moment, I was ready for a coda, a fermata and a big finish.

The fact that the Armory could create so much buzz around this avant-garde novelty piece and attract thousands to come experience it is impressive. It does seem like a lot of effort for an hour of music. You won’t leave the venue humming a tune, that’s for sure. But the molecules in your body may be permanently rearranged.

by Gail Wein
Composers, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, File Under?, Recording review

Ken Ueno sings Sonic Calligraphies in the Tank (Recording review)

Ken Ueno – Sonic Calligraphies (Off-record)

Composer and vocalist Ken Ueno is a creator and performer of notated composition, sound art, and improvisation. A professor at UC Berkeley, Ueno’s singing  involves extended techniques, with an investigation of throat-singing styles from many traditions being just one facet of them. His explorations have also often included using a megaphone. 

The megaphone is not often thought of in musical contexts, but rather as an amplifier of spoken voices, often strident in demeanor and used for warning of danger, imposition of power, and inducing fear. Ueno’s employment of it in previous contexts turned these aims on their heads, serving as commentary on political subterfuge and decolonization. His latest work for voice and megaphone, Sonic Calligraphies, does this too, but in a more abstract fashion. In order to obtain certain frequencies, he modifies vowels to create expressive, but not directly linguistic, inflections. 

Another partner in this endeavor is the recording venue, The Tank, a disused, large metal cistern in Rangely, Colorado. Converted from water container to performance venue, it has a one second delay and is extremely resonant. The inception of its use for performance was the iconic 1989 LP Deep Listening, made by Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, and Panaiotis. Oliveros later repurposed the recording’s title as a manifesto for her discipline of sound studies. Like this trio, Ueno employs the resonance of the tank, exploring its high ceiling and spacious interior with detailed attention. His sonic palette is a panoply of overtones, microtones, multiphonics, and glissandos. They are deployed in everything from gentle forays to dramatic sonic maelstroms. 

 

Facilitating this endeavor with a megaphone which, above all, is about messaging and overt declamation, makes its abstraction a virtue. The recording is a poetic rejoinder to the amplified discourse so often found today, emanating from the political talking heads on cable news, doom scrolls of social media, and animated disagreements in public and around the dinner table. Sonic Calligraphies may elude precise translation. However, it is eloquent and engaging in equal measure. 

 

-Christian Carey 



by Christian Carey
CD Review, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, Microtonalism, Orchestral

Peter Thoegersen – Symphony IV: melodiae perpetuae



Peter Thoegersen has posted a digital realization of his Symphony IV: melodiae perpetuae on Bandcamp. This is an ambitious piece for full orchestra with a running time of just over 52 minutes. Symphony IV is a work in progress; it is intended to be poly microtonal and poly tempic in its ultimate form. The recording posted at this writing is realized in 12TET tuning with various sections of the orchestra heard in different tempi simultaneously. Thoegersen writes: “Each choir of the orchestra is moving separately in Fuxian contrapuntal motions, such as contrary, parallel, similar, and oblique, with respect to tempi changes in the choirs.” Fragments of Gregorian chant from the Liber Usualis form the foundation for the various sections as they ebb and flow throughout this single movement piece. Updates to Symphony IV will be posted on Bandcamp as software improvements and other refinements are implemented.

Peter Thoegersen has devoted much of his career to the exploration of multiple simultaneous tempi that intersect with scales and harmony constructed from micro tonal pitches. He has produced a number of works realized digitally as well as several performed pieces. These have been mostly for smaller and mid-sized ensembles, so the application of Thoegersen’s methodology to full symphonic forces represents a significant escalation of his artistic intentions. Symphony IV, even in its present unfinished form, gives an insight into this process.

In a conventional 19th century symphony, there is typically a sonata structure so that the various sections of the orchestra pass around a common theme and introduce variations. Symphony IV is nothing like this. From the very beginning we are immersed in a great wash of sounds and all the parts of the orchestra seem to be playing at once. This might seem to be a recipe for sonic chaos, but it proves to be more engaging than distracting. Different sections of the orchestra are often heard crossing through each other, and this creates an intriguing kaleidoscope of textures that are continuously unfolding as the piece progresses. At times the great wash of sound might remind of a piece like Becoming Ocean, by John Luther Adams. As the sections intersect and collide, snatches of what could be passages from David Diamond’s Symphony I or Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra might be heard.

