Le Novità Di Febbraio 2006. Click Per Infos.
SILENZIO NEWS – FEBBRAIO 2006
per ordinare: scrivi a orders@silenzio-distribuzione.it
Grandi novità da USA e Gran Bretagna. Consigliamo tutto, naturalmente. dal nuovo bellissimo Riley, a Gregorio, al sempre interessantissimo If, Bwana (uno dei suoi migliori dischi!) allo stupendo Hauser (in pratica un disco Deep Listening Band, sia come musicisti che come atmosfere), alle novita inglesi di casa FMR.
Una menzione speciale però va al triplo Unjust Malaise, di Julius Eastman. Eastman fu una delle figure piu’ importanti (ma anche piu’ sfortunate – scomparve troppo giovane per poter essere degnamente conosciuto) della scena statunitense dei primi anni settanta. Studente di Foss e Feldman (insieme a gente del calibro di Petr Kotik, David Del Tredici, ecc.), grande protagonista della scena NY downtown e collaboratore di Arthur Russel, Meredith Monk, Peter Gordon ecc. ecc. Eastman, era un nero americano (e gay), che illumino’ brevemente quel periodo di grande fermento musicale. Le sue composizioni divennero presto mitiche, anche perchè pochissimo eseguite e mai registrate. Finalmente la New World (attraverso la producer Mary Jane Leach) e’ riuscita a recuperare buona parte delle poche registrazioni esistenti e quindi ecco che ascoltiamo (e scopriamo) la grandezza dell’autore. Stupende costruzioni per pianoforti multipli, di impianto minimalista, ma pregne di cultura nera e di vibratile energia. Grandi brani per ensemble e violoncelli, dove la liricità delle linee si aggroviglia un unicum potente, scandito e segnato anche dalla sua poderosa e drammatica voce. Unjust Malaise e’ un lavoro eccellente, la scoperta di un autore che fu grande per troppo poco tempo, e che oggi ci appare anche come precursore vero di tanta scena contemporanea e post-minimalista che segui’. Certamente uno dei migliori dischi del 2005!
GA e SC
**********NUOVI ARRIVI**********
RILEY, TERRY
Assassin Reverie
ARTE Quartett: Beat Hofstetter, soprano saxophone; Sascha Armbruster, alto saxophone; Andrea Formenti, tenor saxophone; Beat Kappeler, baritone saxophone; Terry Riley, vocals, piano and harpsichord (Uncle Jard)
A free spirit, maverick par excellence, creator of a personal compositional style that has spawned entire generations of epigones, Terry Riley (b. 1935) embodies the best aspects of the American pioneer spirit, the positive and uncorrupted image of America (and California in particular) that still holds abroad: an America free from the weight of European tradition, a privileged space where a fusion of Western and Eastern cultural trends can be produced.
It is interesting to note that the most significant musical influences on Riley¹s style‹blues, jazz and Indian classical music‹share relevant common features: modal structures and improvisatory practices intended as careful treatment of a set of more or less strict, codified rules. By emphasizing common ground, Riley reconciles different cultures within the same inventive fusing process.
Uncle Jard (1998) (saxophone quartet, piano, harpsichord, and voice) is a particularly compelling example of this. In this piece, Indian classical music and blues/jazz elements co-exist in a stylistically coherent whole: ragtime and raga have never been so closely intertwined. The piece is divided into three parts. While in the first and second parts the texture of the saxophone ensemble is enriched by the voice and keyboard, in the third part the voice is not featured.
Assassin Reverie (2001), for saxophone quartet and tape, is a piece in a single movement, but structured in three different sections differentiated by sound material and stage direction. It is one of the more disturbing pieces written by Riley; the second section features an extremely aggressive audio track‹gunshots and helicopter sounds are heard throughout it.
Written right after In C, Tread on the Trail (1965) (this version for 12 saxophones is by the ARTE Quartett) is in fact based on similar construction principles. The music in both pieces is a ludus, a game in which Riley re-injects into western music a new-found vitality. Through a free exploration of the score, musical performance recovers here its true essence as a playful collective ritual.
