RIP Hans Werner Henze


I just learned last night that the great German composer Hans Werner Henze died on Saturday October 27th at the age of 86.  I have been fascinated by this man and his music since the mid 1970s.  While generally classified as a sort of neo-romantic these days I recall the man and the music of controversy.

Henze was, for me, one of the great political composers and stands with the likes of Luigi Nono, Hans Eisler.  His compositions like ‘Essay on Pigs’, ‘The Raft of the Frigate Medusa’, ‘El Cimmaron’, and the 6th Symphony stand out as some of the finest political commentary achieved in classical music.  The premiere of The Raft of the Frigate Medusa had to be cancelled due to political protests which broke out in the concert hall and among the musicians themselves.

Though he may be better known for his wonderful operas and film scores (which I like as well) I will always remember when DGG suddenly dropped Henze from their catalog in the 1970s due to how politically hot he was.  I recall his interview in Stereo Review, I believe, where he discussed his homosexuality and denigrated his German homeland for their discriminatory practices.  Henze had moved to Italy where he spent many productive years.

Much of his music has, for me, a sort of “in your face” quality that reminds me of the expressionism of Schoenberg and the sound world of Varese.  Pieces like the Essay on Pigs will still not fail to offend, repel and fascinate listeners because of it’s dissonant style and unusual extended vocal techniques as well as the political content of the text.  One of my favorite Henze pieces will always be the noisy and very dissonant 6th Symphony which he composed during a stay in Cuba.  And while his style mellowed somewhat after that his compositional approaches were frequently pushing the envelope using tape, spoken voices and dissonances that worked well in the context of his work.

The sweeping grandiose orchestral works include ballets, 10 symphonies, various concerti.  His operas are rather frequently performed.  And his chamber music, including 5 string quartets, deserve more attention.  It is clear as to why he is considered a sort of neo-romantic and I don’t think that that is at odds with his political convictions.  Henze seems to me to have been an idealist, supporting progressive and radical political ideas as a part of his grand and all embracing  style.  Harsh sounds did not need to be excluded from his sonic pallete.  He seems to have embraced a wide variety of techniques and sustained a long and productive career.  Perhaps he was the ideal post-modern romantic.

RIP, Hans.  We go on listening.  Thank you for the sounds.

henze

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A Fitting 100th Birthday Celebration for Conlon Nancarrow


Nancarrow birthday cake.

Happy 100th Birthday to Conlon Nancarrow

October 27th, 2012 would have been the 100th birthday of composer Conlon Nancarrow.  While still not a household name his work has become better known through recordings and live performances over the last 30 years or so.  He spent the majority of his creative life working in relative obscurity in Mexico City. While known by some of his contemporaries his music first became widely known through a 1969 Columbia Records release, part of that label’s ‘Music of Our Time’ series curated by David Behrman.

The evening’s celebration of his 100th birthday I’m sure would have made him proud.  Curated by bay area new music advocates Other Minds and hosted by the Piedmont Piano Company in downtown Oakland was a sort of preview of the next weekend’s three day event.

In the beautiful space of that showroom the audience was treated to hors d’ouerves, wine before the concert.  The event opened with a portion of a film by Jim Greeson, a documentary about the life and music of Nancarrow that painted him as another (if the most radical) of the musicians who were born in Texarkana, Arkansas which claims Scott Joplin as one of it’s famous sons.  This was followed by pianola virtuoso Rex Lawson who played a few of Nancarrow’s early studies.

The pianola is not the same thing as a player piano, as Lawson informed the audience.  It is a device which fits over the keyboard of a traditional piano and depresses the keys based on the instructions of a paper roll inserted as one would in a player piano.  However the pianola allows the performer to vary dynamics and phrasing and actually perform the music.  And Lawson demonstrated this beautifully.

pianola

Pianola showing the place where the paper roll is inserted.

At the intermission birthday candles were lit and Lawson was accorded the honor of blowing them out in the late composer’s honor.  Nancarrow died in 1997 having lived to see a tremendous resurgence in interest in his music and an acknowledgement of his contribution to music.  His complex rhythm studies for player piano number just over 50.  And though he wrote some chamber and orchestral music as well, these are the pieces on which rest his fame as an innovator.

Rex Lawson blowing out the candles on Nancarrow's birthday cake.

Rex Lawson blowing out the candles on Nancarrow’s birthday cake.

Just prior to the intermission we were treated to the multi-talented artist an composer Trimpin‘s computer controlled pianola.  Attached to two pianos were devices for pressing the keys which were in turn controlled by a computer program.

Piano with Trimpin’s computer controlled pianola attached to the keyboard

Piano number two with Trimpin's computer controlled pianola attached to the keyboard

Piano number two with Trimpin’s computer controlled pianola attached to the keyboard

They played the massively complex Study No. 40b and did so very effectively.  The audience left their seats to stand around the two upright pianos which behind the seating area.  The sound cannot be described in words and the audience, some perhaps mystified, were very appreciative.  Trimpin later spoke of this work reconstructing one of Nancarrow’s abandoned project, a percussion orchestra controlled by a piano roll.  It was abandoned when Nancarrow realized that the technology could not perform the music accurately, something which is now possible with Trimpin’s research.  The results of that research, Trimpin: Nancarrow Percussion Orchestra / MATRIX 244 will be installed in the Pacific Film Archive and be available to the public from November 2nd to December 23rd.

Trimpin holding a prototype for Nancarrow's aborted percussion orchestra experiment's

Trimpin holding a prototype for Nancarrow’s aborted percussion orchestra experiment’s

After the candles were out the audience, led by Charles Amirkhanian, sang happy birthday which prompted Lawson to spontaneously run to one of the pianos to accompany the traditional song.  Charles Amirkhanian, composer, radio host and impresario produced the first complete recording of Nancarrow’s player piano studies (and the only recording made on Nancarrow’s player pianos in his Mexico City studio) in 1980 which brought the composer to a much wider audience and got him invited to the 1982 New Music America festival and later helped him get a Mac Arthur genius grant.  A chance find in a record store in Paris inspired Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti to write his masterful piano etudes after hearing these recordings.

Charles Amirkhanian with Rex Lawson

Charles Amirkhanian holding the microphone while Rex Lawson sings along with one of his piano rolls.

Trimpin scanned all of Nancarrow’s piano rolls into a computer and made it possible for the music to be studied more widely as well as preserving it on a hard drive.  He went from the piano rolls which are essentially a digital medium the equivalent of punch cards for historians and those of us old enough to remember to digital storage on a magnetic drive.