The overall feeling in this music changes quickly and can vary from mysterious, to ominous, haunting, grand or tense. The Gregorian chant fragments embedded in this piece provide a solid foundational gravitas throughout. Often a single section, usually the brass or percussion, will rise to the top of the texture and dominate briefly. The strings provide a restrained background against which the other sections can emerge and contrast. A piano line of single notes will occasionally rise up over the woodwinds to trigger the memory of a piano concerto. The dynamics rise and fall, often depending on which section is dominating. The timpani often heralds a tutti crescendo that ends with a bold trumpet call. It is perhaps the employment of full orchestral forces that allow the listener to pick out favorite or familiar-sounding phrases. But these come in the absence of a conventional structure and so are enjoyed without any framing context. This uncertainty increases the engagement of the listener.

How far into the unorthodox will Symphony IV ultimately travel? Only time will tell, but the journey will doubtless be full of surprises and worth following.

by Paul Muller
CD Review, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, Microtonalism

Dave Seidel – Intercosmic

Dave Seidel has released Intercosmic, a new album of electronic music featuring tracks recorded in studio and in a live performance at The Wire Factory in Lowell, MA on June 7 of this year. Over the years, Seidel’s works have exhibited a long evolution from classical drones to the present mix of industrial and synthesized electroacoustic music. Seidel has an extensive background in experimental music, beginning as a guitarist in the 1980s downtown New York minimalist scene and later performing in various festivals throughout the US.. Since 1984 he has concentrated on the composition of drone and microtonal electronic music. Seidel is based in Peterborough, New Hampshire and Intercosmic is his latest offering.

Sundering Void is the first track on the album and this begins with a deep buzzing A/C hum, as might be expected from La Monte Young. Other harmonics enter, both lower and higher with the lowest being almost a rattle. These sounds build in volume and as the piece proceeds, new sounds enter and exit, gradually changing the texture. Most of the sounds are in the lower registers and the overall effect is like that of intimidating industrial machinery. When this piece was performed live at The Wire Factory, it must have been quite a visceral experience.

Sundering Void, as part of an album with the title Intercosmic, it would seem to imply a great empty place, filled with a few spacey beeps and boops, Almost the exact opposite is true. This piece does evoke a vast cosmos, with sounds that are commensurately impressive, but their character is drawn from familiar 20th century mechanical processes. About 4 minutes in, for example, some continuous high pitches enter, like the sound of a failing wheel bearing. By 6 minutes, there is a sound like the shrieking wind. Everything sounds vaguely out of control and about to self-destruct. These are all powerful elements, but are part of a familiar sonic vocabulary that make for a more intense depiction.

Halfway through the piece, a low rumble dominates the texture and faint sounds of sirens are heard, wailing in the distance. The middle registers become great swooshes of sound and the overall feeling is unsettling. There is a sense of movement in all this, as if a great energy is being expended to travel through the inter-cosmos. This is enhanced at about 12:30 when a few spacey sounds are heard above the roar, providing a glimmer of cosmic feeling. There is little sense of direction or purpose at this point – all is consumed by a loud thunder of sounds in acknowledgment of the dynamic power needed to reach interstellar space.

By 19:00, higher pitched sounds now dominate as if we are in free fall. Perhaps the end of the journey is at hand. There is only a rough rumbling in the lowest registers. The deep sounds continue to fade away leaving just a few descending notes at the finish. Sundering Void is great ride, the more so because it speaks to us in familiar sonic language.

A Furious Calm is the second track on this album and is more harmonically centered. Seidel writes in the liner notes that this piece is: “ My version of a chaconne, an application of a bit of Henry Cowell’s ideas for rhythm… Written using a seven-note subset of a microtonal Meta-Slendro scale. Some effects are digital, but all sound sources are analog, as are some of the effects.” A Furious Calm is organized in four layers, each with its own combination of synthesizers, drones, modulators and synthetic percussion. The piece opens with a lovely drone in the middle registers as additional sustained tones enter in harmony. The overall result is warmly atmospheric and surreal. Deeper bass notes are soon heard, providing a solid lower foundation. Some percussion enters, sputtering against the main harmonic texture and adding a sense of randomness to the mix. As the piece proceeds, the sounds become fully organized, expressing a sense of purpose that borders on menace. As the dynamics build, there is a feeling of grandeur as might be experienced in the presence of a large pipe organ.

