Afternoon in Amsterdam

Afternoon in Amsterdam

released on LP

featuring Gavioli Draaiorgel "Jupiter"
recorded in Holland

From the liner notes:

The subtle pastel coloring of the aged buildings reflected in the canals' calm water; the incredible cleanliness of the worn sidewalks and streets; the happy sounds emanating from the big and colorful hand-cranked barrel organs along the Kalverstraat: these are Amsterdam in the sun-covered afternoons of any season, any year.

Music is important in the Netherlands. Amid the heavy traffic of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, and Scheveningen - traffic made difficult by the unending procession of bicycles and pint-sized motor cars - and in the green, soft, tranquil settings of rural Holland, one hears some sort of music no matter how early or late the hour. Radio Hilversum, the progressive, government-operated station, beams music to all of Europe through the day and night, and rarely do the concerts and operettas at Grote Zaal and Stadsschouwburg fail to attract turn-away audiences. Records are fast-selling items in the music stores, much as they are in North America; only a few weeks separate the arrival of a new pop tune on the American and Dutch hit parades.

The music contained here is like no other music anywhere. There are organs on every continent, but only in the Netherlands are there barrel organs like the massive but movable "Gavioli Draaiorgel Jupiter" instrument heard in this album. The astounding variety of pleasant sounds it produces are achived by a sort of paper folder, or book, whose leaves have, with unbelievable ingenuity, been carefully perforated to produce music when exposed to air pressure. The air, of course, is provided by the powerful organist patiently turning the heavy metal wheel at the organ's side. Another man stands near, collecting voluntary fees from the passersby; at intervals they trade chores. The guilders pile up for the two men, Everybody is happy.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Afternoon Songs: Amsterdam; On the Old Lindencanal; By Us in the Jordaan; Oh Saberdyosia  {3:03}

2.  Afternoon Songs: The Perl of the Jordaan; At the Foot of the Old Water Tower; The Condemned House  {3:02}

3.  Dutch Waltzes: Hand in Hand; Nobody Like You; On Saturday Afternoon  {2:55}

4.  Dutch Marches: King Football; KLM March; Stadium March  {2:51}

5.  Between Tunnel and Maas Bridge: Always Ships are Coming; Ketelbinkie; Were You Born at Rotterdam; By the Maas  {3:04}

6.  Between Tunnel and Maas Bridge: The Flag of Rotterdam; Anchors Aweigh; Great Rotterdam  {3:00}

Side 2

1.  Dutch Towns: Just Give Me Amsterdam; My Own Rotterdam; There is Only One Den Haag  {1:53}

2.  Dutch Tangos: I Like Holland; Ole Guapa  {2:24}

3.  Sea Songs: The Song of the Sea; Seaman, Oh Seaman; On the Turbulent Waves  {2:13}

4.  Dutch South African Songs: Sarie Marais; Mama, I'd Like to Have a Husband; The Little Shoemaker  {2:18}

5.  Star Songs: Just Look at the Stars Tonight; At Night by Starlight; When Stars are Twinkling in the Sky  {2:29}

6.  Dutch Mill Songs: The Mill at the Brook; Greetje from the Polder; There Near the Mill  {2:37}

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Black Angels

The Cikada Quartet - Black Angels

released on CD in 1995

recorded at the Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway: March 25-27, 1994


The Cikada Quartet:
Henrik Hannisdal - violin
Odd Hannisdal - violin
Marek Konstantynowicz - viola
Morten Hannisdal - violoncello