As I noted at the beginning this was a most appropriate tribute occurring on Nancarrow’s actual birthday and featuring people like Amirkhanian, Lawson and Trimpin who were inspired by Nancarrow’s work and have done so much to bring it to light and to preserve it for posterity.

Following the intermission we were again treated to Rex Lawson who provided a perspective on the importance of player pianos and pianolas in early 20th Century culture.  He illustrated the function of the pianolist explaining as he said, “Why I need to be here at all…” by playing a Rachmaninoff polka first without any nuance executed by the pianolist and then with him demonstrating how the pianolist puts life into the piece, a world of difference.  He spoke of composers who actually wrote for the pianola.  It is different from writing for a pianist because the pianola is not limited to the size of one’s hand or the number of fingers one has.  It afforded composers a technology to write a more orchestral fabric.

He demonstrated with pieces by Sir Arnold Bax, an early 20th century British composer and by Stravisnksy (a marvelous arrangement of the scene from Petroushka when the puppet first comes to life).  He also spoke of now forgotten composers who had the career of being arrangers for the pianola.  While many homes had pianos and many could play the piano, the pianola allowed them to play larger and more difficult works beyond the skills of the average pianist and, frequently, beyond the skills of any human being.

The evening ended with another demonstration of Trimpin’s computer driven pianola this time playing one of Nancarrow’s early boogie woogie pieces.  And then there was time to speak with the artists and audience members who showed enthusiasm and interest.

Tonight’s event, we were told, was organized by Other Mind’s development director Cynthia Mei and she made a plea for funding this and next weekend’s events through Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/otherminds/nancarrow-at-100-a-centennial-celebration?ref=card) where the rewards for participating in the funding range from mention in the program booklet to CDs, t-shirts and downloadable recordings of the performances.  This writer is a proud part of the kickstarter campaign and would like to encourage others as well.  We are honoring a true genius in American music and preserving his influence and legacy for future generations.  I think Mr. Nancarrow would have heartily approved.

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Annie Lewandowski, Luciano Chessa, Theresa Wong in Berkeley


Lewandowski piano

A view of the inside of the piano showing Lewandowski’s alterations.

It is easy to miss the nondescript storefront on University Avenue where this performance took place. And the promotion of this concert appeared to be mostly through Facebook and the Bay Area improvisers web site which resulted in a small but appreciative audience interested in hearing the work of Annie Lewandowski, now a music lecturer at Cornell. She is a graduate of Mills College. She has a varied resume ranging from classical piano to progressive rock bands and she presented tonight her work with extended piano techniques much like those of John Cage but with some distinctly personal twists extending Cage’s methods further. Ms. Lewandowski was hosted by Theresa Wong (also a Mills graduate), bay area composer, cellist and singer who organized the event and Luciano Chessa, San Francisco Conservatory professor, composer, musicologist, historian and performer and producer who played a couple of different roles in this evening.

performance of La Barbara's 'Hear What I Feel'

Luciano Chessa performing Joan La Barbara’s ‘Hear What I Feel’

The first performance was introduced by Ms. Wong who informed us that Luciano Chessa had been kept in isolation for the last hour while the preparations were done for his performance. The piece being performed was Joan LaBarbara’s ‘Hear What I Feel’ from 1974. It consists of a table upon which there are several plates each containing some object or substance. The performer, who is blindfolded, is seated at the table and the performance consists of the performers reactions to the substances and/or objects he examines with his hands alone. It is performance art that would be perfectly at home with other Dada and Fluxus-like scores.

Wong led Chessa carefully from the back of the performance space to the table containing six plates. After seating him she positioned the microphone carefully in front of him. Chessa spent several minutes with each object examining three predominantly with his left hand and three with his right. All the while during his tactile adventure he vocalized a variety of sounds evoking (presumably) his emotional response to each object or creating an audio analog for them.

As with all such scores the result leaves a wide range of possibilities to the performer. And this performance was suitably humorous and engaging. Following his examination of the last of the objects Chessa removed the blindfold and reacted to each of the objects (without vocalizing) as he examined them visually. There was an effective combination of (mockingly?) serious concentration and idiosyncratic responses that left the audience genially amused and entertained.

Lewandowski piano

Annie Lewandowski playing in the piano, on the keyboard and singing.

Wong cello

Theresa Wong playing her carefully altered and electronically enhanced cello and singing.

This was followed by a duet between Lewandowski and Wong. Both performers utilized various ways of altering the sounds of their instruments by adding objects to the strings or by exciting the strings with objects. Wong also made use of a foot pedal controlling some electronics. Lewandowski’s piano was miked and amplified somewhat.

The improvisation was started by Lewandowski with some percussive like sounds elicited at the keyboard. Wong responded sparely at first and the two seemed to trade ideas which became richer as the performance went on. Again the serious concentration was present as the performers carefully heard and responded to each others’ music making. While satisfying it was a sort of introduction or first taste of what was to come in the second half.

A brief intermission saw the performers mingling with audience members, many of whom were acquaintances and other musicians.

Annie Lewandoski, Luciano Chessa and Theresa Wong in a trio improvisation

Annie Lewandoski, Luciano Chessa and Theresa Wong in a trio improvisation

What concluded this unusual program was a trio for all three performers. Lewandowski with her prepared piano, Wong with her altered cello, Chessa with his signature Vietnamese Dan Bau and guitar. All three also sang. The performance started sparely as each introduced suggestions or themes for the improvisation and reacted to them.

Lewandowski gave a much fuller exposition of the possibilities of her instrument playing the keyboard, inside and all around the piano as well as singing. Wong also seemed to use a wider amount of sound possibilities in her playing. Chessa played the traditional Vietnamese folk instrument in all but traditional ways using devices to excite the strings and focusing on tuning and even some percussive possibilities. At one point he left the table where he was performing to pick up an acoustic guitar. After picking a few notes he walked to the back of the stage area and ascended a stair case leading to a sort of balcony that surrounded the performance space. It was at this point that he began softly singing what sounded like an Italian folk tune as he played the guitar in a most traditional manner. This gave a collage effect to the performance juxtaposing the most traditional kind of music making with the extended and experimental sounds.

Chessa remained on the balcony for a bit, then descended the staircase again and returned to the more unusual playing methods at first on the guitar and then back at the table on the Dan Bau. Following this Lewandowski began vocalizing a melody with sparse accompaniment that would have been perfectly at home in a scene from ‘Eraserhead’ at times. She was echoed by Wong’s extended vocal techniques at first and then Lewandowski and Wong began singing a more traditional sounding melody with beautiful harmonizations interpolating this singing at different points while still traversing their freely improvised instrumental playing supported by Chessa on the Dan Bau.