By 9:00 the texture starts to thin a bit, with higher, swirling tones heard above. The dynamics slowly decrease, implying distance. At the finish, the swirling tones dominate and then fade away. A Furious Calm is an impressive combination of raw power and delicate microtonal harmonies that combine into a wide variety of textures, organized into a series of effectively layered sounds.

Intercosmic continues to confirms Dave Seidel’s mastery of alternate tuning and electronic synthesis.

Intercosmic is available for digital download from Bandcamp.

by Paul Muller
Ambient, Contemporary Classical, Electro-Acoustic, Experimental Music, File Under?

Canyons compilation benefits LA Firefighters

Nick Norton.

 

Canyons compilation

Sequenza 21 friend Nick Norton has speedily put together a digital compilation called “Canyons” to benefit LA firefighters. It is a loaded setlist, with contributions from India Galley, Dustin Wong, Molly Pease, Isaac Schankler, Nicholas Deyoe, Warp Trio, and more. The release is pay what you like on Bandcamp (embed below), but don’t be stingy; the firefighters can use all the help they can get.

 

by Christian Carey
CD Review, CDs, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, File Under?, London, Twentieth Century Composer

Music for Trumpets, Bass Clarinets, and Saxophones (CD Review)

Music for Trumpets, Bass Clarinets, and Saxophones

Aural Terrains

 

Rebecca Toal, Katie Lodge, Bradley Jones, trumpets

Raymond Brien, Michelle Hromin, Eb and bass clarinets

Chris Cundy, Yoni Silver, bass clarinets

Robert Burton, soprano saxophone

Julie Kjaer, alto saxophone, Tim Hodgkinson, alto saxophone and conducting

Jason Alder, baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet

William Cole, conducting

 

A live recording made in England’s Cafe Oto, Music for Trumpets, Bass Clarinets, and Saxophones includes both brand new compositions for the assembled musicians and important pieces from the contemporary canon. An example of the latter is John Cage’s Five (1988) which is performed by trumpeter Rebecca Toal, Robert Burton, playing soprano saxophone, Chris Cundy and Raymond Brien playing bass clarinets, and Jason Adler playing baritone saxophone. Cage’s late number pieces are known for their slow, soft character. Written a year after Morton Feldman’s death, Five can sound like a valediction to a recently departed friend. This is particularly true in the supple and well-coordinated performance here. 

 

The spectral composer Gérard Grisey’s Anubis (1983) is performed by Adler, here on contrabass clarinet. Thrumming mixed scalar passages offset short tritone based tunes in a sepulchral register. Adler also plays Giacinto Scelsi’s Maknongan (1976). Webs of conjunct melodies appear in the bottom octave, and there are several wide leaps. Scelsi uses what was then a forbidden interval in the avant-garde, the octave. The piece is tremendously challenging, and Adler performs it with intense commitment. 

 

Julie Kjaer  plays her solo alto saxophone piece Grain (2022). Single notes with gliding endings open the work, interrupted by plosive pops, the irregularities implied by the title. Grain gradually gains intensity, Kjaer building a motive out of the beginning tune that evoles into one with fast notes and altissimo glissandos. The piece’s climax is filled with rapid, wide ranging, howling lines reminiscent of free jazz. The coda disassembles the material until Grain concludes with a brief flourish. Kjaer is both a talented composer and a formidable saxophonist. 

 

Theatrum Mundi (2022) by Thanos Chrysakis is an imposing piece. Its seventeen and a half minute duration is filled with waves of angular lines, microtones, and glissandos. The harmony initially is built from clangorous verticals, with the climax adding overtone chords in intense crescendos. After its crest, a denouement counters, with repeated notes and multiphonics played pianissimo. Chrysakis’ Doe of Stars (2014) is played by Toal and Adler, who switches back to baritone saxophone. Microtones and multiphonics serrate the edges of post-tonal melodies and reconstruct dyads into shadowy shapes. The music morphs into rapid re-articulations of single pitches. A rollicking saxophone solo is followed by a winding unison melody, with a widely spaced dyad to close. 