tracks 1-13 Black Angels composed by George Crumb

tracks 14-16 String Quartet Op. 28 composed by Anton Webern

tracks 17-18 String Quartet composed by Witold Lutoslawski

George Crumb - Black Angels

The score of Black Angels is inscribed in tempore belli, "in time of war." In 1970 that meant the Vietnam War and Crumb was later to explain that the work was "conceived as a kind of parable on our troubled contemporary world". There are aspects of Black Angels which can be construed as making oblique reference to that particular conflict: the vivid "electric insects", the liquid sonorities which form a gentle quasi-oriental backdrop, even the surrealistic juxtaposition of the two. But the work is not "about" Vietnam, nor even war itself, although it can certainly be interpreted as an anti-war statement. In Crumb's own words the "parable" is told in terms of "a voyage of the soul. The three stages of this voyage are: Departure (fall from grace), Absence (spiritual annihilation) and Return (redemption)". This mystical programme is underpinned by "the essential polarity - God versus the Devil", giving rise to a number of musical (and non-musical) allusions. In Black Angels, Crumb's preoccupation with some of the techniques and principles of the medieval age, characteristic of much of his work, is greatly in evidence. But the most immediate impression is that of its highly individual and graphic timbral effects. The Quartet is amplified, the use of an electrified quartet to heighten expressiveness rather than to manipulate the sound pre-dating the the recent trend for doing so by some twenty years. The work is also a catalogue of ingenious string techniques and requires each of the players to double on various percussion instruments from the more usual (maracas and tam-tams, the latter being bowed as well as struck) to the more outre (water-tuned crystal glasses and solid glass rods).

Anton Webern - String Quartet Op. 28

If Webern's Quartet was not actually written "in time of war" it was certainly written in circumstances not far removed, the Nazi Anschluss leading to the conducting appointment Webern had held with Austrian Radio since 1927 being "liquidated" in 1938, the year in which Op. 28 was completed. Webern had already begun sketching the Quartet when a commission arrived from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the American patron who also commissioned Schoenberg's third and fourth quartets, giving Webern the welcome opportunity to accept it for a work he had already commenced.

"The worse it gets the more responsible our task", Webern once wrote about the conflict into which his country was forced, yet nothing could be further from Crumb's extrovert response to the world around him than this supreme example of "pure", abstract music. (Ironically and tragically Webern was to suffer more than most composers because of the "time of war", killed by an American soldier days after the end of the Second World War in what was probably a case of mistaken identity.) The very sound of the work is austere - no harmonics or col legno effects (found in other compositions by Webern), let alone the pyrotechnics of Crumb's piece.

There is, therefore, minimal distraction from the "primacy of pitch" and the twelve-tone technique which articulates it. Webern's compositional development had followed a parallel path to that of his mentor and teacher, Schoenberg, the rich late-romanticism of his early work giving way to the atonality of the years around the First World War and the fully fledged serialism he was ultimately to adopt. By the late 1930s this in Webern's hands had become a fascination with canons, palindromes and symmetry, not as in Crumb's work for symbolic or expressive reasons, but as a means of creating even greater musical integration.

Witold Lutoslawski - String Quartet

"The tempo is approximate as are all rhythmical values. Each performer should play his part as though he were alone... As the vertical result of the juxtaposition of the four parts of this work is not completely fixed, there can be no score." Lutoslawski's indications in his String Quartet, written in 1964 for a commission from Swedish Radio, mark the logical culmination of the trend for using aleatoric (random) procedures which had started with his Jeux venitiens of 1961 and characterised the works of his middle period (Paroles tissees, Symphony No.2, Livre pour orchestre). It was in 1960 that Lutoslawski heard John Cage's Piano Concerto and it was this which brought to his attention the potential of using chance as a compositional technique. So, the String Quartet takes the form of a series of "mobiles", varying in length from a few seconds to as long as a couple of minutes, within which "particular players perform their parts quite independently of each other. They have to decide separately about the length of pauses and about the way of treating ritenutos and accelerandos". The transition from one section to another is realized in various ways and sometimes requires a fairly complex system of signals between the players.

However, how does this square with a composer who wrote, "I firmly believe in a clear delineation of duties between composer and performers, and I have no wish to surrender even the smallest part of my claim to authorship of even the shortest passage of music which I have written"? How can he claim in the String Quartet that "if each performer strictly follows the instructions in the parts, nothing could happen which has not been foreseen by the composer"?

Lutoslawski himself has explained this apparent contradiction in what he has said or written of the Quartet on a number of occasions. "It is not a question of diversity between performances; nor is it a question of the element of surprise; nor of freeing myself from a part of the responsibility for the work and placing it on the performers." It is clear that whilst Cage may have been a catalyst in Lutoslawski's embracing of the possibilities of chance techniques, his aesthetics and his use of aleatoricism provided no deeper influence than that. "The aim of my endeavours has been merely to attain a definite sound result. This result is impossible to attain in any other way especially as regards rhythm and expression." (Nicholas Rampley)

Tracklisting:

