I immediately recognized the textbook counterpoint as I entered the Green Mill. The sound of the flute and oboe playing Intermissions was wonderful! My first thought was that this composer has studied counterpoint! It is true, John Weinzwig was Patrica Morehead’s favorite harmony teacher at the University of Toronto.
Andrew Gallovich pitch mapped Let It Be in an awesome manner, to my ear it sounded tri-tonal, as if individual tracks from a pop-sheen basement studio build-up were detuned slightly in both directions (up and/or down). His beautiful mix sounded magnificent through the monophonic system at the Green Mill. It is what Ives might have done if he had Pro-Tools. I felt the song was a powerful choice, in terms of the recontextualization into polytonality. After listening to a Gallovich piece, “normal” music in standard tunings sounds dull.
Marcos Balter’s Memoria featured Russell Rolen on cello, with his intimidating display of bow technique! Rolen rivals bassist Stefano Scodanibbio in his mastery of the subtleties of harmonics both natural and artificial. Memoria is truly an excellent piece, the formal construction is evident upon first hearing. Balter has an incredible knowledge of contemporary string techniques, but the music does not sound overly calculated, instead it is very soulful.
Extreme registers of the alto flute are beautiful sounds! Caroline Pittman is a master floutist. The tri-tone theme in Robert Lombardo’s Dark Side of the Moon sounded mesmerizing. This piece sounded like a classic, in league with: syrinx or density 21.5….
Joanie Pallatto’s sad and beautiful songs moved me very much, broke me out of my selfish head. Her songs are very real to me: “my city shines” “private detective as fat as his gun” “selling streetwise with a grin” Foxtrot-Sondheim soliloquy songs, Brill building songs about age-ing and homelessness. Sparrow played the exultant continuo….
Tom Steven’s Suspension Fantasy displayed his precise, gentle, and clear keyboard technique in a rondo format. The piece runs a gauntlet of refrences to my ear: Brubeck, Rzewski, Fats Waller, Danny Elfman, Lou Harrison, Satie, Meredith Monk, big band breaks, extended octave unison lines, and even some radical mood changes in the spirit of C.P.E. Bach.
Janice Misurell-Mitchell Rocket-ed-dah-baby with this historical enactment of the lecture-performance genre. A channeling of Schwitters/Berbarian, this was just as refreshing as it was in 1995 when the work was first composed. Janice is a master performer, amazing vocal range, extremely precise ear for interval inflection, shape-shifting facial expressions and gestures. Like a musical Zelig for each situation in the score, she ridicules the Ready to ROCK mantra. This piece got the most visceral reactions from the audience, it is undoubtedly very funny at times, and scary at other times. You wonder if she is stuttering, or perhaps possessed! It reminded me vaguely of the shaman-performances that Sam Ashley was doing in the late 1990s, or the extreme vocal solos of Jaap Blonk.
Lone Monad (Don Malone), my favorite DJ on the planet, entertained us while we took a cake break. I would like Don to do an entire set at the Green Mill at some point, perhaps with some live musicians thrown in the mix? Put it on the list for next year!
Nina Corwin “my unquenchable hope hums along as I nail it to the wall” “like a soiled baby on the welcome mat, screaming for change”—This duo of Nina and Bill Harrison (Bass Magician!) was a complete joy to listen to. The virtuosic beat poetry, which reminded me (distantly) of Dick Buckley, captivated me. The commitment of the performers was obvious, and appreciated. The line is blurred between poet/composer—an ancient ideal. Janice Misurell-Mitchell joined in on the third song with impeccable microtonal flute lines in response to Nina’s speech-song delivery.
Tim Bowlby’s Just One More Time was expertly performed by Alicia Tate (the first woman to receive a doctorate in English Horn performance from Juliard). This angular oboe solo requires considerable trill dexterity. The disjunct melodies in extreme registers resemble bird-song in the regularity of phrasing and the pauses which occur at regular paces. The snake-like melodies expand in contrary motion, and the piece evokes a fanfare mood.
