Tag Archives: Todd Reynolds

…if it dies at all: Guy Klucevsek’s “Hope Dies Last”, New Compositions for Accordion(s) and Friends


Starkland

This is, by my count, the fifth Starkland release of Guy Klucevsek’s work. Klucevsek has happily been one of Starkland’s favorite artists. Though he officially retired from performing in 2018, he continues to compose, collaborate, and record.

“Hope Dies Last” consists of several new compositions from this (hardly retired) man. And if you don’t know his work, this is a fine place to start. Klucevsek is a unique composer/performer who has defined his brand as one of the finest accordion players in new and experimental music. Through years of composing, performing, and collaborating, Klucevsek has taken the accordion to places it never dreamed of going and still manages to do honor to the history and significance of his chosen instrument.

NB: This reviewer is biased, having had a long admiration for this artist. The “vernacular” idioms of the accordion had been very familiar to me from my childhood on with my exposure to rituals of some of my Eastern European ancestors (polka bands, Lawrence Welk, Myron Florence, etc). Because of Klucevsek I will never hear the accordion in the same way ever again.

Having, ostensibly, “retired” (at least from performing), we find his creative juices still flowing in these recent compositions. This album is largely representative of his more lyrical writing as heard in releases like, “Citrus, My Love” but Klucevsek is seldom far from parody (in an honorific sense) and both humor and pathos infuse this music in ways that sneak up on the listener. This recording stems in part from music written by Klucevsek and performed by many of his friends, but not always on accordion, on a concert in celebration of his 75th birthday.

We hear, on this album, compositional genius distilled from the composer’s broad knowledge and understanding of music in general, and of his ability to incorporate classical and vernacular idioms into his personal style. The valuable liner notes by the composer reveal how his work belies the complexity which underlies his very approachable style. There is a depth in these works that lies, tantalizingly, just below the surface.

One of the most rewarding aspects of this album is hearing all these fine collaborators play Klucevsek’s music. The dedication and enthusiasm of these performances are a fitting celebration of this unique artist who brings his 19th century folk instrument (and its milieu) very successfully into the 21st century. Participating artists include: Jenny Lin, pianos; Todd Reynolds, violins; Jeff Gauthier, violin; Margaret Parkins, cello and whistling; Will Holshouser, accordion; Alan Bern, accordion; Nathan Koci, accordion; Bachtopus Accordion Ensemble (Robert Duncan, Peter Flint, Mayumi Miyaoka, and Jeanne Velonis); Jerome Kitzke, heavy breather and toy piano schlepper; and, of course, Guy Klucevsek, accordion and piano. Starkland founder Tom Steenland’s steady producer’s hand is a guiding spirit here as well.

The last six tracks, “Industrious Angels” (2010) were written on commission by Laurie McCants for her dramatic presentation of the same name, a work inspired by the poems of Emily Dickinson. Collaborations such as this, with non-musician artists, are well represented in Klucevsek’s career. These are the oldest compositions here.

The first 13 tracks, with the exception of the 2022 transcription (of the 1988 original classic), “Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse”, were all composed from 2015 to 2021. And they serve to characterize Klucevsek’s wide ranging musical interests whose further elucidation in the aforementioned liner notes provide valuable insights into his compositional processes. Really fascinating on that technical level as well as in the resulting sound of the compositions. This album just works well on so many levels.

In many ways, this release, with so much recently composed music, feels like an apotheosis, an artist’s very satisfying and nostalgic perspective looking back on a very successful career (I’m thinking like Wild Strawberries, maybe, but happier). It is a contemporary journey that will likely send listeners to hear more of this man’s work. And so they should.

More Klucevsek at Starkland
Starkland has previously released five other Klucevsek CDs:


Transylvanian Softwear with works by William Duckworth, Fred Frith, Klucevsek, and John Zorn.
Awarded a “Recording of Special Merit” by Stereo Review.


Free Range Accordion with works by Burt Bacharach, Lars Hollmer, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jerome Kitzke, Klucevsek, Stephen Montague, Somei Satoh, and Lois V Vierk. “A rebel with an accordion… Klucevsek combines poker-faced wit and imagination with command of his instrument, forcing you to re-think the accordion’s limitations” (Downbeat).


Polka From The Fringe A double-CD re-release presenting the most comprehensive edition of this major project conceived and shepherded by Klucevsek. Works by Mary Ellen Childs, Anthony Coleman, Dick Connette, William Duckworth, Carl Finch (of Brave Combo), Fred Frith, David Garland, Peter Garland, Phillip Johnston, Aaron Jay Kernis, John King, Mary Jane Leach, Bobby Previte, Elliott Sharp, Carl Stone, Lois V Vierk, William Obrecht, and more. “A long-overdue reissue” (John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds). “A two-CD collection of new polkas he got from a wide range of classical new music, jazz and indie pop composers. It’s a riot, and an addictive one at that” (Los Angeles Times).


