RSD 2019: Bushwick Bound

As my wise friend Alex Smith pointed out last year in Flaming Pablum, his amusing and erudite blog, for the serious music fan, "EVERY DAY is Record Store Day" Or at least it has the potential to be. I know I don't need much of an excuse to visit a music emporium, it's just a matter of finding the time. That said, I do like to hit the streets on this day of worldwide devotion to purchasing music in its physical form, if only to see what other people are doing.

This year, the date of RSD converged not only with a free Saturday, but comes just a few weeks after the opening of a new store in Bushwick, the Brooklyn Record Exchange. I would have been interested in visiting BRE even if hadn’t come with the fine pedigree of Co-Op 87, a fine store in Greenpoint, whose owner Ben Steidl collaborated with the indie label Mexican Summer to make the new spot happen. Also, BRE is located in the same building as Elsewhere, a performance venue I’ve been meaning to get to for some time. Even if I wasn’t going to stay for a show, at least I would lay eyes on the site. 

Another part of my strategy on RSD is to avoid crowds, which I usually do by steering clear of stores that stock the “exclusives” that clog up the pressing plants and later flood eBay with overpriced fetish objects of varying musical interest. Last year, there were more exclusives of interest so I was happy to find a couple at late, lamented Iris in Jersey City. This year, the only thing I was really interested in was Jeff Tweedy's Warmer, a companion to his wonderful 2018 album, Warm. I have a feeling I'll be able to hear it some other way in the near future. Like Iris, BRE opened at noon but would be offering zero exclusives, greatly reducing my chance of encountering throngs of fair-weather vinyl geeks. 

Brooklyn Record Exchange is big, beautiful and perfect for browsing.

My plan worked perfectly. I got to BRE about a half-hour after they opened and ascended the one flight of stairs to find their gorgeous, light-filled space occupied by only a few people - and tons of records along with a shelf or two of videos on DVD, Blu-Ray and VHS. They also had a teeny selection of books and vintage magazines that looked highly curated. After taking in the full layout, I made a beeline for the New Arrivals section, which is where I always go first, especially when I don’t have anything specific in mind. I like the way New Arrivals mixes the genres, starting up an eclectic shuffle play in my mind as I flip through the discs. 

Worth $1.99 a few years ago, it now goes for $30.

My heart sank a little as nearly everything in BRE’s New Arrivals section was $20 or more, with a few at $15 or so. If this was representative of their stock, my budget was going to be put to the test. A copy of The Mack, Willie Hutch's classic Blaxploitation soundtrack, was a perfect illustration of the revaluing of vinyl that's happened over the last decade or so. Over a sticker from Saint Mark's Sounds pricing it at $1.99 there was a new sticker: $30.00. There was also a raft of Iggy Pop/Stooges bootlegs in there, which amused both me and the guy flipping to my right. I said, “Wow, somebody just dumped their whole collection!” “I know,” he said, “It’s wild!” He also agreed when I pointed out that while much of that material is phenomenal, a lot of it has been released many times over so you have to be careful not to buy two of the same concert or studio session. I also spotted a copy of a legit Iggy album, 1979's New Values, which was priced at $20 - I wonder how much my autographed copy would go for? I'm looking forward to revisiting the album for a 40th anniversary write-up for Rock & Roll Globe - coming soon!

The only potential selection I pulled out of New Arrivals was something called The Ornette Coleman Songbook by Jocques & Le Scott on the Theater of the Evolving Arts label. Maybe this one should have evolved a little more as it turned out to be sort of a spoken word album with sparse musical accompaniment, very loosely interpreting some of Coleman's greatest compositions. Not for me - thank goodness for preview turntables! BRE has two of those, by the way, and they're brand new with excellent headphones, always an asset to a store.

Another sign of a good store is staff that's willing to help without judgement, which I observed in action when another shopper approached the counter, holding two albums from the New Arrivals section. One was dubstep classic Untrue by Burial and the other was Halcyon Digest by the long-running indie rock band Deerhunter. I almost couldn't believe my eyes and ears when he held the records high and asked the employee which one he should get. "Yeah, I've literally heard nothing from either of these albums and I'm not sure which one I would like better. Got any advice?" There was a beautiful madness to this approach as sounds from either album are easily accessible on YouTube, Spotify, etc. There was also a turntable mere feet away, so he could've checked them out for himself. Without hesitation, the man from BRE  helped him make up his mind by enquiring about his tastes and giving concise and knowledgeable descriptions of both records. Even though this exchange was incredibly anachronistic, it's also one reason people go to a retailer in the first place.

Suddenly remembered there WAS something specific I was looking for, namely Illusion, the second album by Renaissance, which was also the last one to feature Jim McCarty and Keith Relf of The Yardbirds. I know I could probably find it online, but for now I'm enjoying the chase while I'm still getting to know the first album. No dice at BRE, so I started working my way around the room, going genre by genre, mainly looking in the miscellaneous sections of each letter of the alphabet. I started striking gold in the funk/soul area and pulled out a bunch of records to preview. Fortunately, they were all priced around $5, quelling my earlier fears. I pulled out the one and only album by South Shore Commission since I have a 45 of the "Disco Mix" of their hit Free Man. It's already on Spotify so I slid it back into the rack - but it is a more than solid collection of 70's disco. One I had I high hopes for that didn't make the cut was Deadeye Dick, the 1978 follow-up to CJ & Co.'s killer Devil's Gun album. Like the first, Dennis Coffey and Mike Theodore were heavily involved with every aspect from writing to producing, but the magic seemed to have departed, with tempos that were too fast and gimmicky attempts to reproduce their earlier success.

Putting Deadeye Dick back in the reject bin, something another shopper had stuck in there caught my eye. The album cover featured an urban landscape akin to some of my photos (check me out on Instagram) and the title was Surge, a 1977 album by the New York Jazz Quartet. Intrigued, I flipped it over and saw Frank Wess's name, which immediately made my hopes quickly ascend. Ever since I fell in love with Johnny Hartman's version of Jobim's Wave, I've been a huge fan of Wess, especially his flute playing. He's kind of a perpetual underdog as far as the canon goes, which means he has a lot of stuff that's out of print, like Flute Juice, a fantastic 1981 album I picked up last year. The NYJQ album also featured bassist George Mraz and the other players were pianist Roland Hannah, who founded the group, and drummer Richard Pratt. The previews did not steer me wrong - it's an excellent record, with sparkling interplay and two great Wess compositions. The recording is also out of this world, with a sharp, fizzing presence that put the group right in my living room.