August Read Thomas’ D(i)agon(als) was then played by Cory Tiffin, a virtuoso clarinetist, who made the piece sound easy! Especially impressive was the final pitch in the very highest register of the clarinet, this note rang out with total confidence. The title reflects the shapes you find while listening, gradual unfolding lines (contrary motion), like jagged diagonals, sound like the shape a bird might make in casual flight. Sudden launches into melismas, and extreme octave displacement is combined with unexpected dynamic contrasts. If Weinzweig’s duo is exemplary counterpoint, Thomas’ solo is masterful textbook melodic writing.
Kathleen Ginther’s Epousailles had only one flaw. It was too short! Having expert musicians Julia Bentley and Claudia Lassareff-Mironoff for only one short song was like arriving at the theater only to find that the show is sold out. I would have liked to hear an entire collection of these beautiful settings for voice and viola., or the entire cycle with flute and harp. Maybe next year Kathleen??
George Flynn’s Flamboyance was performed by Frank Abbinanti and Eliza Bangert with an impressive calm precision. Once again, the players make these pieces look easy! George’s signature tri-chord keeps echoing throughout the piece, interrupted by his unique mercurial canonic alchemy. It seems to me that George’s technique can be re-cast using any combination of instruments and/or voices. His sonic fingerprints are unmistakeable.
The oldest piece on the program, George Crumb’s Gnomic Variations, was written for Jeffrey Jacob in 1981 and performed at the Green Mill to end this concert. Jeffrey mentioned that many people feel this is Crumb’s best work for solo piano, and he should know--he has recorded every piece in Crumb’s catalogue. As I am a collector of garden gnomes, I was saddened to learn that Crumb’s intended reference in the title was “gnomic: an embedded idea that is very large, contained in a pithy phrase.” I wanted to see the little elfins running around in the yard. However, while listening to the performance, the structural philosophy became evident; the alternate meaning of gnomic became clear. Jeffrey’s ability to play inside the piano, just as proficiently as he plays on the keys, made this piece seem like a duo for one performer, or a duo for harp and piano. His control of the harmonics, plucked/auto-harp techniques, Cowell clusters, and muted strings struck with the keys was ear-opening. I would have to look at the score, but I sensed that this piece may be palindromic on some level, with thematic shapes returning in opposite registers/timbres. Jeffrey Jacobs is truly a world-class performer, with piano technique of impressive depth and accuracy. I hope he returns to New Music at the Green Mill with his own music! Indiana is not far away…….
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
66th concert--Sunday, January 17
Sun Jan 17, 2010
66th in a series
2pm-5pm
$5 cover
featuring performances and/or compositions by:
Frank Abbinanti
Eliza Bangert
Mark Baldin
Marcos Balter
Tim Bowlby
Nina Corwin
George Crumb
George Flynn
Andrew Gallovich
Kathleen Ginther
Joanna Jamroziak
Jeffrey Jacobs
Luis Kinugawa
Eric Malmquist
Don Malone
Janice Misurell-Mitchell
Pat Morehead
Joanie Pallatto
Russell Rolen
Bradley Parker Sparrow
Tom Stevens
Alicia Tait
66th in a series
2pm-5pm
$5 cover
featuring performances and/or compositions by:
Frank Abbinanti
Eliza Bangert
Mark Baldin
Marcos Balter
Tim Bowlby
Nina Corwin
George Crumb
George Flynn
Andrew Gallovich
Kathleen Ginther
Joanna Jamroziak
Jeffrey Jacobs
Luis Kinugawa
Eric Malmquist
Don Malone
Janice Misurell-Mitchell
Pat Morehead
Joanie Pallatto
Russell Rolen
Bradley Parker Sparrow
Tom Stevens
Alicia Tait
Monday, November 2, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
October 25, 2009 PROGRAM
Program October 25, 2009
Octet Tim AuBuchon
1. Old and New
2. Dark Window
3. Little Guy
4. Pink Fedora
5. The Dirge
6. Personal Multipalities
Marc Landes, trumpet
Mitch Paliga, alto and soprano sax
Tim AuBuchon, tenor sax
Steve Schnall, bari sax and bass clarinet
Ryan Shultz, bass trumpet
Jeff Kowalkowski, piano
Dave Smith, bass
Doug Bratt, drums
Sonata for Flute and Piano Tom Stevens
Laura Koeple-Tenges, flute
Tom Stevens, piano