Departure

1.  Black Angels: Threnody I: Night of the Electric Insects  {1:22}

2.  Black Angels: Sounds of Bones and Flutes  {0:44}

3.  Black Angels: Lost Bells  {0:56}

4.  Black Angels: Devil-Music  {1:38}

5.  Black Angels: Danse Macabre  {1:03}

6.  Black Angels: Pavana Lachrymae  {1:02}

Absence

7.  Black Angels: Threnody II: Black Angels  {2:50}

8.  Black Angels: Sarabanda de la muerte oscura  {1:00}

9.  Black Angels: Lost Bells, Echo  {1:17}

Return

10. Black Angels: God-Music  {3:22}

11. Black Angels: Ancient Voices  {1:02}

12. Black Angels: Ancient Voices, Echo  {0:21}

13. Black Angels: Threnody III: Night of the Electric Insects  {3:50}


14. String Quartet Op. 28: Massig  {3:36}

15. String Quartet Op. 28: Gemahlich  {1:43}

16. String Quartet Op. 28: Sehr Fliessend  {2:36}

17. String Quartet: Introductory Movement  {9:57}

18. String Quartet: Main Movement  {16:23}

(MP1) or (FL1)

The Music of Lou Harrison

Lou Harrison - The Music of Lou Harrison

released on CD in 1991, originally released on vinyl in 1971

tracks 1-7 performed by the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Robert Hughes - conductor

tracks 8-11 performed by Beverly Bellows

tracks 12-13 performed by Lou Harrison

tracks 14-16 performed by William Bouton - violin along with Richard Dee - cheng, William Colvig - sheng and fang-hsiang, Lou Harrison - piri, Helen Rifas - harp

Pacifika Rondo

Pacifika Rondo was written for the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii and received its premiere there in May 1963. Each movement refers to a section of the Pacific Basin except for the sixth, which is a protest against the bomb and its contamination and destruction of Pacific Life.
"The Family of the Court" largely refers to Korea and its court life; "Play of the Dolphins" is in a sense mid-ocean music and the sound of the psalteries suggests the movement of waves and the dancing of dolphins.
"Lotus" is a tribute to Buddhism, a 'temple' piece; "In Sequoia's Shade" refers to California, particularly to its colonial days. The fifth movement (an 'Homage to Carlos Chavez') looks to Mexico and Netzahualcoyotl, the Aztec emperor, a king of great wisdom and goodness. "From the Dragon Pool" refers to the Sinitic Area and particularly China in which the dragon is considered benevolent.
I have been told to try several of the ways in which I think classic Asian musics might of themselves, and together, evolve in the future, and have combined instruments of several ethnics directly for musical expression.
In composing Pacifika Rondo I have thought, with love, around the circle of the Pacific.  (Lou Harrison)

Four Pieces for Harp

These are occasional works. The Serenade was written in a letter to Frank Wigglesworth, for him, when he was learning guitar in Rome, and it was originally for that instrument. Beverly's Troubadour Piece was first composed at a party in which Bob Hughes, Jerry Neff and I wrote little pieces for Beverly Bellows to play (at once) on my now troubadour model harp. Again, the harp solo from Music for Bill and Me is from a group of pieces for my friend William Colvig and me to play. Avalokiteshvara is from a larger work celebrating the Amitabha trinity - in it the Bodhisattva is heard as it were in a "nimbus" of bells. (Lou Harrison)

Two Pieces for Psaltery

I composed my Psalter Sonata (my first piece for psaltery) after studying the instrument with Liang Tsai Ping, the great Chinese chong-master, to whom the piece is dedicated. One actually could see "one and a quarter moons" in the sky of Mars, and this piece was written to entertain Robert Hughes.  (Lou Harrison)

Music for Violin with Various Instruments
European, Asian & African

Composed for Gary Beswick, who gave its first performance at San Jose State College in 1967. The whole round world of musics and instruments lives around us. I am interested in a "transethnic," a planetary music.  (Lou Harrison)

Tracklisting:

1. Pacifika Rondo: The Family of the Court  {5:18}

2. Pacifika Rondo: A Play of Dolphins  {4:12}

3. Pacifika Rondo: Lotus  {2:52}

4. Pacifika Rondo: In Sequoia's Shade  {2:26}

5. Pacifika Rondo: Netzahuaucoyoti Builds a Pyramid  {2:22}

6. Pacifika Rondo: A Hatred of the Filthy Bomb  {2:53}

7. Pacifika Rondo: From the Dragon Pool  {4:03}

8. Four Pieces for Harp: Serenade for Frank Wigglesworth  {1:54}

9. Four Pieces for Harp: Beverly's Troubador Piece  {1:32}

10. Four Pieces for Harp: From Music for Bill and Me  {3:21}

11. Four Pieces for Harp: Avalokiteshvara  {2:23}

12. Two Pieces for Psaltery: Psalter Sonata  {2:32}

13. Two Pieces for Psaltery: The Garden at One and a Quarter Moons  {2:40}

14. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Allegro Vigoroso  {3:17}

15. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Largo  {4:19}

16. Music for Violin with Various Instruments: Allegro Moderato  {3:08}

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Domaines

Pierre Boulez - Domaines

reissued on CD in 1988, original release date 1971 (likely copied from a vinyl copy)

performed by Ensemble Musique Vivante under the direction of Diego Masson

clarinet solo: Michel Portal

...originally intended for solo clarinet when it was premiered in 1968. Two years later, Pierre Boulez adopted a circular arrangement made up of six instrumental units, with the clarinet as the sixth of these. The result is a structure in two large sections - original and mirror - directly derived from the dialogue between 'the protagonists' (in this case, Michel Portal) and each of the groups of instruments. (notes taken from 2001 reissue)

Tracklisting:

1. Premiere Partie  {15:38}

2. Seconde Partie  {14:38}

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More Updates Including a New Twitter Account

Hello to all. I recently finished reuploading several posts. They're listed on the "Updates" page.

I am considering no longer using the "Updates" page instead posting updates on a new Twitter account I created for the blog. It may be a better way to keep up with updates rather than remembering to check the "Updates" page. It may also be a little more efficient for me and DrEyescope as we don't have to reupload from several to many posts at one time. It's been difficult finding time to reupload much less post nowadays. Just one could be reuploaded and an update will appear in a short amount of time.

The "Updates" page will probably be changed to an open forum for requests and general comments.

About the Twitter account: Tweets will mostly be updates of old and new posts along with maybe links to some stuff we think is interesting. We'll see how it goes. I realize it has been a few years since I last posted any new tweets in my personal Twitter account, but I thought I would give it another try.

Some More Updates for Old Posts

I hope everyone is enjoying the Ratchet Orchestra, Marshall Allen and Danny Ray Thompson concert. I would like to thank DrEyescope for sharing it here. It's one of those concerts that I wish I could have been there in person.

I reuploaded a lot of the old posts, this time focusing on the avant-garde/modern classical and electro-acoustic records. I still have some more to reupload. Hopefully, I can get them up very soon. If you missed them the first time, now is another chance to grab them. They're all listed on the Updates page.

UPDATE (Aug. 4, 2014): I reuploaded some more posts and there's more on the way.

UPDATE (Aug. 17, 2014): More posts have been reuploaded. Also, sad to say, the links to the Ratchet Orchestra concert had to be taken down.

UPDATE (Aug. 25, 2014): DrEyescope reupped a few of his posts recently. They're all listed on the Updates page.

UPDATE (Sept. 2, 2014): I fulfilled a few requests and added reuploads of some other posts that have been neglected for too long.

Ratchet Orchestra with Marshall Allen and Danny Ray Thompson

As a small number of you out there know, I am a part-time musician.
Living where I do, I get the chance to play with some pretty incredible musicians, both those who live here and those who pass through.

I have been playing with the Ratchet Orchestra, an ever-changing monster led by Contrabassist Nicolas Caloia, for about 20 years now, and this past May 15 we were all honored to play with two long-standing members of the Sun Ra ("insert name here") Arkestra.

Marshall Allen has been playing with the Arkestra since 1958 (and leading it since the death of John Gilmore).
Danny Ray Thompson ("Pico" to his friends) has been a member since 1967.
These two fine gentlemen joined with the Ratchet Orchestra to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra's arrival on Planet Earth.

The music heard here is a sort of "Suite" arranged by Nicolas Caloia, comprised  almost exclusively of Sun Ra compositions, some heard in something like a standard presentation, while others have been fractured and overlayed with other themes and material and may be unrecognizable to all but the most ardent Sun Ra fanatics.