This made for a rather tranquil mood as they ended the second half of the concert. The audience was appreciative. And this writer was pleased to have found a gem of a concert experience by young, serious (but good-humored) and accomplished musicians in the eclectic world of the east bay.

Ilhan Mimaroglu, a Personal Appreciation


I remember first coming across the music of Ilhan Mimaroglu on a Turnabout LP of electronic music in the 1970s. The unusual sounding name stuck in my head. And as I continued exploring and collecting contemporary music I would occasionally run across his name.

In the 1980s I came across tantalizing descriptions of his work in various record catalogs like one which stated that the music included a recording of Che Guevara’s autopsy (To Kill a Sunrise). I remained intrigued.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that I resolved to get a more comprehensive take on his music and to obtain as much of his it as I could find. At that time I had to rely on e-bay where I was able to find a couple of CD compilations and a copy of the anti-war LP “Sing Me a Song of Songmy”, a collaboration of sorts between Mimaroglu and the Freddie Hubbard Quintet. A good representative selection of his work can currently be found on the Ubu web site as well as the Avant Garde Project. And according to the discogs web site (which lists about 58 albums in which he was involved) his LPs are selling for any where from about $10 to about $80.

Born in 1926 in Istanbul he earned a degree in law before coming to the United States. Mimaroglu studied with (among others) electronic music pioneer Vladimir Ussachevsky at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, the prominent east coast workshop where Milton Babbitt created some of his masterpieces and where Edgar Varese, Luciano Berio, Mario Davidovsky, Charles Wourinen and other luminaries worked and studied.

Through his work at the venerable Atlantic Records, along with fellow émigrés Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun he produced jazz and blues albums, most notably with Charles Mingus. Here he was able to establish his own record label, Finnadar. He released his own music and that of other avant garde composers such as Luciano Berio, Anthony Braxton, Henry Cowell, Morton Feldman, Pierre Boulez, Frederic Rzewski and others. One of my favorites and a classic, in my humble opinion, is The Adoration of the Clash, a recording by pianist Doris Hays of music by Hays, Feldman and others. In short he strove to promote some difficult listening by avant garde composers of the day.

He had an interest in agitprop, art that expresses political views. (The term is a portmanteau of agitation and propaganda and was coined in the 1930s in communist philosophical circles.) Indeed much of Mimaroglu’s work has overtly political themes. In a 1975 interview with Charles Amirkhanian he expressed his distaste for folk music, particularly that of his native Turkey and that region of the world, because he says it supports oppressive regimes.

In addition to his work with Charles Mingus he is noted for having some of his music grace the soundtrack of Frederico Fellini’s ‘Satyricon’. But his music understandably reached a limited audience. His music can be harsh and is intentionally disturbing dealing with disturbing themes. But it is well crafted and has a distinctive sound. Fans of the avant garde should definitely seek out his work.

In the course of collecting his music I came to learn that Mimaroglu was also a writer along with being a composer, producer and teacher (Ingram Marshall is among his students). He died July 17th of 2012 in Manhattan. And, though anyone’s passing is a time for sorrow, it is a time for reflection and frequently resurrection by renewed interest. I hope that more of this important figure’s work will come to light in the months and years to come. RIP.

Cançonièr at the Berkeley Festival Fringe


Full moon presides over exsanguinous tales.

Last night, local early music ensemble Cançonièr performed in what was their last appearance until next year.  In the somewhat noisy parish hall of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church this four member ensemble played a slightly condensed version of a program they have been touring for the last year or so.  It was a program called ‘Black Dragon’ with music from the first half of the 15th century, the time of the reign of Count Vlad Dracula, the historical antecedent of the vampire character.

Cançonièr is a four member ensemble co-directed by Tim Rayborn and Annette Bauer.  The other two regulars are Shira Kammen and Phoebe Jevtovic.  All are amazing instrumentalists and scholars in their own right and all play in other ensembles and groupings.

Tim Rayborn is a medieval scholar , multi-instrumentalist, singer and performer.  Annette Bauer is a recorder virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist and singer.  Shira Kammen plays vielle (antecedent of the violin/viola), medieval harp and sings.  And Phoebe Jevtovic is a singer who also does double duty by playing a small bell set in some of the pieces.

Annette Bauer demonstrates her virtuosity on the recorder.

Tim Rayborn

Tim Rayborn providing context and performing.

The group goes beyond their scholarship (which is excellent) and puts their performances in context.  They provide translations of the words they sing (frequently in dead or antiquated languages) and they connect with their audience with a pleasant sense of humor as well as drama.

Shira Kammen playing the vielle.

They clearly enjoy playing together and seem very connected, deriving great pleasure from making music.  And they produce a beautiful sound with their intricately crafted replicas of the instruments of the time.

Phoebe Jevtovic sings accompanied by Tim Rayborn on the lute.

One complaint.  The location of this church at Bancroft and Ellsworth makes for a bit of urban distraction provided by sirens and traffic.  And there were apparently other activities going on in the church complex which could be occasionally heard.  But the musicians and audience handled the distractions in a good-natured manner consistent with the rest of their performances.

They began and ended their intermissionless program with a narrative drama with music partly sung, partly spoken or intoned but performed with characteristic flair by Tim Rayborn accompanied by himself on frame drum and the ensemble.  This was a jaunty upbeat sounding piece at the outset that gives way to the narrative talking/singing about the infamous subject of this performance here called Dracula of Wallachia.  The language here sounded like an old German dialect and after the brief but harrowing telling of the story in speech and song (the speech gratefully rendered in English) the jaunty music of the beginning returns to conclude the piece.  One can imagine this being performed in a tavern or inn by a troubadour or group of musicians for the guests.

Rayborn then spoke to the audience providing more context by explaining that tonight’s music is from the time of the Count’s reign but that it is not known if he indeed had musicians in his court.  And for those who do not know the story of ‘Vlad the impaler’, as he was known, this is pretty grisly stuff.  Reality programming from the dark ages if you will.

There followed two more composed songs, a folk song, a traditional Romanian dance,  a heart-rending Moldavian chant passionately sung by Jevtovic and a traditional Bulgarian dance.

I have not bothered to mention the composers’ names (which were listed in the printed program) because they are very little know and would likely clutter this little narrative.  My apologies to the composers and the scholars if I have offended in my omissions.

Left to right: Shira Kammen, Annette Bauer and Phoebe Jevtovic demonstrating their vocal collaboration.