CD; New World; EU 15,00
MUMMA, GORDON
Electronic Music of Theatre and Public Activity
Gordon Mumma (b. 1935) has played a pioneering role in the development and evolution of ³live-electronic² music. ³Live-electronics² as a concept and practice appears to have originated in the United States in the late 1950s, outside the few institutional electronic studios and often in the context of innovative theatre activity. From its inception, it frequently involved two processes: (1) live performance with accompanying or interacting sound materials on magnetic tape; and (2) the use of electronic circuitry as sound-modifying and sound-producing instruments. Beginning with his classic Megaton for Wm. Burroughs of 1963, Mumma¹s live-electronic and cybersonic works of the 1960s and 1970s, especially Medium Size Mograph (1963) and Hornpipe (1967), display his resourceful use of both live-electronic processes. Cybersonic Cantilevers (1973) extends them to include the active participation of audience members, many of them children and teenagers who were quick to grasp the artistic potential of cybersonic technology, while Conspiracy 8 (196970) is an early example of live interaction between performers and computer. A major addition to the contemporary music discography, this is essential listening for anyone interested in the history of electronic music.
Megaton for Wm. Burroughs, Conspiracy 8 (co-composed and performed with Stephen Smoliar), Cybersonic Cantilevers, Cirqualz
CD; New World; EU 15,00
EASTMAN, JULIUS
Unjust Malaise
Members of Creative Associates; Jodi Beder, Sarah Carter, Barry Gold, Julie Green, Christine Gummere, Maureen Hynes, Chase Morrison, Abby Newton, Larry Rawdon, David Sabee, cellos; Frank Ferko, Janet Kattas, Patricia Martin, pianos; Julius Eastman, piano, voice, conductor
This three-disc set marks the first appearance on disc of the music of the African-American composer Julius Eastman (19401990), who died fourteen years ago under unexplained circumstances and whose musical legacy was thought lost. This comprehensive and definitive document, which comprises almost all of Eastman¹s signature works, will undoubtedly be a revelation for those who have thus far been unable to hear his work.
In his book American Music in the Twentieth Century, composer/author Kyle Gann briefly sums up Eastman¹s work and its importance: ³Born in New York, he graduated from the Curtis Institute in composition and was discovered by Lukas Foss, who conducted his music, including Stay On It (1973), one of the first works to introduce pop tonal progressions and free improvisation in an art contextŠApplying minimalism¹s additive process to the building of sections, he developed a composing technique he called ³organic music,² a cumulatively overlapping process in which each section of a work contains, simultaneously, all the sections which preceded it. The pieces he wrote in this style often had intentionally provocative titles intended to reinterpret the minorities Eastman belonged to in a positive light: for example, Evil Nigger, Crazy Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla (all circa 1980). These three pieces, all scored for multiple pianos, build up immense emotive power through the incessant repetition of rhythmic figures.²
Eastman was an energizing underground figure, one whose forms are clear, whose methods were powerful and persuasive, and whose thinking was supremely musical. His works show different routes minimalism might have taken, and perhaps some of those will now be followed up. This set of discs is a bold beginning to restoring to history the works of one of the most important members of the first post-minimalist generation.
Stay on It (chamber ensemble); If You¹re So Smart, Why Aren¹t You Rich? (chamber ensemble); Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan D¹Arc (voice); The Holy Presence of Joan D¹Arc (ten cellos); Gay Guerrilla; Evil Nigger; Crazy Nigger (four pianos)
3CD; New World; EU 36,00
GREGORIO, GUILLERMO
Coplanar
Madi Ensemble: Guillermo Gregorio, clarinet, alto saxophone, conductor; Kyle Bruckmann, oboe, accordion; Jen Clare Paulson, viola; Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello; Michael Cameron, contrabass; John Corbett, guitar; Jim Baker, piano, ARP synthesizer. Guests: Marc Unternährer, tuba; Steffen Schleiermacher, piano; Warren Po, cracklebox; Jennifer Walshe, voice; Aram Shelton, E-flat clarinet; Ken Vandermark, saxophone, bass clarinet
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1941, Guillermo Gregorio has lived variously in Europe and the United States since 1986. He was an active participant on the Argentine music scene throughout the 1960s, ¹70s, and early ¹80s.
“What affects me more than any other thing,” Gregorio says, “is my involvement in visual arts, and my architectural and design experience.” In his compositions, a reinterpretation of the fundamental and structural concepts of Constructivism converges with the historical experiences of Argentinean Conceptualism, Fluxus, intermedia synthesis, certain aspects of serialism, and graphic music. In addition to the acceptance of sound as material, constructive and geometrically generated ideas are used in scores ranging from conventionally notated statements to graphs, including planimetric projections of spatial structures. In January 2001, he founded the Madi Ensemble of Chicago, which performs original and historical scores that draw from the conceptual foundation of diverse Argentinian avant-garde currents.