little rootee tootee (after Thelonius Monk) Frank Abbinanti
Frank Abbinanti, piano
the time inside a year David McDonnell
Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone
Jeff Kowalkowski, piano
Chris and Nancy Lemons Chris Lemons
Olivia Marita Bolles
Blake Taylor, percussion
Gimlet Eye Julia Miller
Julian Berke, keyboards
NIck Alvarez, drums
Julia Miller, guitar
Vibraphone Journal (excerpts) Eric Roth
Katie Wiegman, vibraphone
{Improvisation} lead by: Jason Adasciewicz/Dave McDonnell
NOTES
Octet--Tim AuBuchon
I have wanted to write for a jazz group of this size for several years. The idea started right before I left Chicago to take a teaching position at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO in the fall of 2002. Since then, the demands of a full-time job and my growing family (three kids, currently 6, 4, and 1 ½ ) have kept the octet plans on hold. I was very fortunate in the spring of 2009 to receive a Truman Faculty Summer Research Fellowship, which allowed me to study with noted jazz composer Joey Sellers for a week this past July. Much of the writing for this project was completed during that week.
In working on the octet music, I generally wanted to avoid the usual melody/solos/melody format and instead attempted to develop longer forms. Improvisation is very important to me, so rather that just write more material, I tried to integrate the improvised solos and written material in a way that would still allow the musicians to stretch out and shape the music. To varying degrees, you may hear the influence of Ornette Coleman, Dave Douglas, Ben Allison, and Thelonious Monk.
Sonata for Flute and Piano--Tom Stevens
little rootee tootee (after Thelonius Monk)--Frank Abbinanti
I've studied composition with Richard Teitelbaum, Ralph Shpaey and Ben Johnston. I've been active on the new music scene since 1983. I don't get many commissions anymore but when I did I had opportunities to write for large orchestras and chamber groups, as the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Pro Musica, Harper Symphony, New Valley Symphony, Asusa Pacifica Orchestra, Trio Hernadi, and AMM. Now I'm putting into final form three chamber concerti called "power clowns", one for English Horn, another for Contrabass and another for Bb Clarinet;and also piano solos,"Deep South" "African Kinderszenen" for prepared piano; duets, and chamber pieces, a piano concerto "Mudmarch" and pieces for orchestra as "femmes de la revolucion". I'm also journal Editor for Contemporary Music Review (England), one devoted to Frederic Rzewski. This will be published in a year or so.
The challenge in playing Monk's music for piano solo is that you simply cannot play what you like, when you like, and not all his pieces are doable as a piano solo, so I'm thrilled whenever I can add a new tune. I've reached the ends of the fruitful lands now, I play everything there is to play of Monk as a piano solo, and "little rootee tootee" is a less serious,more playful etude-piece than say "Bright Mississippi",or "Crepuscule with Nellie" where thoughts of exodus and lifeworld are part of what the music says.
the time inside a year--David McDonnell
This duo is an expansion of the concepts used in a computer piece called Song of Overtones, in which I attempted to combine the compositional approaches of Charles Wuorinen and Tristan Murail. In fact much of the form, notes and rhythms are taken from that piece, but adapted both for the instruments themselves and human capability. The concept behind the title refers to the technique I used to generate the formal and rhythmic attributes of the piece: using the series of notes which form the melodic backbone of the music, taking the proportions inherent in that series and using those to determine the formal and rhythmic aspects of the music. As I was writing the music however, certain parts seemed as if they needed to be expanded within the already finite form of the music. This reminded me of the way memory can perceive a finite block of time as having parts within that are disproportionally longer in relation to other parts. It also recalled to me the replicant character Rutger Hauer plays in Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner and the speech he gives at the end of the movie about the passing of time and memory.