 

Tim Hodgkinson stepped out of the saxophone section to conduct his work Spelaion (2022), and one can readily hear why. The piece has myriad contrapuntal entrances and complexly accumulating passages. The pile-up of corruscating lines and repeated pitches creates slowly evolving and fascinatingly distressed textures. The whole ensemble participates in Spelaion to close this extraordinary evening that revelled in intricate music and superlative music-making.

 

-Christian Carey

 

 

by Christian Carey
CD Review, Chamber Music, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, File Under?

Kronos Says Goodbye to Two Members After a Hello to Moondog and Sun Ra

Kronos Says Goodbye to Two Members After a Hello to Moondog and Sun Ra

Credit: Lenny Gonzalez

Many are celebrating the tenures of two members of Kronos Quartet – violinist John Sherba and violist Hank Dutt – who are, after more than forty-five years, retiring from the group at the end of June.

 

As a valediction, I have been listening to and enjoying recordings from throughout their catalog. I am impressed by how enduring the quartet’s creative vitality and imagination has persisted, even on their most recent outings.

 

Joined by the Ghost Train Orchestra and a number of guest vocalists, last Fall Kronos released Songs & Symphoniques: The Music of Moondog. Louis Hardin, AKA Moondog, AKA The Viking of Sixth Avenue, shares moments of whimsy and often playful titles. Artists could take that an imprimatur to always playfully play it, but not on Songs & Symphoniques. Indeed, I’ve long been impressed with Moondog’s self-taught craft. His madrigals and canons, written down in Braille and then “translated” for seeing musicians, are at times quirky, but are often substantial pieces. Kronos and colleagues emphasize this, as well as the emotive character of his songs’ lyrics.

 

 

Rufus Wainwright joins with a backing vocal chorus and a number of the instrumentalists in one such canon, “Be a Hobo.” While maintaining the canonic structure, it is arranged to allow close-miked Wainwright to act as its focal point, thus functioning as both song and contrapuntal excursion. Marisa Nadler performs “High on a Rocky Ledge” with her characteristic dark-hued lyricism, adding duplicate vocal tracks for the chorus. The quartet and an electric guitar play the tune’s descending riff and a series of Tin Pan Alley chords to flesh out the piece. “I’m This, I’m That” features a gravelly-voiced, affecting rendition by Jarvis Cocker. Contributing an alto lead vocal and joined by other singers for a round, Petra Haden also memorably channels Annie Ross in her high soprano line on “Down is Up,” giving it the flavor of a cappella jazz.

“Enough About Human Rights” is a humorous text that is delivered with a wink by Karen Mantler and the quartet, who double on the vocal chorus. The song asks about the rights of a long list of animals, even skunks and bats, pointing out an even-handed ecological mindset that is a throughline in Moondog’s writings. She also sings on “Coffee Beans.” After a jaunty 6/8 groove is introduced by drums,  jazz-inflected sax chords, pizzicato strings, and, ultimately, a wayward tune, Mantler sings a round about how to make the best coffee. At the conclusion, a harmonica solo adds a lilting counter-melody. Joan as Police Woman uses overlapping voices and vocoder to create a round on “Why Spend a Dark Night with You?” Hand-claps underscore the syncopation while electric guitar, saxophone, and the quartet add additional wisps of tunes, and then a raucous interlude. Mantler resumes the round in its former context, but in a new key, to conclude. A favorite is the duet between Sam Amidon and Aoife O’Donovan on “Behold.” Celtic folk fiddling style both in a solo and in the quartet accompanies their singing. Amidon takes the first verse in hyperkinetic fashion, O’Donovan’s rendition of the second resembles some of the inflections in the strings. The third verse treats the melody as a round, and the quartet provides a bluesy chord as a button.