But the next piece was by a composer familiar to anyone who has taken a course in western music history, Guillame Dufay (1397-1474).  The work of this composer, who provided a lot of sacred music for the church as well as secular pieces, was so successful that his work and his name have survived the ravages of history.  The ‘Lamentio Sanctae Matris Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae’ required the vocal skills of all four in the group as well as instrumental accompaniment.  And they did so beautifully singing, we were told, in two different languages as the piece is originally written.

There followed an Italian dance, a Byzantine secular court piece called a “kratima” (spell check is practically useless here), a medieval Russian pilgrim  song and an Ottoman Turkish piece followed by a very spirited reprise of the first piece.

The ensemble clearly enjoys their music making.

All in all a very satisfying evening and a clearly appreciative audience sent this writer out into the Berkeley night not with nightmarish images but with the tunes of this joyful performance ringing in his head (medieval earworms?).  And I popped one of their CDs in my car stereo for the ride home.  I could easily hear this again.

 

Experimentalism Otherwise, a significant new book on the New York progressive music scene in thec1960’s


I posted my blog review of the Carl Ruggles CD release on Amazon so I decided it would be reasonable to take an earlier review from Amazon and post it to my blog. So having made this guilty disclaimer, here is my review of a great book I came across in the fall of 2011:

For those interested in contemporary music and the New York avant garde of the early to mid 1960’s this is a book that is hard to put down. Each of the first four chapters is devoted respectively to: The New York Philharmonic’s 1961 performance of John Cage’s ‘Atlas Eclipticalis’; Henry Flynt and his rejection of mainstream avant garde trends (Stockhausen, Boulez, etc.); The (short lived) Jazz Composer’s Guild; and the performances of cellist Charlotte Moorman. A final chapter is devoted to a summary analysis which further connects these performers and events to the work of the ONCE Festival, Sonic Arts Union and (surprisingly but most appropriately) to the influence of these avant gardists on the subsequent work of Iggy Pop.

Nearly every significant figure of the avant garde is mentioned or quoted and the views of the general public as well as more specialized critics (which, of course, includes various members of the avant garde) are included in the course of the discussion and analysis. In addition to John Cage we hear from the likes of Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, David Tudor. The Henry Flynt chapter necessarily involves various figures associated with the Fluxus movement and related projects. The Jazz Composer’s Guild chapter includes Bill Dixon, Roswell Rudd, Michael Mantler, Carla Bley, Paul Bley, Amiri Baraka, George Lewis, the AACM. And the chapter on Moorman includes Nam Jun Paik as well as John Cage and various Fluxus artists. The final chapter connects to others not so closely associated with New York such as Robert Ashley, Gordon Mumma, the ONCE Festival, Sonic Arts Union and finally to MC5, John Sinclair and Iggy Pop.

While there is some musical analysis here the author seems primarily concerned with analyzing these events and people and placing them more clearly within the political, social and cultural contexts in which they existed and to which they reacted. And indeed he finds highly relevant connections to civil rights issues and political conflicts and social movements as well as musical and performance movements and practices.

The analysis in terms of the likes of Pierre Bordieu, Franzt Fanon and Michel Foucault may be a bit difficult for those who have no familiarity with their works but his analysis is fascinating and his writing style is very lucid. This is an intelligent book not aimed at a narrow specialist audience. I believe that he succeeds in producing a fresh, important and valuable perspective on the people, the music, the events and the responses to them which will continue to prove useful in present and future analyses of the state of contemporary music and performance.

Finally the book is full of references comprising at least a third of the volume which serve both to support and illustrate Mr. Piekut’s theses and also to provide easy access to further reading and research.

In the time since I published this review Mr. Piekut has come to the United States and is now an Assistant Professor at Cornell University. I will certainly continue to follow the work of this young scholar. And I eagerly anticipate his next project. Perhaps he will see fit to turn his analytical insights to more of America’s too little known avant garde music movements and provide some much needed documentation. And hopefully his students will be motivated to explore these as well.

It is worth noting that the ‘Other Minds’ people in San Francisco have recently chosen to make this book available at a discount on their website. They stock a small but carefully selected cache of books related to new music and their inclusion of this one suggests that they find it a significant volume. In addition they are also stocking local artist/composer/professor Luciano Chessa’s new book on Luigi Russolo, the early twentieth century Italian artist best known for his advocacy of the use of noise as a musical element. In fact I have it cued up in my reading list and plan a future review.

In the Mood for Shakuhachi, Man?


Last night I had the pleasure of attending another in the great occasional series of house concerts produced by vegan chef extraordinaire, Philip Gelb. Phil wears many hats. He is a fine shakuhachi player and, by his own students’ testimony, a great teacher as well. He is without doubt a wonderfully creative chef catering vegan cuisine to the bay area and beyond. And over the last six years he has hosted an occasional series of concerts at his loft in West Oakland modeled in part on the Creative Music Studio that flourished in Woodstock, New York in the seventies and early eighties. In fact some of the musicians Phil has hosted are alumni of that fine collective. His business is called, ‘In the Mood for Food’.

The dinner which is frequently tailored to the artist’s preference was a Thai/Japanese fusion of some five delicious courses. And customarily the performance occurs followed by the dessert course.

The musician was a shakuhachi player and instrument maker named John Kaizan Neptune, an American expatriate living in Japan since the seventies. Neptune is a surfer and surf board maker who has turned his carpentry skills and musical talent on the creation and/or modification of musical instruments after his interest in eastern philosophy drew him to Japan where he continues to live and perform.

Having heard traditional shakuhachi I was somewhat unprepared for the kaleidoscope of sounds and styles of music which followed our entree. Neptune, dressed in a head scarf and and Japanese style short vest jacket and blue jeans, looked the role of the American surfer/musician he describes himself to be. He had three shakuhachi of different lengths and he described some basic facts about the instruments in a most pleasant manner demonstrating his love and depth of knowledge of his medium.

He varied his program with a mix of traditional pieces and a sampling of some jazz/improvisational work which opened our ears to some amazing possibilities for this ancient instrument. He spoke casually of scales and playing techniques demonstrating by playing. At one point he displayed his skill by playing the opening of the Mozart G minor symphony quite in tune on an instrument designed to play a five tone scale. And if any of this sounds at all pedantic it is the fault of my writing, not the artist’s presentation. He was engaging in the manner of a skillful teacher able to meet his students’ needs at their level, neither condescending, nor opaque.

Neptune’s knowledge and respect for traditional Japanese music was evident but his own creative, dare I say American sensibility, has not been lost or subsumed. He performed music that paid homage to the traditions of its origin and kicked out some soulful jazz and blues jams that would do any ensemble proud. The effect was mind expanding and joyful evidenced by a very appreciative audience.