The next album I checked was almost surefire: Lee Dorsey's Night People, his last album from 1978. I already knew the almost delicately funky title track and Soul Mine, his canny update of Working In The Coal Mine. All the wax I saw at BRE looked clean so this wasn't so much a condition check but just a chance to confirm my suspicion that with Allen Toussaint behind the boards the rest of the album was at least good. Confirmed! Even though Toussaint occasionally faltered in the 70's, sinking into sappiness, Dorsey always seemed to bring out his best. Further listening has proved Night People to be a great album, a fitting capper to the two-decade career of a unique singer.

Next up was a wild card, something from 1976 called Street People, "a Suite" by The Bob Crewe Generation. I was surprised to see it was on Elektra, as I had known Crewe's disco/funk period from the Hollywood Hot album on 20th Century Records - and Elektra wasn't exactly known for making noise at Studio 54. Turns out Street People grew out of a single by the same name, which came out earlier that year on 20th Century. Whatever the reason for the label switch, Elektra's budget assured that Crewe didn't stint on this orchestral disco album that tells the story of a small town boy who comes to the big city and becomes a target for all kinds of desires. Much of it is mixed by Tom Moulton and the first side goes down so easy that, before I knew it, a BRE employee was tapping me on the shoulder and asking me to free up the turntable for someone else! In the end, while the album does falter a little on Side Two, I can imagine dropping a song like Menage A Trois or the title track at a party and watching people dance like crazy.

Called out of my dance floor reverie, I remembered one other thing I was looking for: Stretch or any of the Scott Walker albums from his "wilderness years." They're going for wildly inflated prices on eBay so I'm hoping to stumble on one here or there. BRE didn't have any of those, but they did have mint condition copies of Tilt and The Drift, going for about $60 each. I picked them up, just to feel the heft of Walker's achievement. Then I put them back and burned my way through BRE's well-stocked Soundtracks section. While I didn't buy the beautiful copy of Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Themes by Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra, it did remind me of this terrific album, which I have on cassette and look forward to revisiting on Spotify

I cruised through their reggae section, once again reminding myself of the one regret I have in life: that I didn't buy two copies of every Jamaican 12" I could find back in the 70's and 80's. With many of them going for $12 or more, it's a return on investment any hedge fund guru would respect. I found a couple of things to follow up on, mainly Horace Andy and Leroy Sibbles, but nothing that wasn't available to stream.

My three purchases!

I was starting to feel the call of java so I paid for my three albums and headed out, setting the controls for AP Café, which turned out to be a fine coffee destination indeed. Brooklyn Record Exchange has been officially added my mental list of stores to put in rotation and, while it is pretty far on the L train, I could see combining it with a trip to Superior Elevation, another great store. Or maybe the move is to catch a show at Elsewhere and arrive a little early to do some digging. I'm putting Wand's July 5th gig on my calendar - they're playing the Rooftop, which should be a blast!

Bonus Beats

Vintage Vinyl, Fords, NJ - Large? Yes. Legendary? Not so much.

The day after RSD, I found myself on the Rutgers campus (my son was in a Smash Melee tournament - parenting!) so I dialed up nearby stores and ended up at Vintage Vinyl in nearby Fords. It describes itself as "NJ's Legendary Independent Record Store Since 1979," which got me excited. While it is definitely distinguished by its size (massive) I would also say it's a few notches below legendary as a shopping experience. One thing I didn't really appreciate was the sticker on every the sleeve protector of every used record that said something like, "This is near mint. You may inspect at the front counter only." So, no preview turntable, obviously - and they didn't even want to you to look at the record or inner sleeve without adult supervision. One of the perils of their size, I suppose. In the end I almost bought the debut album by The Silkie, a fascinating bit of Liverpool folk-rock, which has The Beatles themselves helping out on a great cover of You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. But at $20 and without a way to try before buying, I slid it back into the rack.

Rare live Scott Walker

Before I was called away by my son who needed a quick pizza infusion, I took a quick look for some Scott Walker and struck gold in the CD's, finding a copy of Live On Air 1968, a fascinating collection of audio from the two pilot episodes of his never-aired BBC-TV show. While the sound is a little rough, it's simply astonishing to hear how incredible his voice sounds live, an endlessly rich baritone that he wielded with complete control over its every nuance. It's also fun to hear his intros, such as when he says: "I'm very pleased to be able to have a gentleman with me tonight that produces all my records, Mr. Johnny Franz. John and I are both sort of musically frustrated people mainly because he's an A&R man at Phillips and he never gets to play piano anymore, and that used to be his living, you see. And I'm extremely lazy so I never work (chuckle). So, it's very frustrating, as you can imagine. On certain nights I go over to his place and we take it out on his poor wife - and it sounds something like this." Then he launches into an immaculate version of I'll Be Around, the Sinatra standard, with sublime piano accompaniment from Franz. Worth the price of admission - and a trip to Vintage Vinyl. 

How has your shopping been going, either on RSD or otherwise?

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Concert Review: Shadows And Hope At Zankel Hall

Programming a concert has many challenges. First of all, it’s commonplace for it to be at least two hours of music, which gives the audience their money’s worth but requires much preparation. If you’re presenting a new piece, that might eat up a disproportionate amount of your rehearsal time. Playing an unfamiliar work might also lead you to want to give the audience some comfort food, in the forms of a warhorse or other frequently performed piece. Fortunately, the American Composers Orchestra did not fall into that trap last Thursday, when they played in Zankel Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s massive and ambitious festival, Migrations: The Making Of America. But they did struggle a bit to connect works that were musically disparate and resonated with each other only on a strictly cerebral level. But that was the only issue I had with the concert, which was played both immaculately and with a generosity of feeling. 

