NEXUS - Toccata
The 1995/96 concert season was the twenty-fifth year of performances together for the five members of NEXUS. It was a year highlighted by a tour of Europe and Scandinavia, a Silver Anniversary series of concerts in Toronto broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and a twenty-fifth anniversary celebration concert in the Eastman School of Music's historic Kilbourn Hall, the venue for the very first performance by NEXUS on May 20, 1971. In the early years of the group's existence, concerts consisted almost entirely of improvisations on percussion instruments collected by the individual members of NEXUS. Many of these instruments were from non-Western musical cultures and were not associated with the classical and popular music already familiar to the conservatory-trained percussionists. The instruments were mostly bells and gongs of Asian origin, although there were also wooden instruments, drums, and various home-made percussion instruments, and they invariably sounded pitches that fell in-between the notes of the European tempered scale system. Since there were no existing compositions for this unusual collection of instruments, the music was created in spontaneous improvisations, with no advance planning at all. Spontaneity has always been a major part of NEXUS' approach to performing its repertoire, and improvised pieces, such as Kichari, Reunion, and Toccata were featured in the NEXUS anniversary season programs. In these pieces, the listener will find the musical heart of NEXUS. Eric Robertson, the Toronto-based virtuoso organist, joins NEXUS in Toccata for some serious improvised fun. (Bill Cahn)
Members (performers all on percussion): Bob Becker, Bill Cahn, Robin Engelman, Russell Hartenberger, John Wyre
Tracklisting:
1. Kichari {15:00}
live at Studio 10, Berlin, Germany - October 6, 1995
2. Tongues {5:05}
live in the CBC Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto, Canada - June 11, 1996
3. Reunion {12:06}
live in Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York - February 20, 1996
4. Toccata {22:56}
live at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Toronto, Canada - May 11, 1996; with Eric Robertson - organ
(1)
mucho thanks I really love yr blog and Nexus. Do u have any more Nexus ? thanks again
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog. Is there any chance you could list the composers of the pieces on the Nexus disc?
ReplyDeleteTo the first anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYes I do. I'll check first to make sure they are suitable for posting.
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To the second anonymous,
All of these pieces were not actually composed. They were improvised by the group while performing in concert. The last piece does have bits from a highly familiar Bach piece though.
first here again, thanks so much again ! sharing is caring in todays consumer nightmare. go go internets !
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DeleteIt's been re-upped to a better file host.
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