In addition to shakuhachi we were treated to an instrument of Neptune’s own creation, a two headed drum made entirely of bamboo. As in his shakuhachi playing there was a synthesis reflecting and integrating various cultural/musical influences into a new and worthy product embodying the influences of its ancestors as a child embodies the genetic heritage of its parents.

This drum produces four distinct sounds and was played strapped to the performer’s waist. And it could conceivably have great utility in a variety of musical settings. Mr. Neptune again demonstrated his swinging musical sensibilities in playing his new creation. It’s sounds evoked a variety of ethnomusical sounds ranging from South Asian and African to Latin and American. and he will soon be selling this instrument along with traditional and custom shakuhachi.

Following this good humored and spirited performance followed a great dessert and the almost obligatory selling of CDs which the audience, this writer included, consumed nearly as voraciously as the dessert. Many in the audience were Phil’s shakuhachi students and were freely invited to try Mr. Neptune’s instruments which they did with little hesitation.

House concerts generally convey a far greater sense of intimacy and connection than larger more traditional concert settings. And this was even more evident here due the persona of the performer and the receptivity of the audience many of whom were regular attendees at these events.

I happened to have brought a couple of guests to this event and the energy seemed to grab them as much as it did those more familiar with this series. It was a great evening in a great ongoing series at “In the Mood for Food’, a very special place on the east bay.

Avant Cake


Avant Cake is an occasional series of house concerts hosted and frequently featuring Amy X Neuberg, musician, singer, poet. She is a well recognized figure in the bay area music scene.

Today’s concert featured Ms. Neuberg, Guillermo Galindo and Paul Dresher.

The performance was preceded and followed by a casual reception featuring various snacks, drinks and, of course, cake.

Following the initial reception the attendees went down to Neuberg’s basement studio. The room, filled with electronic instruments, mixing boards and computers as well as posters of previous performances was set up with chairs for the audience, a quadrophonic sound system and video projection equipment.

First up Ms. Neuberg did an improvisation utilizing some new software. Her work is a unique combination of a beautiful well trained voice, extended vocal techniques, poetry (driven in part by her study of linguistics) and electronic looping which allows her to create soundscapes and accompaniments to her lyrics and well honed theatrics which connected well with her clearly appreciative and knowledgeable audience.

This performance was a sort of introduction to a developing larger collaborative project between some nine composers including today’s performers, Lisa Bielawa, bay area favorites Pamela Z and Carla Kihlstedt as well as Conrad Cummings, one of Neuberg’s teachers. The project is to involve both music and images. And this afternoon’s event is a kickoff to the fundraising bolstered by a matching grant from the bay area arts council.

Following the improvisation was another of Neuberg’s songs and the she introduced Guillermo Galindo, a composer, sound artist and visual artist who teaches at the California College of the Arts. Neuberg sang the lead character of Simone Weil in the 2001 production of Galindo’s opera “Re-creation”.

After some pesky technical difficulties with the quadraphonic sound system we were treated to live visual scenes created by Galindo using what looked like a lighted microphone but was in fact a microscope whose images were projected on a screen and which interacted with an electronic score. The piece, lasting perhaps 20 minutes, involved Galindo projecting a variety of magnified images of his own body (mouth, skin, hair, clothing) and an assortment of other objects which appeared to be insect parts, carpet fibers, a dollar bill, etc. The non-linear, non-narrative flow sometimes juxtaposed images and appeared to work well with the similarly post-Cagean sound score.
The performance had the feel of somewhat improvisatory performance art and was ostensibly an idea of how he planned to work on the developing collaborative work. The audience was appreciative in receiving this interesting little preview.

After a small pause to set up Paul Dresher’s computer into the projection system Mr. Dresher presented two photographs. One was of a movie screen in a drive-in theater in the desert near Las Vegas and another of an indoor theater in which the only light was from an illuminated blank screen. Both were the work of prominent photographers. But the point of showing these images was to show the audience what was given as a “homework” assignment by a woman who is a volunteer teacher at the prison in San Quentin and the response to that assignment by an incarcerated man 29 years old called Michael who, serving a life sentence for an unspecified crime, has been in jail since the age of 15. In addition to that sad story was added the fact that he wrote his assignment by hand with a small pen (too small to allow it to be used as a weapon) while he served time in solitary confinement for another unspecified offense.

Dresher passed out copies of the photos for the audience to see which provided a better resolution than that on screen and a copy of the actual assignment in Michael’s own hand. The assignment was to write an analysis of and reaction to the two photographs. Dresher played a recording of the young man reading his assignment.

The depth and perceptiveness of Michael’s essay beautifully read by its author were simply astounding. It was a personal and intelligent analysis of the images that put this writer in the mind of the likes of the accomplished art critic Robert Hughes. The essay illuminated very insightfully the two images and was clearly the product of a sensitive, intelligent human being.

The essay and the images are a starting point for Dresher’s portion of said project and, if this little segment is any indication, suggest that the finished project (planned for a possible premiere in 2014), may be formidable and beautiful.

Amy Neuberg again took the stage leading a singalong of her “Avant Cake Theme Song” and a delightful rendition of one of her earlier compositions. Following that the clearly pleased and impressed audience were invited back upstairs for more snacks and socializing.

All in all a truly delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and an auspicious beginning to a very promising project. Support for the project will shortly be accepting donations on Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com). And this is a project very deserving of support.

The Complete Works of Carl Ruggles (reissue)


At long last the 1980 CBS recording of The Complete Music of Carl Ruggles (1876-1971) has been reissued by Other Minds records (OM 1021/2-2).  I have owned the vinyl two disc set for many years having come across a review of it in a list of suggested recordings of American classical music in, of all places, The Whole Earth Catalog.  And it is definitely a vital part of any serious collection of American classical music.  Ruggles was one of a group collectively labeled, “The American Five”, a title intended to compare the group with the French “Le Six”, the “Russian Five” or the often cited “Three B’s” (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms).  The American group consists of Charles Ives, Henry Cowell, Wallingford Riegger, Carl Ruggles and John J. Becker who strove to define an American sound not beholden to the European models which had dominated the previous century.  Ruggles’ students included James Tenney and Merton Brown.

This album is a recording of Ruggles’ complete published works.  A recent recording of newly unearthed ephemera was recently released but the present record is everything that Ruggles acknowledged and approved.  It is a meager output for a man who lived to the age of 95 similar to the output of the equally important Edgard Varese whose complete works also fit on two vinyl records and the music is just as finely crafted.  The music here is likely not as familiar even to those who know the work of Ives and Cowell.  But make no mistake this is powerful and unique music that deserves more than just a casual listen.