The first piece was Morton Feldman’s Turfan Fragments (1980) which was inspired by bits of 1,500-year-old knotted carpet from Turkestan and, as such, was designed to be a series of unresolved parts. For a first hearing of this slippery work I was immediately struck by how resolute it was in its very irresolute-ness, as if Feldman was determined that it not come together in a way we expect from an orchestral piece. There were many sonic delights within, however, like the pizzicato section that came about five minutes in. And there may have been no harder working man in New York that night than conductor George Manahan, whose precise baton movements hinted at the challenge Feldman designed for those who dare to assay these “fragments” - a challenge more than met by him and the ACO. 

Next we were treated to a some brief remarks from Gloria Coates, describing how her Symphony No. 1, “Music on Open Strings,” took shape between 1971, when it was commissioned by the Rhinelander Chamber Orchestra, and 1974, when it was completed. She wasn’t able to finish her whole tale of artistic discovery, and it is a gripping story, but it was also well-told by her in the program notes. Coates, who turned 80 last year, was born in Wisconsin but traveled from her home in Germany to witness her piece’s Carnegie Hall debut. It was also my introduction to her work, as she has been in the “I know the name but that’s all” category for some time. Now I'm kicking myself because I know what I've been missing!

I was quickly sucked into the unique sound world she creates, with bows swooping and gliding across strings and sometimes tapping them. Knuckles were also knocked against wood for dramatic effect, just one reason I was on the edge of my seat. Part of the work’s distinctive quality comes from Coates’s idea to have the players re-tune their instruments periodically throughout, which was a great opportunity for the ACO and Manahan to show how well they communicate. A nod of the head from one of the bassists toward the podium was all the conductor needed to know that the musician was ready. Ultimately, the brooding intensity of the piece, which reminded me of Shostakovich at times, was more important than the mechanics of how Coates got there. I’m looking forward to learning more about her catalogue and hope we don’t have to wait for her centenary for it to be celebrated and highlighted in the musical life of NYC. 

Instead of an intermission, there was a panel discussion featuring the collaborators who created the evening’s main event, the New York premiere of Where We Lost Our Shadows (2019). Composer Du Yun was joined by filmmaker Khaled Jarrar, ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel, and vocalist Ali Sethi. Du Yun talked about how she crafted the work with these specific soloists in mind, instead of casting them later. Having already decided that ragas would be incorporated into the piece, Sethi became a real asset as he guided her through 800 years of music from the Indus region. Sethi also demonstrated some of the basic Qawwali forms he would be using, giving the audience a sneak preview of his wondrous voice. Jarrar described his way of embedding himself with immigrant communities, gaining their trust and getting a view of the extremes of their experiences. Author Didier Fassin, whose book, Life: A Critical User's Manual, informed some of the thinking behind the piece, was also on hand to offer some sobering facts about migrant mortality: It has been on the rise worldwide for decades and many deaths go uncounted with even the names of the dead unknown or unrecorded. 

L-R: Didier Fassin, Ali Sethi, Du Yun, Khaled Jarrar & Derek Bermel
Photo by Jennifer Taylor

According to the program notes, “Where We Lost Our Shadows is a piece for orchestra, video, and soloists that focuses on human migration as a question of perpetual movement and exodus that repeats throughout history, passing on collective and individual traumas and rejuvenations from generation to generation.” That measured explanation barely hinted at the deeply emotional combination of sound and vision that transpired over the half hour of the piece, which literally started with a BANG, struck by percussionist Shayna Dunkelman on an enormous side drum. I know Dunkelman as a member of avant-rock band Xiu Xiu but was unaware of the breadth of her musicianship, which became stunningly apparent during the heart-stopping solo that began the work. 

When the orchestra came in, accompanied by what I believe was an electronic tanpura (Sethi seemed to be holding one during the panel discussion), it was almost a relief from the tension built up by the drums. Sethi began singing in his rich, slightly husky voice, seeming to craft his ancient melodies out of the air with his hand gestures. There was a chaotic darkness on the screen, which eventually gave way to an interview on the streets of Turkey with a family overjoyed because they had just gotten their authorization to travel to Europe, where they would find a new home after leaving Syria. They kept smiling even when saying they had been living in the streets while waiting for their papers. Their sweet, shining faces stood as a testament to the indomitable human spirit - and an indictment of what people do to other people. 

"Where do you sleep?" "In the streets." Photo by Jennifer Taylor.

Helga Davis, the third soloist and an incredible singer and performer, then stood up and unleashed all the pain and sorrow that lay behind those smiles. There was another percussion interlude, even more intricate than the first, and further explorations of Qawwali, leading to a stunning duet between Sethi and Davis. Just as there are no easy answers to the refugee crisis, ...Shadows ended without a sense of closure - it just stopped. The audience caught their breath and then stood for a generous standing ovation. While it’s hard to be entirely sure based on one performance, I feel fairly certain that the music, in which I sensed a new level gravitas for Du Yun, will more than hold its own without the visuals. I urge the powers that be to record it as soon as possible!

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Record Review: Beauty...And Darkness

My First Quarter Report was merely a selection of the music that has caught my ear so far this year. I’ll try to catch you up with more frequent and shorter posts like this one.

Žibuoklė Martinaitytė - In Search Of Lost Beauty... We used to argue about "beauty" in my photo classes at SUNY Purchase, what it meant and whether it was enough to support an image for it to be merely “beautiful.” We may have really been thinking about “prettiness,” worried that if something had not even the hint of an edge we were being visually lazy. These words, of course, aren’t necessarily helpful in coming to any objective description of art - the eye of the beholder, and all that. But when  Martinaitytė talks about “lost beauty” in relation to this piece, what she really seems to be talking about is allowing yourself to slow down enough to truly observe the world around you. She was forced into this heightened awareness by an accident which slowed down her navigation of Paris while she recovered. 

What she saw - a cathedral at her feet, fragmented in small puddles, a tree’s shadow moving on the wall, in parallel with the breezes rustling its master - astonished her so much that she conceived of this ten movement sequence of “audiovisual novellas” written for video, piano trio and electronics. While the work, completed in 2016, has been performed a number of times, this is the first recording. I can’t comment on the visuals (although the excerpts I saw were gorgeous), but I can readily say that the music more than stands on its own and we owe Starkland a debt of thanks for putting it out. 