In any case, I believe that this is some very fine, exciting and beautiful music and deserves to be heard and (I hope) enjoyed by fans of Sun Ra and visitors to the Closet of Curiosities.

Marshall Allen and Danny Ray Thompson with Ratchet Orchestra
Festival International de Musique Actuelle, Victoriaville
May 15, 2014

THE BOARD MIX/ZOOM BOOTLEG

They Dwell on Other Planes/We Must Not Say No To Ourselves
Eve
Thither and Yon
Discipline No. 15
El Is A Sound of Joy
El Victor
Love on A Faraway Planet/Life is Splendid/Angels and Demons
The Shadow World
Fate in A Pleasant Mood/Life is Splendid/We'll Wait for You/Space is the Place

Marshall Allen :alto saxophone, evi, voice
Pico : flute
Lori Freedman : clarinets, wx7, voice
Ida Toninato : bassoon, baritone saxophone
Damian Nisenson : saxophones, shenai
Yves Charuest : alto saxophone
Jason Sharp : bass saxophone, flute
Ellwood Epps : trumpet
Scott Thomson : trombone
Jacques Gravel : bass trombone, tympani
Joshua Zubot : violin
Guido Del Fabbro : violin, recorder
James Annett : viola
Chris Burns : guitar, voice
Guillaume Dostaler : piano, JX3P
Ken Doolittle : percussion, voice
Michel Bonneau : percussion
John Heward : drums
Isaiah Ceccarelli : drums, tympani
Nicolas Caloia : doublebass, maxikorg, arrangements


Nic Caloia also has a site where you can download, stream and purchase other music and video (and etc) which you may very well also enjoy.
If you like this concert, visit his page
and go nuts.

 (Sorry, links removed.)

Bird Songs in Your Garden

Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg - Bird Songs in Your Garden

book and accompanying 10" record released in 1961

Produced by Peter Paul Kellogg and Arthur A. Allen from recordings made for the Cornell Library of Natural Sounds.

List of species included in book and record:

Wood Pewee, Cardinal, Robin, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Catbird, Scarlet Tanager, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Veery, Cedar Waxwing, Brown-headed Cowbird, Blue Jay, Rufous-sided Towhee, Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Purple Finch, Yellow-shafted Flicker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Kingbird, Phoebe, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, Screech Owl

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Bird Songs in Your Garden side 1  {12:48}

commentary by Arthur A. Allen

Side 2

1.  Bird Songs in Your Garden side 2  {13:11}

The songs of 25 birds unannounced but identified on side 1

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Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite

Olivier Messiaen - Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite

released on a 2-LP set in 1973 by Musical Heritage Society (same as 1972 release on Erato)

performed by Olivier Messiaen himself

Organ used on this recording is that of the Church of Sainte Trinite, Paris.

Composed in 1969, the mystical Meditations sur le mystere de la Sainte Trinite (Meditations on the Mystery of the Holy Trinity) is made up of 9 pieces or meditations that reflect on an attribute of the Trinity. The Meditations contain bird songs, plainsong, quotations from Thomas Aqunias's Summa Thelogica, deci-talas (Hindu rhythms). The liner notes include Messiaen's own musical and theological analysis on the music that helps in understanding the music. Also in the liner notes, Messiaen explains his attempt at creating a musical language called communicable language that is incorporated in the music.
Messiaen's version is the only one that I have listened to in its entirety. I'm not sure if it is the essential version although since it's performed by the man himself, it probably should be. The performance and the recording itself is great. I am welcome, of course, to any other suggestions.

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  Meditation No. 1  {8:15}

2.  Meditation No. 2  {11:37}

Side 2

1.  Meditation No. 3  {2:19}

2.  Meditation No. 4  {6:30}

3.  Meditation No. 5  {11:18}

Side 3

1.  Meditation No. 6  {8:30}

2.  Meditation No. 7  {6:27}

Side 4

1.  Meditation No. 8  {10:39}

2.  Meditation No. 9  {9:38}

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Hall Overton / Lester Trimble - Split Release (CRI 1972)

Notes (reprinted in spite of the fact that I find them really rather annoying) excerpted from the back cover (included).