It is thanks to the efforts of Michael Tilson Thomas, who first heard his teacher Ingolf Dahl conduct Ruggles’ three movement symphony, ‘Men and Mountains’ that inspired him to add Ruggles’ work to his repertoire.  But the connections do not stop there.  Thomas and producer Syrl Silberman of WGBH went to visit Ruggles in a rest home and introduced themselves by putting headphones on the composer and playing an air check of Thomas’ performance of Ruggles’ best known work, ‘Sun Treader’.  Thomas’  wonderful essay about that auspicious encounter is included in Wayne Smith’s beautifully designed booklet.  Also included are the original liner notes with Thomas’ essay, notes and analysis by pianist and Ives scholar John Kirkpatrick and an additional essay by Lou Harrison reprinted as well.  There is also an introduction written by Other Minds Associate Director Adam Fong, himself a student of James Tenney, which puts Ruggles in a wider historical perspective.

Executive producers Charles Amirkhanian and Adam Fong acquired permission from Sony Music to digitize the original master tapes working with a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund to bring this essential recording into the digital age.  And the performances by the acclaimed new music advocate Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (MTT was then its musical director), a brass ensemble led by Gerard Schwarz and none other than John Kirkpatrick on piano in the Four Evocations.  Michael Tilson Thomas accompanies soprano Judith Blegen in the little song, ‘Toys’ from 1919 which Ruggles wrote for his son.  Speculum Musicae accompany mezzo-soprano Beverly Morgan in ‘Vox Clamans in Deserto’ from 1923.  Trumpeter/conductor Gerard Schwarz leads a brass ensemble in the original 1921 version of ‘Angels’ for six trumpets as well as its 1940 revision for trumpets and trombones.  Even American choral music experts the Gregg Smith Singers come in to perform Ruggles’ last completed composition, ‘Exaltation’ from 1958, composed in memory of his late wife Charlotte.

The Buffalo Philharmonic with its long history of performing contemporary music under Lukas Foss and Michael Tilson Thomas does a wonderful job of handling the six orchestral works.  Best known of these is the tone poem ‘Sun Treader’ which Thomas had recorded earlier with the Boston Symphony in about 1970.  ‘Men’ from 1921, the three movement symphony ‘Men and Mountains’ from 1924, the orchestral version of the four ‘Evocations’ and the 1947 ‘Organum’ also receive very effective readings.  Michael Tilson Thomas is the conductor for all and he clearly knows and loves this music.

The sound is great and the performances are truly definitive coming from artists with varying levels of connection to the composer and  all clearly with a passion for this music.

In fact I can find only a handful of other recordings of Ruggles’ music.  Most are out of print and/or dated in sonic reproduction.  A notable exception is New World Records’, ‘The Uncovered Ruggles’, posthumous reconstructions done by John Kirkpatrick and performed and produced by Kirkpatrick student Donald Berman actually makes a nice companion to the release at hand here for the Ruggles fanatic. (I know they’re out there.)  And there are digital downloads of some out of print recordings as well.

So, as in their previous releases, OM records continues its traversal of sometimes difficult but always relevant music.  So order your copy today through Other Minds, Naxos Distribution or through Amazon.com.  You might be challenged but you won’t be disappointed.  This is a great recording.

Other Minds 17 Day 3


The final night of the 17th Other Minds Festival presented music by four composers and included two premieres of music commissioned by Other Minds.

The concert began with music by Finnish composer Lotte Wenakoski. This diminutive Finnish woman, who also sang quite beautifully during the panel discussion, works with barely audible sounds seeking inspiration ” on the borders of silence”. Her 2006-7 work Nosztalgiam (Hungarian for ‘my nostalgia’) was performed by the modular Magik*Magik Orchestra whose size varies according to the need of the pieces to be played. Tonight’s configuration for this piece consisted of 12 players playing woodwinds, brass and strings.

Fellow OM 17 composer John Kennedy, who is the conductor for the Spoleto Festival among others, conducted the chamber ensemble. Nosztalgiam (2007) is apparently a set of variations/deconstructions or meditations on two Hungarian folk songs (one of which she spiritedly sang during the preconcert discussion). The sometimes sparse and always delicate sounds expressed Wennakoski’s personal impressions of her time studying in Budapest in the late 1980s. It is difficult to assess this composer represented in this festival by a single work. But the sweet, delicate personally nostalgic sounds evoked by a variety of extended techniques suggest that seeking to hear more of her work would certainly be worth one’s effort. The sensitive and virtuosic performance was greeted warmly by audience and composer alike.

Next in this first half were two works by John Kennedy, conductor, composer, percussionist and promoter of New Music. Here is a man in a role similar to that of OM Festival director Charles Amirkhanian having a chance to be, so to speak, on the other side of the table. There are apparently no available commercial recordings of this man’s music but according to his web site (which does have some too brief sound samples) he has composed many works in all genres including theater, orchestral, solo and electronic. And he has received many commissions.

This night he was represented by two works, one of them an Other Minds commission. Both are hommages to the late John Cage. As I mentioned in an earlier blog Cage is also the inspiration/impetus behind Other Minds’ esthetic.

The first work, “First Deconstruction in Plastic” (the title a play on Cage’s First Construction in Metal), does double duty as an homage and as an environmental statement. Percussion duo Ryder Shelley and Andrew Myerson sat facing each other each with a collection of ‘found objects’ consisting of plastic buckets, bottles, shopping bags, etc. This well rehearsed duo gave an energetic and engaging performance which the audience clearly appreciated. But for this reviewer was left with the impression that this accomplished work, though no doubt intricate in it’s conception and satisfying to the musicians, failed to fully engage it’s audience. I was entertained but I did not particularly want to hear it again.

The second work, “Island in Time” (2012), was a world premiere. This, also dedicated to Cage, was a different matter. Scored for the unusual combination of bass clarinet, flute, cello and percussion (all members of Magik*Magik Orchestra) was an engaging though not derivative tribute to the influence of John Cage. The composer describes a process involving different types of temporal processes to structure the work. But the specifics of the processes are secondary here to the overall impact of the work. A meandering flow of sounds and tempi flowed beautifully reverently invoking the spirit and influence of Cage’s work. I have no doubt that the riches in this piece would continue to reveal themselves with repeated hearings. And though I have very little knowledge of this composer’s other work I have no doubt that it is likely to be quite compelling.