Throughout the piece, I had to continually remind myself that it was only the members of the FortVio trio - Indrė Baikštytė, piano; Ingrida Rupaitė-Petrikienė, violin; and Povilas Jacunskas, cello - who were performing. This is not only due to the expansive cloud of richly conceived electronics, but also because of the way Martinaitytė scores for the instruments. The piano often emits a low rumble, seeming to barely approach middle-C, while the cello unfurls long lines, sometimes with ghostly harmonics. The violin might squeak out a see-saw riff, soar high above, or churn along with the cello, but together the trio makes a big sound that is fully immersive. 

Somehow, Martinaitytė manages to keep you in a state of suspension for over an hour with only minor adjustments to the formula. Occasionally, she adds vocals to the recorded elements, imparting a spooky, ritualistic quality to the sound world. The sections have names, but I hardly notice when one ends and another begins - the album demands to be listened to in one sitting. One of the most striking things about In Search Of Lost Beauty... is that while it is indeed beautiful, it’s also unapologetically dark, like an intricately crafted Medieval tapestry depicting the martyrdom of a saint. You can’t turn away even if you're slightly afraid of what you might see. Martinaitytė's Lithuanian roots might contribute to her shadowy perspective, but I don't know enough to say for sure. In any case, darkness is just as much in the ear of the beholder as beauty is, so I urge you to listen to this extraordinary piece and let me know what you hear. 

Find an excerpt from this and all the classical albums I'm tracking in 2019 here.

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2019 First Quarter Report: Concerts

An unpredictable schedule this year meant that every concert I've seen except one has been in the realm of contemporary classical music. But within that, much variety - read on!

No Filler At The Miller I was speaking with Melissa Smey, Executive Director of the Miller Theatre, and she was relating the challenge they're going to have capping off their 30th anniversary next season. A challenge because their programming has been so strong in 2018-19 that it's hard to know how they can top it in 2019-20! From the Du Yun Composer Portrait I saw last November to the three shows I've been to so far this year, they are hitting all the marks - and there's still more to come.

On February 21st, I took in the Wang Lu Composer Portrait, giving me another opportunity to hear Urban Inventory, last performed in New York back in 2016 by Third Sound, who also recorded it on Wang Lu's stunning 2018 debut album. Here, the International Contemporary Ensemble worked their magic on the piece, also playing the witty Childhood Amnesia (2017) and Siren Song (2008), which found Stravinsky barreling into a Chinese opera house and causing quite a commotion. There was also A-PPA-Aratus, a world premiere played by Yarn/Wire and a stunning addition to their repertoire for two pianists and two percussionists. I hope they record this spectacular 21st century poéme mecanique very soon.

Yarn/Wire performing A-PPA-Aratus
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre

A week later I was back to see Third Sound themselves, making their Miller debut at one of the theatre's innovative Pop-Up concerts. These are the free shows where the audience sits on the stage and enjoys free beer along with the music. They also usually last just about an hour, so Third Sound, founded in 2015 by composer Patrick Castillo with violinist Karen Kim, cellist Michael Nicolas, pianist Orion Weiss, flautist Sooyun Kim and clarinetist Romie de Langlois, programmed a set that had enough variety to show what they can do while also keeping it concise.

Ingrid Arauco’s Fantasy Quartet was a perfect opener - sparkling, astringent and colorful, it gave many opportunities for the musicians to shine. Next was Music For Four composed by the group’s founder, Patrick Castillo, and inspired by watching his young son at play. It was a piece infused with warmth and joy, making equally canny use of repetition and surprise. Finally, in keeping with their mission to embrace to whole sweep of chamber music, they stormed through Webern’s imaginative reduction of Schoenberg’s Kammersymphonie, Op. 9. All of the work’s angst and artfulness was brilliantly exposed by their passionate playing, earning them an enthusiastic ovation. I think they'll be asked back.

My last visit to the Miller was just this past Thursday, when they presented a Composer Portrait of Tyshawn Sorey to a buzzing and packed house. The excitement was more than justified by what followed as were treated to an embarrassment of riches in two sets of music presented seamlessly, without applause or space between works. This was similar to the first half of the Du Yun concert and if anyone else is putting on shows like this I’d love to know about it. Special note should be made of Isabella Byrd's lighting, which helped immeasurable with all the transitions and lent a sense of atmosphere and occasion.

One theme of the night was how to pay homage to your mentors while speaking in your own voice. The first piece, In Memoriam Muhal Richard Abrams (2018), paid tribute to the founder of the AACM with a meditation for violin (Jennifer Curtis) and celesta (Cory Smythe). It was a gorgeous combination of sonorities that both quieted and engaged the mind. Sorey’s lyrical gifts were much in evidence as they would be later in the night. The next piece, Ornations (2014) provided a welcome and witty shock to the system as flautist Clair Chase faced off with clarinetist Joshua Rubin. The word “puckish” may be overused when it comes to Chase, but as she danced opposite Rubin, who was anchored in place by his contrabass clarinet, it was impossible not to think of Shakespeare’s sprite. The music matched the mood resulting in tremendous fun that was not without an edge of aggression. The JACK Quartet closed the first half with the NY premiere of Everything Changes, Nothing Changes, a work requiring tremendous concentration as they passed around sustained notes creating an unbroken canvas of sound. I look forward to hearing it again so I can just let it happen without wondering what would happen next. 

Claire Chase faces off with Joshua Rubin in Ornations
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theater

After a brief intermission, Sorey and Chase sat down for an illuminating discussion that amplified some of the material in Lara Pellegrinelli’s superb program notes, chiefly the distinction between hybridity and mobility. Sorey sees the former as a tired trope about "jazz" musicians writing "classical music," "crossing over," etc. Instead of a hybrid composer, he sees himself as a mobile one, able to do what he wants with whatever instrumentation he wants in whatever setting he chooses. Amen. They also reminisced about their first meeting, about a decade ago, a tribute to the tight relationship between composer and musicians of the International Contemporary Ensemble. That connection would come in handy in the world premiere presented in the second half of the concert, but first we heard For Harold Budd (2012), a gleaming trio for piano, flute and vibraphone that had Smythe and Chase working with percussionist Levy Lorenzo. It really was beautiful, with some of Budd's painterly qualities, but the brushstrokes were all Sorey's. 