“I prefer to put this music in the field of New Music,” he explains, “because New Music is not defined. There is more new space to move. In that context, the music many times is not improvised, even when it partially includes improvisation, but it is basically all written in order to give a consistency to the work. Listen two or three times to the work and you will recognize that there is structure. This structure configures itself in different shapes at moments when the music is played because the connections are not the same as the syntactic connections of conventional music, even modern (i.e., New) music.” These shapes, especially on Coplanar, are inspired by the visual art of the East European Constructivists and their Argentinean heirs, the Madi and Concrete Art movements.
Coplanar 1 + 2 (for guitar, synthesizer, and ensemble), Coplanar 4 (for oboe, clarinet, tuba, and cello), Coplanar 3 (for piano and strings), White Coplanar (for clarinet, viola, and cracklebox), Construction with Coplanar (for oboe/accordion, clarinet/alto saxophone, tuba, and cello), Madi Piece (for guitar and strings), Swiss Coplanar (for voice, tuba, and piano), Coplanar 5 (for bass clarinet, clarinets, strings, and piano)
CD; New World; EU 15,00
JOHNSTON, BEN
String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 4 & 9
Kepler Quartet: Sharan Leventhal, violin I; Eric Segnitz, violin II; Brek Renzelman, viola; Karl Lavine, cello
Ben Johnston’s (b. 1926) music has reached a wide and diverse audience, both at home and abroad, without compromising its high seriousness or its depth of philosophic purpose. His music shows the confluence of several traditions of music-making that have flourished within the United States. In the 1950s his output was characterized by the neoclassicism of his teacher Darius Milhaud. In the 1960s he explored serial techniques and, at the end of the decade, indeterminacy. From 1960 onward the overriding technical preoccupation of his music has been its use of just intonation, the tuning system of the music of ancient cultures as well as that of many living traditions worldwide. Johnston is a pioneer in the use of microtones and non-tempered tuning, rationalizing and going beyond Harry Partch¹s achievements in this domain.
His ten string quartets are among the most fascinating collections of work ever produced by an American composer. And yet, like similarly imposing peaks in the American musical landscape‹Ives¹s Universe Symphony, for example, or the Studies for Player Piano of Conlon Nancarrow‹these works have, for decades now, remained more known about than known, more talked about than played. All the quartets have been performed in public (with one exception, the immensely difficult String Quartet No. 7), but only four have previously been recorded. The scores have been analyzed by musicologists and theorists fascinated by their fusion of advanced compositional techniques (serialism with just intonation, for example; microtonality with a kind of neoclassical revisionism), but they have been too little heard. The Kepler Quartet¹s recordings‹this disc is the first of a series of three, prepared with Johnston¹s active support and supervision‹offer lively and scrupulously accurate readings that unlock the door to these marvelous pieces. Like Ives and Nancarrow before him, there is the sense that Johnston¹s time has finally come.
String Quartet No. 2 (1964), String Quartet No. 3 (1966), String Quartet No. 4, ³Amazing Grace² (1973), String Quartet No. 9 (1988)
CD; New World; EU 15,00
HAUSER, FRITZ
Deep Time
Pauline Oliveros, accordion & Expanded Instrument System; David Gamper, Expanded Instrument System electronics, misc. small instruments; Urs Leimgruber, soprano & tenor saxophones; Fritz Hauser, percussion
DEEP TIME is a tape composition commissioned in 1991 by the Pauline Oliveros Foundation for Deep Listening Band.
Fritz Hauser’s tape features recordings of sounding stones (manufactured by Arthur Schneiter) and various watches and clocks (thanks to the Bucher family in Switzerland for permission to record that family clock!). The performers improvise with the tape. On October 26, 1994 Pauline Oliveros, David Gamper, Urs Leimgruber and Fritz Hauser recorded 2 versions of DEEP TIME. Both of these 32 minute recordings are included here.
Fritz Hauser is a drummer and composer from Basel, Switzerland. He has developed his sound language in varied ways. From solo concerts, in diverse ensembles, through multi-media projects (theater dance film radio) and many recordings, he has contributed to the development of the drumset from a mere timekeeper to an instrument in its own right.
Known internationally as a composer, accordionist and teacher, Pauline Oliveros’s work in improvisation, electronic techniques, teaching methods,
myth and ritual, and meditative and physical consciousness raising has changed the course of American music. She left the University of California at San Diego in 1981, at the rank of full professor, in order to support her ideas, creative projects and collaborations. All of her work emphasizes attentional strategies, musicianship and improvisational skills. Oliveros’ compositions have been performed worldwide.