Pulsations is the last in Overton's considerable catalogue and is probably the work that most perfectly fuses his own equal and opposite musical loves, concert music and jazz. In his words, it "explores various aspects of rhythm. Instead of avoiding the pulse, my intention was to write music based largely on a strong, steady beat." This is not, however, the primitive pulse of the typical jazz band but ranges from "straight-ahead propulsion, lag beat, silent beat, free time and doubling"". The moderately knowing listener will recognize characteristic jazz figures, along with others that are subtler, more deeply imbedded in the musical texture,  and also more personal to Overton.
In addition to its specific jazz references, Pulsations sometimes achieves a strange and dreamlike atmosphere that seems to represent the unworldly aspects of the jazz scene.
The work is dedicated to Thelonious Monk, the eminent jazz pianist,who is one of the many jazz people Overton worked closely with. It was commissioned by The Ensemble of New York.

The Ensemble; Dennis Russell Davies,conductor

In Praise Of Diplomacy And Common Sense  has been described as "a sonic happening", "an hallucinatory montage", "an ironic sequence." It has been compared to sections of James Joyce's Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake.
To evoke such observations it would seem to be a new and unusual kind of theatre- one might call it "spatial sonic theatre"- which seeks through techniques of musical and verbal overlapping and interpenetration, to evoke the realities of a dramatic event and simultaneously, to make a philosophical comment upon them.
The composer writes:
"The libretto is a montage of news items culled mostly over an eight-day period from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, and Life magazine. It presents the simultaneous spectacles of a bloddy uprising in the Congo, the release of the Warren Report on the assassination of John F Kennedy, violent anti-American demonstrations in Egypt, a threatening contretemps between the USA and the Soviet Union in the United Nations, and other examples of human cruelty and intransigence displaying an apparent absence of true diplomacy or common sense from the national and international arena."

The Ensemble; Dennis Russell Davies,conductor; Richard Frisch,baritone

























Hall Overton- Pulsations (17:42)

Lester Trimble- In Praise Of Diplomacy And Common Sense (14:51)


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Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams (Saturn Records,1978)

Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams


Here's the last of my Saturn Records, which I am posting to celebrate the 90th birthday today of Marshall Allen, alto saxophonist and electronic wind instrument player, current leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra- still going strong!

On a personal note:
I had the opportunity to play with Marshall Allen on the 15th in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra's birth. Also in attendance was Danny Ray Thompson, playing flute on this occasion, and I had a very fine time, one high point being at the rehearsal where Marshall took the mic and a few of us had a sing-along, Arkestra-style, to the tune of Fate In A Pleasant Mood, which Marshall also seemed to enjoy very much.
 
Marshall has a penchant for saying things like- "You've gotta do what you can while you can with what you've got", and "You've got to take hold of this one life"; things you hear often enough nowadays.
But when you consider that, the day after playing this gig with the Ratchet Orchestra, Marshall and Danny were off to Italy, and from there all around Europe,to Turkey, Japan, Croatia, and all with only a day's rest here and there (see Sunraarkestra.com for the tour dates) you know this man LIVES by these words.I have little doubt that it is precisely this attitude which is at least partially responsible for his amazing energy and longevity.

I can only say "keep saying what you've got to say while you can say it" , and
"Happy Birthday, Marshall Allen!"

About the record:
This is a weird one,
MysterRa plays a keyboard with an "auto-arpeggio" feature (a2) and gets downright goofy with it, getting it to arpeggiate clusters and the like.
There is also some very celestial synthesizer work (a1,a3) and piano (b2) and a couple of fine solos from John Gilmore on Tenor (a2,b2) and Michael Ray on funky Trumpet (a2).
Altogether a very fine and varied record, from Bop and Ballad to the outer limits, and with good sound quality and presence.

Sun Ra Arkestra- Media Dreams

a1- Saturn Research (3:10)

a2- Constellation (13:52)

a3- Yera Of The Sun (4:39)

b1- Media Dreams (13:54)

b2- Twigs At Twilight (7:30)

b3- An Unknowneth Love (4:43)
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Sun Ra And His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra-Journey Stars Beyond (Saturn 1981)

Today is Sun Ra's 100th birthday.

