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Event Radio Listening Party on Trilogy / KXLU 88.9FM Where: KXLU, Los Angeles 88.9FM Loyola Marymount College, Westchester, Los Angeles Live simultaneous webcast on Live365 When: Wednesday, February 4, 2004 9:00-10:00 pm Description: This was the first in a series of listening parties, where our members share some of our favorite music with each other. Some parties will occur in person, and others such as this will be broadcast on radio. This show was broadcast on the Trilogy show on KXLU, from Loyola Marymount College on L.A.'s west side, and webcast simultaneously on Live 365, so people beyond the broadcast range of this small station could tune in over the Internet. Trilogy host of the week Emily Hay was joined by NMTBD founder and director Dan Krimm, with a playlist of selections from member suggestions (many from Los Angeles' world-class New Music community) and member introductions for the tracks they suggested. Some members are also artists and/or composers themselves. They were encouraged to submit their own music and provide introductions for their own tracks. We had a great time putting on the show with Emily (Angie and Steve came along and hung out with us in the little DJ booth), and we hope to do it again in the future. We also want to plan some live/in-person parties where we can take a little more time to play longer tracks for each other, or even concentrate on a single artist for a whole evening. We welcome ideas for parties, and suggestions for venues where we can meet publicly to play recordings. So, here's what we played on the show: Playlist: (1) "The Bomb," Phil Curtis (Slutskaya, 2002, Acoustic Levitation) - Robert Reigle: tenox sax - Phil Curtis: electronics Suggested by Jeff: "I like how the electronic track creates a territory between drum 'n' bass, free jazz drumming, and noise. It's also a great showcase for the tenor sax of Robert Reigle, who's a really fierce and inspiring player." (2) "Voyage That Never Ends" (excerpt), Stefano Scodanibbio (Voyage That Never Ends, 1998, New Albion) - Stefano Scodanibbio: contrabass Suggested by Angie: "Stefano Scodanibbio plays the contrabass, the entire bass, no holds barred, bowing, plucking, scratching, tapping, standing up, lying down. I heard -- and saw -- him play 'Voyage That Never Ends' in 1997. He told me it wasn't yet good enough to record (although he began playing it in 1979). Two excerpts you will hear from the 45 minute piece seem a condensation of what Scodanibbio does. For me his layering of techniques creates a magical mixture of linear and non linear time." (3) "Identity Matrix," Mary Lou Newmark (2003, unreleased) - Tom Peters: double bass - Mary Lou Newmark: digital processing and soundscape, poem Offered by Mary Lou: "Questions of who we really are -- physically, emotionally and spiritually -- have long fascinated me. In 'Identity Matrix' I explore these questions in poetry and music, with one eye toward theoretical physics and the other toward eastern religious philosophy. The double bass is the protagonist who moves through this sound world in various states of indeterminacy, organic chaos and clarity. I recorded the work in my home studio in a 'musique concrete' style -- each sound file, musical motive or environmental sound was individually recorded into Pro Tools with very sparing use of a synthesizer. Thus the sounds -- i.e. bells, birds, voice, percussion -- are unique to this work and reflect a physical sound source that I then processed to achieve the desired effect." * World premiere live performance: Friday, April 23, 2004 -- 7:30 pm MAK Center, Schindler House (323-651-1510) (4) "Anger Management Classes," Andrew Durkin / Industrial Jazz Group (City of Angles, 2002, Innova) - Scott Steen: trumpet - Garrett Smith: trombone - Cory Wright: soprano sax - Evan Francis: alto sax - Aaron Kohen: electric bass - Daniel Glass: drums - Andrew Durkin: piano, everything else Offered by Andrew: "I guess I selected it because it was one of the first 'non-swing' pieces I wrote for the group. Lots of people say it reminds them of Steve Reich or John Adams, though I don't know if I hear it that way myself. The opening bass-piano groove, I realized after the fact, was kind of an extension of the 7/8 within 7/4 feel of Zappa's 'Pound for a Brown' -- with 'Anger Management,' it's two bars of 9/8 within