The musicians, clearly familiar with the work, gave a loving smooth reading of what appears to be a fairly complex work requiring serious concentration and collaboration. The audience, myself included, rewarded their efforts with enthusiastic applause.

In the second half of the program the next composer, who had performed the previous night in collaboration with Ikue Mori and Ken Ueno, was Tyshawn Sorey. This was to have been a solo performance as a percussionist but in the course of the discussion in last night’s pre-concert panel festival director Charles Amirkhanian mentioned that he had heard Sorey playing the piano earlier in the day. Amirkhanian remarked on the apparently eclectic nature of what he had played. Sorey responded saying that his piano playing is informed by the likes of Art Tatum, David Tudor, Cecil Taylor and Morton Feldman. He also mentioned deconstructing Boulez’ Second Piano Sonata (!) to inspire his compositional process. Eclectic indeed! And he easily consented to playing the piano in his segment of the program saying, “…if you are open to it, sure.”. Sorey exudes a sort of calm, friendly, matter of fact confidence in his skills.

So Sorey walked onto the stage which contained his percussion kit on one side and a concert grand piano on the other. He began with a percussion improvisation starting with a fortissimo strike on the side drum followed by some fevered loud work on tenor and snares as well. This then segued into some more delicate and complex soft sounds elicited from various cymbals and drums making frequent use of special techniques which brought forth some rich vibrant harmonics especially in the quieter moments. I couldn’t help being reminded at times of Han Benink’s performance at last years festival as he released a small sower of sticks onto a drum at one point. Sorey’s sheer energy and good humor were reminiscent (though not imitative). And, unlike Benink, Sorey never left the stage in the course of the performance.

Following the well received percussion set Sorey moved to the grand piano sitting confidently and commandingly at the keyboard and pausing as he focused on the task at hand. He started slowly with a few chords and before long launched into a dizzying and virtuosic flow of music reflecting the influences he mentioned. At first perhaps Morton Feldman, sometimes Pierre Boulez, a little Art Tatum, certainly some Cecil Taylor and then deftly playing sometimes inside the piano then back to the keyboard as part of the same unbroken musical phrase evoking the experimentalism of David Tudor. But the overall impression was not episodic imitation but rather an absorption and integration of all these techniques transcending genre and becoming, simply, inspired music making. The audience was transfixed and absorbed in the flow of the music and responded with cheers of “Bravo” and enthusiastic applause (I think they were pushing for an encore but time did not permit). Had I heard a recording of this without knowing the background I would have guessed this to have been an accomplished composed work by a master composer but this was an improvisation. I am surely going to seek recordings and follow this man’s career in the years to come.

The finale was another Other Minds commission this time from composer, vocalist and Berkeley music professor Ken Ueno. The piece, “Peradam” (2011) takes it’s title from the unfinished spiritual allegorical novel, “Mount Analogue” by the French surrealist writer and poet Rene Daumal (1908-1944). Peradam is a mythical diamond-like stone sought after on the similarly mythical mountain of the title.

Ueno’s work is scored, as is his practice, specifically for the skills of the formidably talented Del Sol Quartet who so ably played the Gloria Coates quartet the previous night. Specifically the specialized skill (in addition of course to their string playing) is the multiphonic throat singing capability of violist Charlton Lee. Ueno demonstrated his vocal skills on the previous night singing with the percussions of Ikue Mori and Tyshawn Sorey. In fact all the players were asked to sing as well as play their instruments for this performance. In addition there was video creatively projected onto the sound baffles at the rear of the stage.

The music was a post modern integrated amalgam of a wide variety of conventional and extended instrumental techniques along with singing at times (the throat singing is a strikingly unique timbre which commands attention when it emerges in the fabric of the piece). The quartet positioned themselves stage right to afford the audience a clear view of the projection across the three sound baffles at the back of the stage. They played with characteristic concentration and skill in what looks like a technically challenging piece of shifting moods and tempi to which the images responded.

The images, manipulated in real time and in coordination with the music with software written by video artist Johnny Dekam, were abstract mostly monochrome images that moved and transmuted hypnotically along with the music. Dekam, who has worked with a variety of pop acts like Eminem and Thomas Dolby, had collaborated with Ueno before. In the darkened theater the images dominated the visual field though the quartet could be seen as well.

It was a complex experience that could only be grasped, if at all, by going with the simultaneous flow of music and image. This piece will benefit from repeated listenings/viewings to more fully appreciate it’s intricacies. But this first performance clearly satisfied the mostly hard core new music fans audience. And while the direct John Cage associations were not as obvious it is clear that Ueno, Dekam and the Del Sols embody the open minded spirit of his work in this, his centennial year. This grand finale was appreciated in kind by the cheering audience successfully bringing to a conclusion the 17th always uncategorizably eclectic Other Minds Festival.

Other Minds 17. Day 2


The second night at Other Minds featured two different generations of composers. As is their practice Other Minds on this night featured two composers already established and fairly well known in new music circles as well as three up and coming artists.

The first performance was by San Francisco’s own champions of new music, the Del Sol Quartet. They performed the American premiere of American expatriate composer Gloria Coates’ String Quartet No. 5 composed in 1988. This and her 8 other quartets have been made available on the brave and progressive Naxos CD label. Coates also holds the record as the most prolific woman symphonist of all time with some 16 symphonies to her credit (many of those are available and well worth seeking on CD as Well).

String Quartet No. 5 is cast in three movements. By the composers description all of the movements are canons, a simple counterpoint form. But the result is hardly simple. Using microtonal glissandi, sometimes having instruments tuned a quarter tone apart and relying on creative ways of synchronizing the players individual tempos Coates achieved a complex sounding but friendly and approachable result. The quartet which lasted about 30 minutes would be a challenge for any ensemble but the Del Sol (which, except for the cellist, perform standing in a break with convention) clearly knew and liked the work and gave an intense and beautiful rendering sounding at times like there were more than four players. The piece has an almost romantic feel at times, cleverly incorporating melodies into a sound world uniquely the composer’s own (I am at a loss to identify a precedent). I sincerely hope that this work and her other works become better known in this, her native country. It is a tribute to the acumen of the Other Minds team that music like this is presented here. The audience greeted the performance very appreciatively.