David McDonnell received his Bachelor of Music in Composition from De Paul University. He plays saxophone, keyboards and electric bass. He spent most of his 20's playing in avant-rock and jazz ensembles such as Bablicon, Michael Columbia, Icy Demons, Need New Body, Herculaneum and The Hats. Music by these groups, excepting The Hats, can be found on the Misra label, Chicago's 482 and Alabaster labels and Europe's Clean Feed, Leaf and Pickled Egg labels. David's solo project, "the diminisher", was put out by Portland Oregon's Unsound Records in 2006. He completed his Masters in Composition at De Paul in 2009, and is currently pursuing a DMA in composition at the College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati. While continuing activities on the Chicago scene, he lives in Cincinnati with his wife and dog; they help him write his music.
Chris and Nancy Lemons--Chris Lemons
Olivia--Marita Bolles
Marita Bolles is a Chicago-based composer whose music has been commissioned and performed internationally by performers who share a commitment to newly composed and experimental music. She completed her undergraduate at the University of MIchigan, and received her MA and PhD from the University of California, San Diego where she studied with Roger Reynolds. She is recently back from residencies at Ragdale and Yaddo where she completed a commission for the St. Paul-based new music ensemble Zeitgeist. Future projects include the production of objects de la musique--sound objects that incorporate her original music into interactive environments (books, boxes, etc.); she is currently designing a prototype of these objects with funds from the Chicago Artists Assistance Program. Her music is available on itunes.
Olivia is a percussion solo underwritten by the American Composers Forum with funds from the Jerome Foundation. It was composed percussionist Patti Cudd and is the first in a series of five pieces belonging to the suite Cities and Signs, inspired by Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities. The score is notated in a way that has an increasingly open architecture, therefore each interpretation by a percussionist is unique and beyond the usual expectations of the performer's interpretive voice.
Gimlet Eye--Julia Miller
Vibraphone Journal--Eric Roth
ericrothmusic.com
Octet Tim AuBuchon
1. Old and New
2. Dark Window
3. Little Guy
4. Pink Fedora
5. The Dirge
6. Personal Multipalities
Marc Landes, trumpet
Mitch Paliga, alto and soprano sax
Tim AuBuchon, tenor sax
Steve Schnall, bari sax and bass clarinet
Ryan Shultz, bass trumpet
Jeff Kowalkowski, piano
Dave Smith, bass
Doug Bratt, drums
Sonata for Flute and Piano Tom Stevens
Laura Koeple-Tenges, flute
Tom Stevens, piano
little rootee tootee (after Thelonius Monk) Frank Abbinanti
Frank Abbinanti, piano
the time inside a year David McDonnell
Jason Adasiewicz, vibraphone
Jeff Kowalkowski, piano
Chris and Nancy Lemons Chris Lemons
Olivia Marita Bolles
Blake Taylor, percussion
Gimlet Eye Julia Miller
Julian Berke, keyboards
NIck Alvarez, drums
Julia Miller, guitar
Vibraphone Journal (excerpts) Eric Roth
Katie Wiegman, vibraphone
{Improvisation} lead by: Jason Adasciewicz/Dave McDonnell
NOTES
Octet--Tim AuBuchon
I have wanted to write for a jazz group of this size for several years. The idea started right before I left Chicago to take a teaching position at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO in the fall of 2002. Since then, the demands of a full-time job and my growing family (three kids, currently 6, 4, and 1 ½ ) have kept the octet plans on hold. I was very fortunate in the spring of 2009 to receive a Truman Faculty Summer Research Fellowship, which allowed me to study with noted jazz composer Joey Sellers for a week this past July. Much of the writing for this project was completed during that week.
In working on the octet music, I generally wanted to avoid the usual melody/solos/melody format and instead attempted to develop longer forms. Improvisation is very important to me, so rather that just write more material, I tried to integrate the improvised solos and written material in a way that would still allow the musicians to stretch out and shape the music. To varying degrees, you may hear the influence of Ornette Coleman, Dave Douglas, Ben Allison, and Thelonious Monk.