one bar of 9/4. But then the opening melody is a pattern of three bars of 5/4 followed by one bar of 6/4. It's fun to play because there's always the danger that if you listen too intently to the other part during a performance (i.e., if the bass instruments listen to the melody instruments), it will just fall apart. The soprano and drum duet is (obviously) freely improvised -- seemed like a nice way to offset the metrical complexity of the sections I just described. Overall probably one of our more popular tunes." * Andrew has a new IJG album due out in March or April 2004, on the Innova label, called Star Chamber. "It's more of a live document of what was then the nonet version of the group." --Andrew * Review of live performance: Jazz on a Monday Vibe, 1/12/04 (5) "Taksim," Eric Barber (Maybeck Constructions, 2004, pfMENTUM) - Eric Barber: tenor sax (live solo) Suggested by Dan: "Eric comments: 'This piece is comprised solely of multiphonics. These sonorities form relationships to one another to create compound, polyphonic melodies on a solo instrument. These melodies are rhythmically inspired by Turkish and other Middle Eastern musics.' Eric is a real master of multiphonics on saxophone, and has a very personal approach. He's a fabulous sax player all around, and always seems able to make touching music out of whatever he's doing. Eric has a lot of experience playing music of Balkan and Slavic origins, and I like the way this cut combines that kind of complex rhythmic approach with multiphonic sounds that are sometimes so otherworldly that they sound almost artificially generated." * This album was just released in January 2004 (*) We scheduled the following piece, but Emily and I were chatting a little more than I'd expected, so we didn't have time to play it. We'll get to it next time, promise! -- Dan :-p "Tactil" (excerpt), Mauricio Kagel (bio) (Exotica; Tactil, 1994, Deutsche Grammophon / 20th Century Classics -- recorded 1970, originally released 1974, Polydor) - Wilhelm Bruck, Theodor Ross: Spanish guitar & harmonica - Mauricio Kagel: piano & harmonica Suggested by Bruce: "Why did I pick this piece? Because, after only a few measures, it's quite apparent that he's completely nuts. I've always liked his output from the late 60's and early 70's. To him, according to a recent interview in WIRE magazine, nothing was sacred and everything was fair game for consideration and reconsideration. Often in a humorous way, he pushed the sublime to the ridiculous and, like Cage, showed that our conceptions of boundaries and limitations were simply conceptual and negotiable." (6) "Space Dance," Sun Ra and Walt Dickerson (bio) (Visions, 1978, SteepleChase) - Sun Ra: piano - Walt Dickerson: vibes Suggested by JT: "This cut is inspired by an ancient musical approach called 'energy music' that came to the West importantly via the traditional African musical practices many African-American jazz musicians explored in the '60s and '70s. It's traditional goal was to use music as a means to experience non-ordinary states of awareness, and then to express the experience of those non-ordinary states as a 'transcendent spirit of this unique moment.' The project was undertaken by Sun Ra to lend his name and formidable status in this type of music to a recognition of Dickerson's talents and contribution to the music. 'Space Dance' is an improvisation based on a composition by Dickerson performed on only acoustic instruments (though Sun Ra often performed on electric instruments) that uses this energy approach to making music. As a player, I never have as much fun -- or feel so transcendently free and joyous -- as I do when playing in that manner. Musicians seeking to make ever new music by the ancient means of exploring individual and collective innerness, owe an unpayable debt of gratitude to the spiritual and musical integrity of those who pioneered the playing of modern energy music." About Trilogy: Trilogy is a one-hour music show broadcast weekly on the Loyola Marymount University (Westchester) radio station, KXLU, Los Angeles 88.9FM, on Wednesdays at 9-10 pm. Hosted in alternating weeks by Emily Hay, Bonnie Barnett and Michael Davis, the show features avant-garde music, free jazz/improvisation, world sounds, contemporary classical and experimental electronic music, and includes live performances and guest interviews. [New Music TBD] - Home |