Next up was Harold Budd on piano playing with Keith Lowe on double bass augmented with electronic effects. The piece, titled “It’s Only a Daydream” from 2011 is, by Budd’s description, entirely improvisational as is most of his music. Lowe began playing first with long sustained tones awash with rich harmonics. Budd’s piano then entered and we were transported to the familiar sound world which is Budd’s musical signature. Those who knew his collaborations with Brian Eno and his later solo works recognized his somber pretty ambient sounds. The two musicians were well matched and played a sort of jazz duet trading solos and accompaniments evoking a curiously nostalgic and hypnotic atmosphere of a strange dream-like lounge. Time seemed suspended and I don’t know exactly how long they played but when they finished the enthusiastic audience reception brought them back for a shorter encore, something I had never seen occur before at this festival.

Following intermission Ikue Mori took the stage sitting at her laptop which controls her various electronic sounds. She played the laptop solo for a few minutes and was then joined by UC Berkeley faculty composer Ken Ueno on vocals. But ah, what unusual vocals. His extended vocal techniques seem to come equally from Tuvan throat singing, Buddhist chanting, David Hykes (of the harmonic choir), Meredith Monk, Diamanda Galas, Kenji Suzuki (of the band Can), Tan Dun (on Taoism) and God knows what else. After another few minutes Tyshawn Sorey, a doctoral candidate in composition at Columbia, seated himself quietly at his drum/percussion kit, then with an assertive fortissimo bang on the side drum confidently entered the energetic fray. Mori sat intently gazing at her computer screen and entering the sound changes for her part while Ueno, holding the microphone to his mouth with both hands issued passionate wordless vocalizations of endless variety and Sorey executed a similar endless variety of high energy acoustic percussion sounds.

Mori calmly issued computer commands to perform her Japanese/New York/ punk/free jazz/Stockhausen expanded percussions while the academic Ueno improvised intense growling, multiphonic, wild vocals with few pauses and Sorey got in touch with his AACM ancestors producing a unified three ring circus of wonderful musical mayhem transcending any concept of genre. Three different traditions, separate but working together. Metaphorical? You decide.

Well deserved and enthusiastic applause greeted the intense but calm Mori and the sweaty and apparently exhausted but satisfied Ueno and Sorey.

The relative order of Coates followed by the ethereal calm improvisations of Budd were but a distant memory (albeit a pleasant one) after the ritual emotional exorcism of the second half. This is the rich variety that characterizes these concerts. And now anticipation builds for tomorrow’s finale.

Other Minds Festival 17


Thursday night was the opening concert of Other Minds 17th annual series at the beautiful Kanbar Hall in the San Francisco Jewish Community Center which features a typically eclectic selection of new and recent music. Six countries are represented this year including the United States, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

This first night featured the palindromically named Norwegian ensemble Asamisimasa. They are a group of highly trained young musicians who dedicate themselves to the performance of post war avant garde and recent music (some written for them).

What makes them unique is their integration of traditional instruments with various types of electronics and techniques to modify and enhance their sound. They include standard video, digital processing and extended instrumental techniques as well as uncommon enhancements such as hand held megaphones and found sounds like tearing newspaper, spray cans and sliding blocks that rub on various surfaces.

The result was a wonderful embodiment of the post- Cagean musical esthetic which is the driving force behind Other Minds as they describe it in their mission statement. These dedicated skilled classical musicians played a program of a fellow Norwegian and a Danish composer. It was a performance that was adventurous, humorous and engaging.

The first half featured two works by Oivind Torvund. The first work from 2009 was “Neon Forest Space” for clarinet, cello, guitar/radio, percussion and pre-recorded media. Brief motivic segments, mostly by solo instruments, were strung together by a variety of sounds controlled by a musician who doubled as conductor. The overall impression was one of a spare impressionistic piece informed equally by the sound worlds of Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen and, according to the program, Black Flag.
The second piece was the world premiere of “Willibald Motor Landscape” written last year. This piece, using essentially the same instrumentation was built upon a recorded soundtrack of traffic sounds creating an impressionistic picture presumably of the road in the title.
The audience was very appreciative and we learned following intermission that all of the Oivind Torvund CDs had sold out! Welcome to America Mr. Torvund.

The second half of the night featured what was to have been a performance without pause of four pieces by Simon Steen-Andersen of Denmark. Unfortunately, following the performance of “Study for String Instrument #2” (for cello and whammy pedal, 2009), the cellist lost her footing on the darkened stage. The crashing sound seemed at first a part of the performance. But the lights were brought up quickly finding that the cellist was thankfully mostly unharmed and able to continue performing. However her cello had sustained a broken tuning peg. Charles Amirkhanian, the festival director tactfully asked the audience’s indulgence while another cello was obtained, a process which required only about 10 minutes (!). The cellist with the replacement cello returned to the stage to relieved and appreciative applause. Mr. Amirkhanian thanked the audience, who barely moved in the interim, for their patience.

The stage lights were darkened again and the ensemble restarted the piece which had been so briefly interrupted. From the microtonal glissandos duet of cello and whammy pedal they began the second piece, “Half a Bit of Nothing Integrated” (2007) for extremely amplified clarinet, percussion, cello and live video operated by the percussionist. In good humor and with professional showmanship the percussionist began by speaking, “Now where were we?”. And they performed with sounds of seemingly malfunctioning electronics evoking a post apocalyptic sound world which evoked worlds like that of “Blade Runner”.
This time there was no pause as they moved on with an illuminated stage to “On And Off And To And Fro” (2008). This piece featured megaphones operated by musicians who at times were miking the instrumentalists and at other times playing percussive effects with the microphones (blowing into them, scraping them, etc.) and playing quite skillfully with feedback created by holding the mikes various distances from the speakers. The sight of four musicians reading from scores and following a conductor with these megaphones evoked appreciative laughter from the audience. The final piece, “Study for String Instrument #3 (2011)”, was for cello and video. The cellist, Tanja Orning, played her instrument in non-melodic fashion with a bow which produced scraping sounds. Superimposed upon her was a video of her playing and the interest of the piece is a fascinating mostly visual duet between the live performer and the video. Her actions sometimes duplicated, sometimes opposed that of the video and the effect, sometimes humorously reminiscent of the Marx Brothers mirror routine, was an engaging and occasionally disturbing image (I’m not sure why it was disturbing actually).

Warm applause followed this lively and dedicated performance from this fine young group. All in all a very entertaining evening opening the always unpredictable and eclectic Other Minds Festival.

Hello world! This is “New Music Buff”


Welcome to my music blog. I am an avid listener, collector and supporter of music in general. I am particularly interested in new and cutting edge music.

What I offer here are informed opinions about what is essentially one of my hobbies. The blog title “New Music Buff” is intended to connote a somewhat casual perspective by an educated consumer.

I offer personal opinions which I hope will provoke discussion but also stimulate interest.

Thank you for reading.

Allan J. Cronin