 

In addition to the vocal turns, several well-conceived instrumentals are performed by Kronos and Ghost Train. “The Viking of 6th Avenue” is a calling card piece of Moondog’s; this was his nickname and mentions his stomping grounds. The arrangement incorporates pitched percussion instruments – xylophone, metallophones – that he performed when busking, but it also has a full jazz arrangement and the quartet playing in contemporary classical fashion – an extraordinary mash-up of styles that befits the polyglot musical approach to composition of Moondog. “Bumbo” features the lower brass alongside, again, high pitched percussion, with a Latin-tinged groove that supports saxophone and guitar solos. There’s a bit of Rain Dogs-era Tom Waits here, and one imagines that the Moondog albums might well have been on his mind when creating the Tom trilogy in the 1980s.

 

The recording concludes with another vocal track; Joan as Policewoman sings on “All is Loneliness,” which is one of the most poignant of Moondog’s creations. It is in canon, with saxophones and strings delivering the first few entrances gently, and Joan as Policewoman entering soon after with serene, sustained singing of the motive. It is a moving closer to a recording that reveals Moondog’s multitudes.

Out this month is another recording: Outer Spaceways Incorporated – Kronos Quartet and Friends Meet Sun Ra. This double LP is the fifth in Red Hot’s Sun Ra series, and by far the most substantial. Once again, prominent collaborators join the quartet to create new renditions of Sun Ra’s music as well as new compositions that both channel the visionary artist and extend his legacy.

 

The title track begins with spoken spacey glissandos in the strings, and a muted trumpet call. Then the vocalist Georgia Anne Muldrow sings the tune, doubled by Harrington, with supple tone and elegant phrasing. The arrangement by Jacob Garchik recasts the piece with emphatic music for strings but retains its linear gestural vocabulary. Electronic musician Jlin, known for her work with post-classical materials and creation of footwork singles, provides vociferous string chords and hand drums in her composition “Maji.” Laraaji adds synths and the flavor of New Age electronica on “Daddy’s Gonna’ Tell You No Lie.”

 

“Blood Running High” incorporates two hip hop artists – RP Boo and the duo Armand Hammer – rapping over a sax section and the quartet. Sun Ra’s spoken word recitations have undeniably been an influence on hip hop and here there is a tip-of-the-hat here in return. Moor Mother, DJ Haram, and 700 Bliss add reverberant production, samples, and rapping to “Secrets of the Sun.”

 

The centenarian bandleader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, saxophonist Marshall Allen, also appears on the recording. He joins Sex Mob and Laurie Anderson for “Images Suite,” one of two extended tracks on the CD. Post-bop horns and otherworldly electronics combine in a savory concoction that embodies the juxtapositions inherent in the music-making of Allen’s ensemble. Anderson adds treated vocals, and chimes accompany trumpeter/arranger Steven Bernstein. Allen gets multiple solo turns, displaying a rich tone undiminished by age. Anderson joins Allen and Kronos on “Phenomenon” and “The Wuz.” The resulting amalgam pays tribute to the eclecticism intrinsic to Sun Ra’s music while maintaining the tension between the various contributors’ own approaches. “Love in Outer Space,” featuring keyboards by Trey Spruance, imparts the tune with piano, organ, and synth playing that revels in Sun Ra signatures.

 

 

A second extended cut ends the recording with, appropriately enough, “Kiss Yo’ Ass Goodbye.” It is a lyric from Sun Ra’s famous and much-covered song “Nuclear War,” and here as well the notion of apocalypse is explored through the lens of Afrofuturism, in which the escape to space may be the only thing saving us from annihilation. The quartet is joined by Terry Riley, playing keyboards and singing, and vocalist Sara Miyamoto. It opens with portentous straight tone slides, almost like an air raid siren, which are joined by quick singing of the title in saucy fashion. The strings and percussion provide intense accompaniment and the glissandos change direction alongside an Ivesian amalgam of melodic fragments and a coda of overlapping voices (shades of Moondog’s canons).

 

 

 

From its outset and for a half century, Kronos has made many “cover albums.” Outer Spaceways Incorporated is among its most successful in terms of concept and execution. The quartet will continue performing and recording with two new members, violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kozasa.