Teetering on the Verge of Normalcy with works exclusively by Klucevsek. With violinist Todd Reynolds, soprano Kamala Sankaram, and pianist Alan Bern. “This heartfelt album has an
especially elegiac quality” (Sarah Cahill).


Citrus, My Love offers two substantial works composed for dance, Citrus, My Love (1990) and Passage North (1990), separated by another piece Patience and Thyme (1991). A “strikingly
beautiful” CD (AllMusic Review) that is “generously imbued with melodic charm and grace” (The Wire).

GVSU’s “Return”, an Intoxicating Adventure in Sound


gvsureturn

                                                                        Innova 983

OK, I’ve listened to this lovely CD numerous times and greatly enjoyed it each time. So why has it languished as a draft and why have I failed to publish this?

Procrastination aside there are several things I can identify as things that make this reviewer pause. First (and perhaps least significant) is unfamiliarity. The disc features three composers completely unknown to me: Daniel Rhode, Adam Cuthbert, and Matt Finch all of whom are listed as doing the additional duty of acting as mixing engineers (they are all students of the ensemble director as well).

GVSU  hails from the state of Michigan and it’s new music ensemble (consisting of Hannah Donnelly on piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute; Ryan Schmidt, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; Darwin McMurray, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones; Makenzie Mattes, percussion; Reese Rehkopf, piano; Jenna Michael, violin; Kirk McBrayer, cello; Niko Schroeder, sound engineer; and Bill Ryan, director and producer) is also new on this writer’s radar. Add the participation of the extraordinary violinist Todd Reynolds (on one track) and one’s attention is further piqued. Reynolds is an artist who chooses his repertoire and collaborations judiciously so his presence certainly functions as an endorsement.  But “unknown” is the heart of my interests both as listener and reviewer so that can’t be the reason though the lack of liner notes is a bugaboo (though hardly a fatal one).

On the positive side this is an Innova release and that fact alone lends credibility. Anything that Minnesota based label (the official label of the American Composers Forum) is worth your attention. Label director Philip Blackburn has a finely tuned radar which has led to many revelatory releases over the years.  Truly anything released on this label is worthy of your attention if you are a new music fan.

So we have hear a 15 track CD of 15 new works whose sounds seems to travel between ambient and postminimal. The pieces merge nicely with each other in a production which assures a fine listening experience. One can put this on either as background or for more intensive listening. It works either way. The playing is dedicated and insightful and the recording is top notch.

The pieces range in length from 1:32 to 7:32 and all seem to be just the right length communicating substance but never dallying too long. They’re bite sized, so to speak but they each have their charms as well as their complexities.  All are premiere recordings and all are commissioned by the ensemble.

Check it out. Click on the links provided in this review. And simply enjoy.

 

 

Memories and Memorials: Guy Klucevsek’s “Teetering on the Verge of Normalcy”


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Starkland ST-225

As someone who grew up attending Polish weddings and hearing more than his share of polka music I was fascinated at the unusual role of the accordion as I began to get interested in new music. People like Pauline Oliveros and Guy Klucevsek completely upended my notions of what this instrument is and what it can do.  The accordion came into being in the early 19th century and was primarily associated with folk and popular musics until the early 20th century.  It has been used by composers as diverse as Tchaikovsky and Paul Hindemith but the developments since the 1960s have taken this folk instrument into realms not even dreamed of by its creators.

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Guy Klucevsek with some of his accordions

Guy Klucevsek  (1947- ) brought the accordion to the burgeoning New York “downtown” new music scene in the 1970s.  He began his accordion studies in 1955, holds a B.A. in theory and composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. (also in theory and composition) from the University of Pittsburgh.  He also did post graduate work at the California Institute of the Arts.  His composition teachers have included Morton Subotnick, Gerald Shapiro and Robert Bernat.  He draws creatively on his instrument’s past even as he blazes new trails expanding its possibilities.  The accordion will never be the same.

Klucevsek has worked with most all of the major innovators in new music over the years including Laurie Anderson, Bang on a Can, Brave Combo, Anthony Braxton, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Rahim al Haj, Robin Holcomb, Kepa Junkera, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Present Music, Relâche, Zeitgeist, and John Zorn (who also recorded him on his wonderful Tzadik label).  He has released over 20 albums and maintains an active touring schedule.  He recently completed a residency (April, 2016) at Sausalito’s Headlands Center for the Arts.