Autoschediasms (2019), a Miller Theatre commission followed. It was scored for "Creative Chamber Orchestra," an ensemble seemingly entirely flexible as the program listed seven musicians to which was then added one more - plus the four members of the JACK. This piece builds on an idea from Butch Morris about "conducted improvisations" that had Sorey leading the group with a series of very specific hand gestures as well as instructions written on a small whiteboard. The players were well-drilled, moving from section to section without hesitating, and the sounds were consistently engaging. My western brain was seeking crescendos, the kind of tension and release we're so conditioned for, but what I heard was more of a continuous tapestry. The effect was a little like listening to a radical remix of a song you never heard before and I'm curious how different it will sound the next time it's performed.

Tyshawn Sorey (right) conducts ICE in Autoschediasms
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre

As Autoschediasms was fading out, Chase came to the front of the stage with her flute and Sorey stepped off the podium and sat down at a conventional drum kit so they could play Bertha's Lair (2016), a piece that's become a bit of a signature for the duo. Here came the release, the crescendos and so much more as I was witness to some of the greatest drumming I've ever heard, in the same class as Art Blakey, Tony Williams and Leon Parker. But Sorey went further, nearly into a kind of performance art, as he removed a ride cymbal, put it on the floor tom for some intriguing effects - and then stacked it on the other ride cymbal and kept going from there. This was all while Chase was making an action painting in platinum, playing a piccolo flute and an enormous contrabass flute in addition to her standard concert model. It was the perfect ending to a night that earned Sorey and his collaborators a standing ovation and had the audience buzzing once again.

Tales Of Talea Even if I wasn't a board member, I would try to get to as many shows by the estimable Talea Ensemble as possible. This season they have not only been presenting wonderful music, but have made big strides in opening up important conversations about the role of music in our lives, how music works, and what it means to be part of the "new music" community. Much of those discussions happen at their iNSIDE Out series at The Flea Theater, and the one I attended on February 24th was a perfect example. Called Side By Side, the afternoon began with music for duos, kicked off by Vasko Dukovski (clarinet) and Chris Gross (cello) playing Iannis Xenakis' thorny Charisma (1971), which portrayed the instruments as isolated individuals pursuing their own paths. Catherine Lamb's In Passing / PARALLEL (2008), played by the violins of Emilie-Anne Gendron and Anna Kridler, was more of a joint effort - and a bit of an endurance test - as they passed long lines in a continuous tone that somehow created tension. Hearing them follow it up with some choice Bach, with its dance rhythms and folk melodies, threw everything we had already heard into stark relief. 

Performers & Panel at The Flea Theater

After a brief intermission, we reconvened for a very engaging panel discussion featuring Gross, Marcos Balter, Lauren Ishida, Eun Lee and Victoria Chea - and the audience. As these things are wont to do, perhaps more questions were raised than were answered, but we all left with a lot to think about, including my own musings about how Talea’s identity as a premiere presenter of European avant-garde composers meshed with the need for inclusivity on both sides of the concert stage. 

The next time I caught up with Talea, they were kicking off a residency at The Stone, John Zorn's performance space at The New School. There, we were also treated to more spare sounds, mostly solo works played by Adrian Morejon (bassoon) and Marianne Gythfeldt (clarinet). A link to the Flea concert was a piece by Eun Lee, a brief and action-packed world premiere called Yun (2018) for solo bassoon and played with real flair by Morejon. He also gave first performances of Edward Jacobs' Concentre (2014), filled with a sense of spontaneity, and Triplum (2014) by Filippo Santoro. The last was a trio, with two prerecorded bassoons played off an iPhone, which kept Morejon on his toes in a rhythmic, angular and witty piece. 

Gythfeldt also thrilled in Mikel Kuehn's signature piece Rite of Passage (2014), which had every last sound made by her bass clarinet picked up and manipulated and played back along with her live instrument - fantastic! She also gave a flawless performance of George Aperghis's Simulacre (1991-95) and then joined Morejon for the bouncy groove of Black (2018) by Mark Mellits. If you’re starting to feel FOMO - and you should be - I will point you to Gythfeldt’s marvelous 2018 collection, Only Human, which includes the Kuehn and other intriguing music. 

You can also trigger my own fear of missing out by attending Talea’s Tenth Anniversary celebration on April 20th. I can’t go, but it promises to be a memorable night revisiting many pieces from Talea's past and also presenting the world premiere of Hans Thomalla's Harmoniemusik 1 (2019) and the U.S. premiere of Framing... (2018) by Georg Friedrich Haas.

Switched On At Areté If any world is a small world, it’s the world of contemporary classical. So I was invited to this New York appearance by Boston’s [Switch~ Ensemble] by Zach Sheets, who used to work with Talea as our development and communications person. Something was in the air on February 28th as I had the choice of about eight concerts, but I decided on this one because it brought me to a venue I’ve never entered to hear pieces by unfamiliar composers. Risk, as Captain Kirk told Bones, is what it’s all about. Areté proved to be a small space arrived at through an arcade in a multi-use building in Williamsburg. The vibe is friendly and scrappy but not disorganized - the concert started right on time as the group launched into the electro-acoustic maelstrom of Adrien Trybucki's Infinite Extension (2017), a world premiere of a piece they commissioned. It was a wonderful introduction to their tight ensemble and excellent taste.

The next piece was Sivan Eldar's sleekly mysterious Tarr (2014), almost a series of notated sighs and whispers - and very beautiful. Third was a surrealistic audio collage by Esaias Järnegard called Songs For Antonin (2017), as in Artaud. It was wacky and gripping in equal measure, with bits of an old radio play mixed in. I don't doubt that Järnegard studied with Pierluigi Billone, as it had some of his absurdist spirit. Switch closed the concert with Timothy McCormack's karst survey, a dark journey indeed, which had T.J. Borden grinding at his cello like a Norwegian black metal guitarist. Overall, the concert showed off Switch to excellent effect - I would keep an eye out for the next time they come to your town.