 

-Christian Carey

 

by Christian Carey
Brooklyn, Concerts, Events, Experimental Music, Festivals, File Under?, jazz

William Parker Celebrated at Vision Fest

Vision Fest 2024 – William Parker Receives a Lifetime of Achievement Award

On June 18th, luminary bassist, bandleader, poet, and composer William Parker will receive a Lifetime of Achievement Award at Vision Fest 2024. The Brooklyn series for ecstatic jazz and improvised music has often featured Parker in a variety of ensemble configurations and in memorable solo performances. 

He will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 18th, with a plethora of events (below)  and performances that will also be livestreamed (tickets).

There is more to celebrate. On Friday, June 21st, AUM Fidelity is releasing two recordings featuring Parker. 

William Parker and Ellen Christi – Cereal Music (AUM Fidelity)

 

This is William Parker’s first spoken word album. Themes that he has long addressed in writing  –  racial justice, spirituality, peace, and healing – are explored in the eloquent selections shared here. Parker also plays flutes and bass. His collaborator, vocalist and sound artist Ellen Christi creates an elegant sound design for the recording and contributes her rich, sonorous voice as well. Birdsong features alongside conventional instruments and subtle electronic drones. Parker’s word-play contains fantastical imagery grounded in gritty experiences from the urban landscape. His declamation drifts easily, occasionally punctuating a particular concept like an arrival point in an improvisation.

Heart Trio – William Parker, Cooper-Moore, Hamid Drake – Heart Music (AUM Fidelity)

 

William Parker is joined by two long-time collaborators – Cooper-Moore and Hamid Drake –  in a new ensemble called Heart Trio. On their debut recording Heart Music, the musicians play a number of instruments, many Non-Western in background. Parker plays doson ngoni, shakuhachi, bass dudek, Serbian flute in F#, and Ney flute; Cooper-Moore plays ashimba and hoe-handle harp; Hamid Drake performs on frame drum and drum kit. The music they create simultaneously celebrates and transcends the traditions from which these instruments emanate. It combines polyrhythms identified with various cultures as well as passages, especially those featuring drum kit, that are palpably influenced by jazz. In spite of all of these elements, the trio’s interactions are seamless. 

 

The theme of Heart Music is sound healing. Theraputic use of music is a practice that has its own academic discipline. One can also look to Pauline Oliveros’s Deep Listening practice for another way to approach healing with sound. Heart Trio’s mission to heal takes on a different guise. Their music accesses the shamanic, the power of dance as ritual, and the jubilation of three lifelong companions finding a new way to interrelate. 

 

JUNE 18, 2024 WILLIAM PARKER LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT 

ROULETTE INTERMEDIUM 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn NY

6:00 PM Invocation Lisa Sokolov

6:30 PM  ROOTS AND RITUALS
William Parker / Josh Abrams  / Joe Morris  / Mixashawn Rozie / Hamid Drake  / Jackson Krall /Juma Sultan / Michael Wimberly 

7:15 PM  Trail Of Tears Excerpts, The Blue Sky” Vanished Horizon”
Annemarie Sandy, Andrea Wolper, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez / Mara Rosenbloom / James Brandon Lewis / Mixashawn Rozie / Isaiah Parker / Hamid Drake 

8:30 PM  Raining On The Moon
William Parker / Rob Brown / Steve Swell / Eri Yamamoto / Leena Conquest / Hamid Drake

9:15 PM The Ancients
Isaiah Collier / Dave Burrell / William Hooker / Miriam Parker / William Parker

10:00 PM William Parker & Huey’s Pocket Watch

Rob Brown, Aakash Mittal /Isaiah barr / Alfredo Colon / Dave Sewelson / Steve Swel / Colin Babcock / Taylor Ho Bynum / Diego Hernandez / Colson Jimenez / Hans Young Binter / Juan Pablo Carletti / Ellen Christi / Kyoko Kitamura / Patricia Nicholson / Art by William Parker

 

by Christian Carey
Ambient, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music

Steve Blum – Stained Glass

On February 1, 2024, sadfam records released Stained Glass, a new album of experimental electronic ambient music by Los Angeles-based keyboardist Steve Blum. Inspired by the glasswork at the Zionskirche in Berlin, this album is “…where the past and future intersect: destruction and creation, ostentation and modesty, reactionaryism and progressivism.“ Minimalist in structure with a variety of electronic and ambient sounds, Stained Glass skillfully blends technology with the art of music.