Composer/performer David Gamper is especially concerned with music performance electronics. He received a BA in mathematics in 1967 from
Bowdoin College, and returned there in 1969 to study composition with Elliott Schwartz and establish their electronic music studio. He then went
on to the University of California at San Diego where he studied composition with Pauline Oliveros and Roger Reynolds and received his MA in music. Since moving to New York in 1989 he has been working primarily with Pauline Oliveros. He is director of development for the Expanded Instrument System (a project of the Pauline Oliveros Foundation) and performs and records around the world with Oliveros and as a member of Deep Listening Band.
Urs Leimgruber has been active for many years in the areas of contemporary improvisation, composition, jazz and new music. One of his earliest
associations was as a member of the electric jazz/free music group ‘Om’ with Christy Doran, Fredy Study and Bobbi Burri, and he later formed the
‘Reflexionen’ quartet with Don Friedman and Bobby Burri in New York. His own projects have included ‘Ensemble Bleu’, ‘Xylem’, e_a.sonata 02 with the ARTE saxophone quartet, as well as a long association with Fritz Hauser: as a duo with the ongoing Music for saxophone and percussion; in the Leimgruber/Roidinger/Hauser trio; a trio with Joëlle Léandre; and a trio with Marilyn Crispell. More recently he formed ‘quartet noir’ with Marilyn Crispell, Joëlle Léandre and Fritz Hauser and a trio with Jacques Demierre and Barre Phillips.
2CD; Deep Listening Publications; EU 22,00
IF, BWANA
Rex Xhu Ping
New Al Margolis release features Margolis’ compositions for tapes, electronics, voice, drones. Rex Xhu Ping (pronounced rex shoe ping) features Margolis (tapes, electronics, clarinet, and sundries), Laura Biagi (vocals), Dan Andreana (speaker, tapes), Detta Andreana (tapes, bowed cymbals), and Orchestre de Fou.
A recent review of Margolis¹s work says: “Let it be declared that Al Margolis/If, Bwana is some sort of evil genius working with raw materials which are never adapted to a genre or a context, because they create one in that very moment. Those sources are radically altered up to an utterly unrecognizable state, anarchic manifestations moving in compact determination.” (Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes)
Al Margolis was one of the prime movers in the legendary cassette underground scene of the 1980s (between 1984 and 1991 his Sound Of Pig label released over 300 cassettes of music by the likes of Merzbow, Costes, Amy Denio, John Hudak and Jim O’Rourke) and is the éminence grise behind twenty years of music under the name If, Bwana. He is the man behind the Pogus label, as well as label manager for Deep Listening, XI Records, and Mutable Music. He has recorded and/or performed with Pauline Oliveros, Ione, Joan Osborne, Adam Bohman, Ellen Christi, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jane Scarpantoni, Ulrich Krieger, David First, Dave Prescott, Hal McGee, Sarah Weaver, Hudson Valley Soundpainting Ensemble, and Amoeba (Raft) Boy, among others.
CD; Pogus; EU 15,00
TREVOR WATTS’ AMALGAM
Over the Rainbow
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
BURT/MACDONALD 4ET + LOL COXHILL
Coxhill Street
George Burt (guitar), Raymond MacDonald (alto/soprano saxes), George Lyle (double bass), Nicola MacDonald (voice/melodica), Bill Wells (piano), Daniel Padden (clarinet/voice/percussion) with Lol Coxhill (soprano sax)
A rapid follow up to the highly acclaimed ‘Tsunami’! Named after a real road in Glasgow and recorded over a weekend there, UK improv guru Lol Coxhill reunites with this excellent Scottish quartet for another round of rollicking improvisation. This is another great document of this consistent, energetic and hugely enjoyable group. Another chapter of the quartets adventures not to be missed!!
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
ROGERS/NORTON/DIDKOVSKY
The Bright Lights The Big Time
Nick Didkovsky (electric guitar, laptop), Paul Rogers (A.L.L., double bass), Kevin Norton (vibraphone, drumes, percussion)
Some of the greatest improvisers around meet in New York. I will say a few words about this music … I love Nick and Paul as human beings and musicians. We decided to do a concert at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on January 31, 2004.” It was wonderful; the space had a wonderful vibe and the listeners received the music warmly and enthusiastically.