BOAC Takes Off In PCF I try to never miss the People’s Commissioning Fund concerts by Bang On A Can, where their All-Stars present world and U.S. premieres as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival. There are also usually some classics from their repertoire to fill out the night, which this year included a Glenn Branca work they hadn’t performed for 20 years. The new pieces came first, however, beginning with Henry Threadgill's With Or Without Card, fractured and flamboyant, with a throughline that linked Jimmy Giuffre to Ornette Coleman and gave clarinetist Ken Thomson a lot to chew on. Next was Josué Collado Fregoso's lovely, evanescent Joi de Vivre, which put Mariel Roberts' cello and Robert Black's bass in the foreground. Black also blew some minds in the uncanny notated funk of Trevor Weston's Dig It - it somehow managed to avoid being a "crossover" pastiche. More please. This is where the night's theme of "dance music" truly came into focus, an emphasis that continued in Nicole Lizée's Dancist, a delightfully witty work that was accompanied by her fascinatingly messed up film. I would happily watch - and listen - to it again.

Scenes from the BOAC PCF Concert at Merkin Hall

The highlights of the second half were Annie Gosfield's fabulously imaginative - and furiously complex - The Manufacture Of Tangled Ivory (1993), which pushed pianist Vickie Chow to new heights of synthesizer magnificence, and Branca's Movement Within, a microtonal masterpiece that had Merkin Hall throbbing like the Mudd Club on an average Saturday night in 1980. John Schaefer of New Sounds was on hand to introduce each piece and interview the creators and the discussion with guitarist Mark Stewart and producer Adam Cuthbért about the reclamation of Branca's piece was a gripping tale indeed. Let's just say that recreating Branca's samples, which were stored on Zip Discs, was not a task for the faint of heart. But the All-Stars are a brave bunch and the whooping audience was all too eager to follow them wherever they journeyed. Try to be there in 2020!

Marissa Nadler

Coming Together At MoMA PS1 For the third year in a row, the Museum of Modern Art's Long Island City outpost held an incredible two-day festival called Come Together, created in collaboration with Other Music. Just like the first year, it was filled with a label fair, panel discussions, film screenings and live performances. Of the latter, I was able to see Marissa Nadler, whose 2018 album, For My Crimes, was one of the best folk albums of the year. It was short but intense solo performance, with Nadler creating a web of sound, either fingerpicking on an acoustic or looping a 12-string electric. At the center of it all was her gorgeous voice, which had emotional range enough to cover her dark originals and a cover of Fred Neil's bittersweet Just A Little Bit Of Rain. I was happy to see her earning new fans among the diverse crowd.

Negroclash: Prince Language, Duane Harriott and DJ Lindsey

It was chilly outside when we left the VW Dome, but DJ Duane Harriott was spinning so there was no question about how we were going to warm up. He already had the crowd in a Dionysian frenzy when he was joined by Prince Language and DJ Lindsey for a reunion of their collective Negroclash, which first performed at PS1 almost 20 years ago. Even while dancing, it was impossible not to be stunned at their synchronized routine, with each playing a song (and often manipulating it) before ceding the decks to the next DJ for a sumptuous flow of incredible beats, from disco to funk to electro. It was a high-wire act - and highly musical. They ended the set perfectly, too, with Sylvester's classic (You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real, sending us off happy and exhausted into the Queens evening.

Duane Harriott, man at work

And what live music have you enjoyed in 2019?

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MATA's Bad Romance At The Kitchen
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Moment Of Palm
Bang-Up World Premieres

2019 First Quarter Report: The Albums

Although my posts up until now have been mired - delightfully so - in the glories of 2018, I have been keeping up. The following is quick rundown of some of the things that have compelled repeated listening. Before reading, however, I urge you to follow the playlists below, which will allow you to keep up throughout the year. Apologies to users of Apple Music, a service I hear more good things about these days than in the past. If there is a clamor to repeat these playlists there, I will certainly consider re-subscribing.

Of Note In 2019

Of Note In 2019 (Classical)

Of Note In 2019 (Electronic)

Of Note In 2019 (Hip Hop, R&B & Reggae)

Of Note In 2019 (Jazz, Latin & Global)

Of Note In 2019 (Rock, Folk, Etc.)

Of Note In 2019 (Out Of The Past)

So what have I been listening to? Read on to find out!

Classical

Bearthoven - Scott Wollschleger: American Dream When Soft Aberration, the first portrait album of music by Wollschleger came out in 2017, I called it one of the best classical albums of the year, noting his exceptional command of structure and orchestration and hearing a composer “planting his flag at a thrilling elevation.” Well, Wollschleger has climbed yet higher on American Dream, establishing an even more distinctive musical voice, which is evident from the first notes of Gas Station Canon Song, the solo piano piece that opens the album. Played with exquisite attention to dynamics by Karl Larson, it’s a brief assay into the mysterious that feels particularly American, like a soundtrack to the classic Michael Lesy book Wisconsin Death Trip.

It slides effortlessly into the main event, the 35-minute title work, which finds Larson and his Bearthoven colleagues Pat Swoboda (bass), and Matt Evans (percussion) executing Wollschleger’s uneasy, synthetic vision with the fierce concentration of a great rock band. I say “synthetic” due to the way he combines the instruments to produce intriguing new sonorities. It’s all so effective not only due to Wollschleger’s sonic and melodic invention but because of his single-minded focus on creating an emotional landscape. As a view of the American Dream, or what remains of it, it is unsparing, a direct reflection of our times. We See Things That Are Not There closes the album on a more hopeful, placid note, Wollschleger using repeating cells like a more chill Julius Eastman. The sense of disquiet lingers, though, as it will even when this brilliant album comes to an end.

Melia Watras - Schumann Resonances Besides having a burnished tone and monster technique, violist Watras has a gift for contextualizing the music of the past. In this case, she turns her attention to Schumann’s Opus 113, the Märchenbilder sonata, surrounding a wonderful performance of it with five world premieres, including three of her own compositions. The first is the title track, which literally resonates with Schumann’s harmonic material and introduces some imaginative sounds from within the piano, played here and throughout with a sparkling touch by Winston Choi. The next premiere is Porch Music by Cuong Vu, a well-known trumpeter deeply steeped in a vein of Americana after a long tenure with Pat Metheny. It’s a reflective, inward-facing piece with some of Harry Partch’s whimsy spicing it up - and Vu’s horn adding sonic variety.