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Starkland ST-225

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Starkland ST-209

Starkland has released no fewer than three previous albums by this unusual artist (all of which found their way into my personal collection over the years) including a re-release of his Polka from the Fringe recordings from the early 1990s. This landmark set of new music commissions from some 28 composers helped to redefine the polka (as well as the accordion) in much the same way as Michael Sahl’s 1981 Tango and Robert Moran’s 1976 Waltz projects did for those dance genres.

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Starkland ST-218

The present recording, Teetering on the Edge of Normalcy (scheduled for release on September 30, 2016), continues this composer/performer’s saga.  His familiar humor and his unique experimentalism remain present but there is also a bittersweet aspect in that most of these compositions are homages and many of the dedicatees have passed from this world.  Klucevsek himself will turn 70 in February of 2017 and it is fitting that he has chosen to release this compilation honoring his colleagues.

On first hearing, many of Klucevsek’s compositions sound simple and straightforward but the complexities lie just beneath the surface.  What sounds like a simple accordion tune is written in complex meters and sometimes maniacal speed.  To be sure there are conservative elements melodically and harmonically but these belie the subversive nature of Klucevsek’s work which put this formerly lowly folk instrument in the forefront with the best of the “downtown” scene described by critics such as Tom Johnson and Kyle Gann.  You might mistake yourself as hearing a traditional music only to find that you had in fact wandered into the universe next door.

Many favorite collaborators have been recruited for this recording.  Most tracks feature the composer with other musicians.  Four tracks feature solo accordion, two are for solo piano and the rest are little chamber groupings from duets to small combos with drum kit.

The first three tracks are duets with the fine violinist Todd Reynolds.  Klucevsek’s playful titles are more evocative than indicative and suggest a framework with which to appreciate the music.  There follows two solo piano tracks ably handled by Alan Bern. Bern (who has collaborated on several albums) and Klucevsek follow on the next track with a duet between them.

Song of Remembrance is one of the more extended pieces on the album featuring the beautiful voice of Kamala Sankaram along with Todd Reynolds and Peggy Kampmeier on piano.  No accordion on this evocative song which had this listener wanting to hear more of Sankaram’s beautiful voice.

The brief but affecting post minimalist Shimmer (In Memory of William Duckworth) for solo accordion is then followed by the longer but equally touching Bob Flath Waltzes with the Angels.  William Duckworth (1943-2012) is generally seen as the inventor of the post-minimalist ethic (with his 1977-8 Time Curve Preludes) and he was, by all reports, a wonderful teacher, writer and composer.  Bob Flath (1928-2014) was philanthropist and supporter of new music who apparently worked closely with Klucevsek.

Tracks 10-12 feature small combos with drum kit.  The first two include (in addition to Klucevsek) Michael Lowenstern on mellifluous bass clarinet with Peter Donovan on bass and Barbara Merjan on drums.  Lowenstern who almost threatens to play klezmer tunes at times sits out on the last of these tracks.   Little Big Top is in memory of film composer Nino Rota and Three Quarter Moon in memory of German theater composer Kurt Weill. These pieces would not be out of place in that bar in Star Wars with their pithy humor that swings. They also evoke a sort of nostalgia for the downtown music scene of the 70s and 80s and the likes of Peter Gordon and even the Lounge Lizards.

The impressionistic Ice Flowers for solo accordion, inspired by ice crystals outside the composer’s window during a particularly harsh winter, is then followed by four more wonderful duets with Todd Reynolds (The Asphalt Orchid is in memory of composer Astor Piazolla) and then the brief, touching For Lars, Again (in memory of Lars Hollmer) to bring this collection to a very satisfying end.  Hollmer (1948-2008) was a Swedish accordionist and composer who died of cancer.

As somber as all of this may sound the recording is actually a pretty upbeat experience with some definitely danceable tracks and some beautiful impressionistic ones.  Like Klucevsek’s previous albums this is a fairly eclectic mix of ideas imbued as much with humor and clever invention as with sorrow and nostalgia.  This is not a retrospective, though that would be another good idea for a release, but it is a nice collection of pieces not previously heard which hold a special significance for the artists involved.  Happily I think we can expect even more from this unique artist in the future.

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Guy Klucevsek, looking back but also forward.

The informative gatefold notes by the great Bay Area pianist/producer/radio host Sarah Cahill also suggest the affinity of this east coast boy for the aesthetic of the west coast where he is gratefully embraced and which is never far from his heart (after all he did study at the California Institute of the Arts and has worked with various Bay Area artists). Booklet notes are by the composer and give some personal clues as to the meaning of some of the works herein.  Recordings are by John Kilgore, George Wellington and Bryce Goggin.  Mastering is by the wonderful Silas Brown.  All of this, of course, overseen by Thomas Steenland, executive producer at Starkland.

Fans of new music, Guy Klucevsek, accordions, great sound…you will want this disc.