I decided that we should record in a studio to capture all the details of the sounds we can make because live recordings (as exciting as they can be) tend to miss the quiet stuff.” I knew it would be great because of the humanity and talent. Turn off the lights and listen….. Kevin Norton
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
WATT?
The longest mauvais quart d’heure
Ibadet Ramadani (Voice/live electronics), Jorge Isaac (Blockflutes/live electronics), Charly Zastrau (Keyboards/live electronics), Jos Zwaanenburg (Flutes/live electronics), Tom Myrmel (Sound diffusion/tech support/anything else)
Using a combination of strong software and traditional instruments to create a surprising world of electro-acoustic sound, songs and improvisation, the music of The Longest Mauvais Quart d’Heure, originally a music theatre piece uses E.M. Forster, B monster-movies, Beckett’s shorter plays and blatantly old-fashioned science-fiction novels to supply the models for the sound, structure and imagery in this stunning performance. Within this wonderful work WATT? uses a live sampling program and a video-to-MIDI program developed by STEIM Amsterdam in which the vocalists movements are recorded by a digital video camera that triggers sounds stored in a computer. Although meant as a live performance piece it is presented here in a special CD version which preserves the feel of its original format to spellbinding effect.
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
NORTON, KEVIN
Quark Bercuse
Kevin Norton (percussion)
This is a brand new solo recording by one of North America’s leading percussionists. “Indeed, I could say that this music is inspired specifically by three musicians (Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton and Haewon Min), but it is ultimately my music and I take responsibility for it. I’ve been developing this “total percussion in improvised music” idea for many years now and I feel that it’s been encouraged by people like Anthony (amongst many others). This is an important journey for me and it will continue.” “Quark Bercuse” is a culmination of where the musician has been heading in the last few years and an important platform for Norton’s musical research and communication.
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
DUNMALL, PAUL
Solo Soprano Saxophone
Paul Dunmall (soprano saxophone)
The exceptional British improviser is captured on this recording during a magnificent solo set at The Priory in Southend on Sea during its 5th International Jazz Festival. Concentrating for this recording on solo soprano saxophone, an instrument for which he excels, this recording is a must for all collectors of this virtuoso saxophone collossus. Nothing more need be said but to simply listen to one of the worlds great virtuosos on a solo voyage of great beauty!
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
BIANCO, TONY
Avyayah – Drone Drums
“My concept for this recording is that each drum piece serves as a meditation. A flame. An invocation. Inspired from the images from the great spiritual epic, The Mahabharata I called this record ‘The Avyayah Drone Drums. ‘Avyaya’ is a Hindu word (one of the names of Vishnu) meaning constant, no change, that is a drone. I believe that the drone is an aboriginal or primal instinct in ancient music. One is of course reminded of the didgeridoo and of the distinctive tampura drone in Indian music. Along with the images of the Mahabharata I keep a war-like trance (by keeping a drone in the drums) consistent in all pieces. I hope this recording is enjoyed and hope that in some way my over-active imagination may have invoked some valid energy from the images of this great epic.” Tony Bianco
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
JEFFERY, HILARY
Solo Trombone & Electronics
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
************USATI*********
CONRAD, TONY
Ouside the Dream Sindycate
Prima ri-edizione su CD , da lungo esaurita, del mitico lavoro si Conrad+Faust.
CD; Table of the Elements; EU 10,00
CONRAD, TONY
The pyre of Angus was in Katmandu/The death of the composer was in 1962
Singolo su vinile, uscito ai tempi della prima ri-edizione su CD di Outside… per i tipi della TOTE. Esauritissimo! Perfetto!
7″; Table of the Elements; EU 8,00
************BACK IN STOCK*********
DUNMALL, PAUL
Solo Bagpipes (Shawbaccandised)
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
FULKERSON, JAMES
Wood, Stone, Desert
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
JORD BIFAST
And the earth moved
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
MAYAS/NUTTERS/OLSEN/GALVEZ
Its dirty in the different tradition
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
STUDER, FREDDY/FAVRE, PIERRE
Crisscrossing
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
SURMAN, JOHN
Morning Glory
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
SURMAN, JOHN
Westering Home
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
TAYLOR, TREVOR
New Music For Percussion & Electronics
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
WACHSMANN/CURPHY/WASTELL/JACKSON/TAYLOR
Icarus
CD; FMR; EU 15,00
e altri titoli dei cataloghi New World, Pogus, FMR…
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