Watras’ other compositions, the five-movement Source for viola, violin (Michael Jinsoo Lim) and percussion (Matthew Kocmieroski) and Berceuse With A Singer In London for viola and voice (Galia Arad) put her increasing confidence as a writer on full display. While very personal works, I have hopes for a life for them in the concert hall beyond her own recordings and performances. Tertium Quid, a 2015 work in three movements by Richard Karpen played by Watras, Lim and Choi, deconstructs the Märchenbilder even more radically than Watras’ opening piece. By breaking down and reassembling Schumann’s range of pitches, he arrives at a dark and dramatic place, a very 21st-century take on the idea of a fairy tale. Poor asylum-bound Schumann might have found some acknowledgment in its intensity. That’s mere speculation, but there’s no question that with Schumann Resonances, Watras continues to prove herself a curator, performer, and composer of unique abilities.

Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir - Vernacular If you think the name is Icelandic, you are correct, but you might not guess that this supremely skilled cellist has spent most of her life elsewhere, including NYC, where she has been enmeshed in the new music scene for quite some time. This is her first solo album and she has curated five pieces by composers who share Icelandic roots but have also had cosmopolitan careers, whether in Estonia, the UK, Italy or NYC. Even so, this album fits right in with recent releases by Nordic Affect and Daniel Bjarnason in its approach, with a combination of sounds that range from exploratory to organic. And it's all created by Thorsteindóttir's cello, save some field recordings on Purídur Jónsdóttir's 48 Images of the Moon. There's a meditative quality to Vernacular overall, and I imagine the experience of close listening it encourages - to the bow swiping the strings in Halldór Smárason's O, for example - will change the way I hear the cello, especially in concert. The recording, produced by Dan Merceruio for Sono Luminus, could not be better, giving a presence even to the air in Thorsteinsdóttir's cello. Just one of many dimensions to this remarkable debut.

Unheard-of Ensemble - Dialogues This group based its core of clarinet (Ford Fourqurean), violin (Mateus Souza), cello (So Sugiyama) and piano (Daniel Anastasio) on Messiaen’s Quartet For The End Of Time. Besides being an extremely versatile combination of instruments, it’s also a wonderful way to honor the legacy of that work, which was, after all, created in a concentration camp. They also are dedicated to performing new music by living composers, which I’m sure the master would have appreciated as well. So, all but one of the works are new commissions and present an excellent overview of their taste and virtuosity. My favorite piece is probably the witty Family Picnic 2008 by saxophonist Erin Rogers, which was "Inspired by the generosity of large banks" and features the sardonic use of what sounds like voiceovers from advertising and news. But Christopher Stark, Reiko Füting, Michael Lanci, Nathan Hudson, and Nickitas Demos all contribute original and involving pieces to the album, with everything from climate change to Renaissance music to a short story (also included here) providing inspiration. Dialogues, which also contains the first recording of Tonia Ko’s scintillating Hum Phenomenon (2008), is a fantastic debut by a group that has been doing more than its part to inject vitality into the new music scene for the last few years. The only question it raises is "What took so long?"

Nicholas Phillips - Shift So much can go wrong when an artist takes what could be seen as a polemical approach to assembling an album. Fortunately, that's not the case here. As Phillips, an enormously talented pianist, points out in his liner notes, this album's title refers to the "exciting - and long overdue - shift in recent years with regard to more diverse and inclusive concert programming." By assembling eight world premiere recordings of recent pieces by women, Phillips is doing his part to contribute to that shift, even if he risks what could be seen as a sort of "eat your broccoli" approach to musical health. But this album is too good to be seen as just good for you. First, there is the recording, which is close and warm, without overdoing either quality. Then, there's Phillips' playing, with its virtuosic command of even the densest writing and remarkable dynamic control. Finally, there are the pieces themselves, ranging from the lovely Ballade by Sarah Kirkland Snider (2000) to the mysterious Aghavni (2009), a major work by Mary Kouyoumdjian, which draws on the experience of the Armenian genocide. Having these pieces, and the others Phillips has so carefully selected, anthologized in such perfect performances makes Shift not only a public service but a wonderful listening experience.

Louis Karchin - Dark Mountains/Distant Lights Considering the "shift" described by Phillips, does the world actually need another collection of modernist chamber works by a white male composer in his 60s who has spent most of his career in academia? The only answer I will give to that is to say that as much as I demand more diverse voices in programming, isn't reducing people to their demographic part of the problem? Either way, this music is exquisite and deserves to be heard. Dark Mountains presents premiere recordings of seven chamber works written by Karchin between 2004 and 2017, in stunning sound and in brilliant performances by Jacqueline Leclair (oboe), Miranda Cuckson (violin), and Steven Beck (piano). Reading his liner notes is also worth the price of admission as he eloquently describes the two ends of his process, from being inspired by poetry or other artworks to collaborating closely with musicians to realize the sounds he's hearing in his head. And now that he's put these alternately tart and rhapsodic pieces out into the world, they are available to inspire others.

Greg Chudzik - Solo Works, Vol. 2 Many is the time I have watched Chudzik and his double bass on stage with the Talea Ensemble, each time becoming more impressed by his rock-solid musicianship and his deep engagement with the works being played. But that is only a tiny slice of his interests and his accomplishments, as demonstrated by this second volume of solo work, four pieces for bass, sometimes with electronics, that show a great deal of imagination and invention. And not just in the way he structures his compositions but also in the broad perspective he has toward the sonic possibilities of his instrument. I hope other composers hear this and grow the repertoire further.

Electronic

Elsa Hewitt - Citrus Paradisi Hewitt’s career has so far been marked by charm and delight, whether in her winsome melodies and tactile electronic textures or in the handmade packaging for her cassettes. Her latest does nothing to change that, but I am happy to report a growing sense of extroversion, with her voice occasionally higher in the mix and even some pronounced beats on a few tracks. With each release, Hewitt's unique, self-made universe expands a little, which only means there is more room for you in one of my favorite sonic spaces. Join me.