Forest is the first track of the album and has a bright, bouncy piano line to open. The notes sparkle like rain drops as a countermelody is heard in the middle register. A low, twangy guitar line weaves its way in and around the others. This results in a nice groove with all the elements balanced and working together. About halfway through, a slower section of bass tones dominates as the piano lines recede into the smooth overall texture. Forest has an energy and variety that uplifts and refreshes. Towards the finish the tempo slows as the sounds diminish and thin out to a quiet ending.

Kinetic, track 2, opens with solitary beeps in a simple melody, soon joined by other lines that form a bubbly, playful groove. This has a strongly percussive texture – a bit like being inside a pin ball machine. About halfway through, the rhythms start to unravel and no longer seem to be following the same beat. There is a rising sense of disorder but this soon recovers back into a steady beat before fading to the finish. Kinetic is both an elemental and lovely piece.

Track 3 is Dialogue and this opens with a strong beat in a repeated, syncopated knocking sound. Aggressive and only minimally melodic, electronic beeps soon join in to form a swirl of new, higher lines. Different rhythms appear with strange sounds, some of which are reminiscent of music by Weather Report. The knocking continues independently, as if in a dialog with a call but no response. There is an intriguing, mysterious feeling to Dialogue.

At just a little over two minutes in length, the shortest piece of the album is Interlude, track 4,. This has a nice rolling beat in the middling registers with some lovely rhythms above. There is a sunny and optimistic feeling to this as well as a sense of roiling purpose. The texture becomes broken and sketchy as the short existence of Interlude dissembles at the finish. Acting as a kind of bookend is Postlude, another short piece that concludes the album on track 10. This is solo piano music with a gentle and melodic opening, conventional harmony as well as a warm romantic feeling. Not fast or flashy but quiet and thoughtful – a perfect way to end Stained Glass.

Reflection, track 5, is the longest piece on the album and features vocalist Kathryn Shuman. In fact, according to the composer “…every sound on track 5 is from a sample of Kathryn’s voice, re-pitched and edited.” This opens with a long series of electronic beeps and boops that are sometimes in harmony and sometimes dissonant. The sounds pulse rapidly through different registers and seem very much like signaling. There is a lot of energy here, partly electronic and partly vocal. Yet overall these elements blend together into a coherent texture. Bubbly and welcoming at times while strident and alien at other times. Ms. Shuman’s vocals are both agile and highly creative, mixing well amid the swirl of sounds.

At about 5:45 lower and warmer sounds are heard underneath in two different lines. This has an organic and exotic feel that could be a conversation in a foreign language; perhaps a discussion between life forms? A low vocal gesture finishes the piece. Reflection is engaging and animated throughout.

Puristic follows on track 6 with sharp, single electronic notes accompanied by a bass beat. This has a distinctly percussive and explosive feel, like listening to popcorn. Several interleaving lines enter and fade with repeating figures. An altogether happy sound, upbeat and sunny. As the piece proceeds, the lines wander in their rhythms evoking the other-worldly before returning to a more coherent texture. Puristic is joyful yet precise music.

Uncle, track 7, opens with an intense all percussion sound. The rhythms syncopate briefly then return, developing into a nice groove. This has a primal feel with a strong beat and inviting texture. Some rapid drumming adds to the energy of Uncle, an inventive piece that gets a lot out of its mix of percussion. The next track, Idyllic, also has a strong percussive presence, combined with a smooth electronic melody line that is nicely offset by counterpoint below. Idyllic rolls along with different lines moving around but always giving off a sweetly contented vibe.

Ocean, track 9, follows, opening smoothly with a gentle but deliberate tempo. A simple piano line arcs over over sustained chords in strings. The slow rising and falling of the dynamic evokes a calm ocean, and the warm harmonic undercurrents produce a quiet, reflective ambiance. Ocean is always at ease as it drifts along, free of tension or anxiety, a beautiful piece of music.

Stained Glass successfully combines alluring and colorful electronics with minimalist rhythmic energy. Steve Blum’s music is exotic, but not alien, and at the same time it is agreeably familiar in its emotional intention.

Stained Glass is available for digital download at Bandcamp.

by Paul Muller