Sonata for Flute and Piano--Tom Stevens
little rootee tootee (after Thelonius Monk)--Frank Abbinanti
I've studied composition with Richard Teitelbaum, Ralph Shpaey and Ben Johnston. I've been active on the new music scene since 1983. I don't get many commissions anymore but when I did I had opportunities to write for large orchestras and chamber groups, as the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago Pro Musica, Harper Symphony, New Valley Symphony, Asusa Pacifica Orchestra, Trio Hernadi, and AMM. Now I'm putting into final form three chamber concerti called "power clowns", one for English Horn, another for Contrabass and another for Bb Clarinet;and also piano solos,"Deep South" "African Kinderszenen" for prepared piano; duets, and chamber pieces, a piano concerto "Mudmarch" and pieces for orchestra as "femmes de la revolucion". I'm also journal Editor for Contemporary Music Review (England), one devoted to Frederic Rzewski. This will be published in a year or so.
The challenge in playing Monk's music for piano solo is that you simply cannot play what you like, when you like, and not all his pieces are doable as a piano solo, so I'm thrilled whenever I can add a new tune. I've reached the ends of the fruitful lands now, I play everything there is to play of Monk as a piano solo, and "little rootee tootee" is a less serious,more playful etude-piece than say "Bright Mississippi",or "Crepuscule with Nellie" where thoughts of exodus and lifeworld are part of what the music says.
the time inside a year--David McDonnell
This duo is an expansion of the concepts used in a computer piece called Song of Overtones, in which I attempted to combine the compositional approaches of Charles Wuorinen and Tristan Murail. In fact much of the form, notes and rhythms are taken from that piece, but adapted both for the instruments themselves and human capability. The concept behind the title refers to the technique I used to generate the formal and rhythmic attributes of the piece: using the series of notes which form the melodic backbone of the music, taking the proportions inherent in that series and using those to determine the formal and rhythmic aspects of the music. As I was writing the music however, certain parts seemed as if they needed to be expanded within the already finite form of the music. This reminded me of the way memory can perceive a finite block of time as having parts within that are disproportionally longer in relation to other parts. It also recalled to me the replicant character Rutger Hauer plays in Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner and the speech he gives at the end of the movie about the passing of time and memory.
David McDonnell received his Bachelor of Music in Composition from De Paul University. He plays saxophone, keyboards and electric bass. He spent most of his 20's playing in avant-rock and jazz ensembles such as Bablicon, Michael Columbia, Icy Demons, Need New Body, Herculaneum and The Hats. Music by these groups, excepting The Hats, can be found on the Misra label, Chicago's 482 and Alabaster labels and Europe's Clean Feed, Leaf and Pickled Egg labels. David's solo project, "the diminisher", was put out by Portland Oregon's Unsound Records in 2006. He completed his Masters in Composition at De Paul in 2009, and is currently pursuing a DMA in composition at the College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati. While continuing activities on the Chicago scene, he lives in Cincinnati with his wife and dog; they help him write his music.
Chris and Nancy Lemons--Chris Lemons
Olivia--Marita Bolles
Marita Bolles is a Chicago-based composer whose music has been commissioned and performed internationally by performers who share a commitment to newly composed and experimental music. She completed her undergraduate at the University of MIchigan, and received her MA and PhD from the University of California, San Diego where she studied with Roger Reynolds. She is recently back from residencies at Ragdale and Yaddo where she completed a commission for the St. Paul-based new music ensemble Zeitgeist. Future projects include the production of objects de la musique--sound objects that incorporate her original music into interactive environments (books, boxes, etc.); she is currently designing a prototype of these objects with funds from the Chicago Artists Assistance Program. Her music is available on itunes.
Olivia is a percussion solo underwritten by the American Composers Forum with funds from the Jerome Foundation. It was composed percussionist Patti Cudd and is the first in a series of five pieces belonging to the suite Cities and Signs, inspired by Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities. The score is notated in a way that has an increasingly open architecture, therefore each interpretation by a percussionist is unique and beyond the usual expectations of the performer's interpretive voice.
Gimlet Eye--Julia Miller
Vibraphone Journal--Eric Roth
ericrothmusic.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