Hip Hop & R&B

Solange - When I Get Home If I were seeking Sly Stone analogs for the two most recent Solange albums, 2016’s A Seat At The Table would be Stand! and this would be There’s A Riot Goin’ On. Where the former was quite explicit in its agenda, sharing trenchant lessons passed on from one generation to another, this one luxuriates in moods and grooves, with Solange reveling in her creamy soprano. Also like the Sly classic, this one features intricate drum programming and a seamless texture that will have you playing it on repeat. And while I love everything about Riot, I'm not sorry When I Get Home lacks the sense of dissolution and isolation that emanated from the studio as Sly burrowed deeper and deeper into his psyche. But this is very much an auteurist move, with Solange writing or co-writing and producing every track but one. She may not sell as many records as that other Knowles but I know which one moves me.

C-Bo - Animal It’s not so much that this rapper has learned many new tricks over his 25 year career, it’s that he’s so goddamned good at the old ones. He chews up the mic like the bone of a $65 T-bone steak, wringing every tasty morsel out of his grimy imagination. The beats vary from super-funky to lush to purely functional, but C-Bo never slips. Gangsta rap this filthy may be a niche market these days, but that’s never going to stop me from enjoying a great record.

Rock & Folk

Michael Chapman - True North The metaphors about the qualities imparted by age - when applied to fine whiskey, for example - seem to write themselves when listening to Chapman’s latest classic. Sure, his voice is bone dry, but that’s just part of the flavor profile for this rich dram of song, distilled down over more than 50 years as a recording artist. Wisdom and wit are both in abundant supply whether the songs are new or old. The musical setting is rich as well, with sensitive accompaniment by the likes of Steve Gunn (guitars), Bridget St. John (vocals), Sarah Smout (cello), and the great BJ Cole (pedal steel). With True North and his prior album 50, Chapman is firmly in one of the finest late-career renaissances in recent memory.

Jane Church - Calimocho Molotov! I wish the future archivists the best of luck with this band. First, there’s the name, which refers neither to a member of the group or a house of worship, but rather an early demo by Sparks before they were called Sparks. Then there’s the fact that I bought a version of this album on cassette at a gig last year - and it only has three songs in common with this one! A few of those missing songs are available on singles but the rest will remain to be discovered by future generations happy to find some new chips from the master’s workbench.

And, make no mistake, Matt Stevenson, the chief songwriter and singer in Jane Church, is a master of his craft, expertly constructing one wistful and memorable tune after another. He deals in a brand of bittersweet that brings home the fact that each day you live creates a trail of memories you’re constantly managing whether you realize it or not - no matter how old you are. If that all sounds heavy, fear not: every song on this album is driven by a tight, swinging rhythm section, indelible melodic touches, and a rich overlay of guitars and keyboards. When do I pre-order the box set?

Tiny Ruins - Olympic Girls File under “not so very tiny” as Hollie Fullbrook’s project goes widescreen, adding exquisite production touches to her songs while never losing focus. Her limber voice, drenched with feeling, and her intricate fingerpicked guitar are still the foundation for the extraordinarily well-crafted songs. So much so, in fact, that it’s easy to see several of them as new classics, combining words and melodies in a fashion that grabs a firm hold on the hem of Nick Drake’s garment, to mention just one source of inspiration. Take Sparklers, for example, which is introduced by a warm blanket of acoustic guitar before Fullbrook enters with “I write your name in cursive on the air...” sung like a melodic sigh. You may need to catch your breath before she continues. And are you just imagining those drums, so tightly enmeshed as they are with her picking? The chorus, referring to the titular fireworks, refers to “no lasting magic,” but the song will stay with you for days, as will this wonderful album.

Frankie & The Witch Fingers - Zam Like Jane Church, this Los Angeles quartet is on Greenway Records, which is quickly cornering the market in great rock & roll. Led by Dylan Sizemore, FWF specializes in overdriven but tightly structured mini-epics driven by the manic but precise drumming of Glenn Brigman. Sizemore’s voice may at first strike you as thin and not up the task of keeping up with the assault of the guitars (and the horns, keyboards, and a kitchen sink or three) but you’ll soon find yourself hanging on every word - when you’re not shouting along, of course. The songs are rich with dynamics and densely structured segments and one of their signature moves is to hit a new level of intensity just when you think the energy has topped out. Thrills me every time and I can’t wait to see them live. I also note that this is their fifth album, and I look forward to catching up.

Hand Habits - Placeholder Since their last album, 2017’s Wildly Idle, Meg Duffy has undergone changes in their life - that pronoun, for example - that no doubt inform the deep well of feeling here. But you need not know a thing about their personal life to find your way into these songs. Also, in those three years, Duffy obviously expanded their craft as a writer, guitarist, and singer, and there’s a sense of rightness here - even a kind of serenity - that is nothing but beguiling. While I hope to get to one of their upcoming concerts, I can just as easily imagine finding fulfillment by laying back in a grassy field and watching the clouds float by as I listen. Placeholder is simply - or maybe not so simply - a lovely album.

Cass McCombs - Tip Of The Sphere I’ve known the name for years, but it wasn’t until the recent Mojo feature on McCombs that I felt the push of passionate advocacy it can take to get you to listen. It turns out that the article’s description of his music, and McComb’s own words were spot on in making me think I would love this. I feel like I’m passing the test without studying as I still haven’t backtracked through his catalog, but this is a just really great folk-rock album, easily one of the best of the year. All the guitar hypnotism, song-craft, and harmony vocals the term “folk-rock” might bring to mind are here - in abundance. I’ve noted those more expert in McCombs’ music saying this is his finest album, but if his older work is even a fraction as good I have some incredible listening ahead. If you’re a laggard like me, start here.

Julia Jacklin - Crushing Right from the start, with the grave Body, Jacklin’s second album puts her at the front rank of songwriters. Gone are the explicit nods to 1950s balladry and 1960s British folk that defined her debut. Song after song startles with arresting images, white-hot emotions, and committed performances. Read more about this deep work of art in my article for Rock & Roll Globe.

Sunwatchers - Illegal Moves This acid-drenched jazz-rock-freakout band is almost moving too fast to keep up with, following up last year's tumultuous II with this even harder-edged effort. And if you have any questions about what these master instrumentalists have on their minds, just check out the hilarious cover, which just may bring down the wrath of Kraft Foods, should they ever see it!


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Record Roundup: One Day In 2018

Coming very soon: 2019 First Quarter Report: The Concerts