Here is another of the Saturn Records which Ra and the Arkestra released independently.
These records are very often entirely unique, with the hand-made artwork sometimes being silk-screened stickers, sometimes magic-marker scribbles, and sometimes both or neither.
This one, as you can see, has magic-marker scribbles on the front cover and on one side of the l.p. center label, which I have presumed is side one.
Both center labels bear the suffix "b" after the serial number, which is almost certainly* the recording date: 72881- July 28th, 1981.
 
On the one occasion when I met Sun Ra, I brought this and my other two Saturn Records (and a postcard of Saturn) and asked him to sign them.
He said "These record covers are meant to be looked at under different colored lights" just as I was pulling out a bunch of different colored large-tipped felt markers, so I said "choose your colors, then".
Thus the very pale blue signature on the back: Le Sun Ra.
(These, along with a signed copy of The Residents' "Mark Of The Mole" are among my most treasured records- not for sale at any price).

Anyway- I have not split the tracks on this record, which alternate between solo synthesizer improvisations and duos with trombone or trumpet, and (on side two) an extended solo with a brief Arkestra explosion as well as an hilarious moment of commentary on Ra's excursions by (I think) John Gilmore and the rest of the band.

From what I can glean from info about the cd release of (among other concurrent work) side two of this l.p. by the Art Yard label, the personnel
(not all of whom are heard on this l.p) is:

Sun Ra And His Omniverse Jet-Set Arkestra:

Sun Ra { synth, organ, vocals }
John Gilmore { tenor sax, percussion, vocals }
Marshall Allen { alto sax, percussion }
Michael Ray { trumpet, vocals }
Danny Thompson { baritone sax, flute, percussion }
Noel Scott { alto sax, vocals }
June Tyson { vocals }
Tyrone Hill { trombone, vocals }
Eloe Omoe { bass clarinet }
Craig Harris  { drums }
Tommy “Bugs” Hunter { drums }
Al Evans { flugelhorn }
Jaribu Shahid { bass }
Samarai Celestial  { drums }
Vincent Chancey { french horn }
Francisco “Ali” Mora { drums, percussion }
Tani Tabbal { drums, percussion }
Bright Moments { congas }
The Bell Brothers { bells }
John Ore { bass }
James Jacson { vocals,  Ancient Egyptian
Infinity Lightning Drum }

Recorded at the Detroit Jazz Center**

(*note: It may be the production or release date and not the recording date-info on this and similar matters is often sketchy or downright contradictory.)

(**The date problem makes this uncertain.)

Put on your Outer-Space
flac
jacket!

Repost News

I re-upped a lot of stuff recently including most of the requests. They're all listed on the "Updates about Old Posts" page. I'll take care of the remaining requests soon. Also, new posts are forthcoming.

The Moog Strikes Bach

Hans Wurman - The Moog Strikes Bach...To Say Nothing of Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Paganini and Prokofieff

LP released in 1969

This is one of those "switched-on" (classical music performed using Moogs or other synthesizer) LPs that were released on the coattails of the popularity of Walter (Wendy) Carlos's Switched-On Bach record. I often find these hit-or-miss. The LP featured in this post is one that I enjoy more than most of the others.
I'm sure this has made the rounds on various blogs in the past (as can be said for almost everything nowadays). I found this copy a couple of months ago. I thought perhaps this could brought back in circulation.

We are witnessing the birth of a new instrument - awesome to contemplate. The Piano, with all the inspiration it provided for composers in the 100 years after its invention, is so limited compared to the Synthesizer that one cannot even hazard a guess as to what effect the latter will have on the course of composition and performance in years to come. (Hans Wurman)

Hans Wurman is a classically trained musician, a pianist basically, but also an organist, cellist and conductor. His musical interests range wide, and perhaps the best demonstration of the fact is that, at this writing, he is both director of musical activities for one of the large Chicago religious organizations and music director of the Chicago company of the hit revue "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." He has the classical musician's discipline coupled with the popular musician's imagination and flexibility.
...
The music chosen for this disc consists mainly of transcriptions, but it also includes a composition written specifically for the occasion.
Chopin's "Black Key" Etude (the right-hand part is played entirely on the black keys of the piano in the original) retains all its fleet-fingered charm as the Moog adds a light countermelody to the rapid melodic line. The Wurman Mooged version of Mozart's Turkish March (originally the final movement of the Sonata in A, K. 331, for piano) brings us the added dimension of bell and percussion effects (created synthetically), such as Mozart and Beethoven used in some of the "Turkish" music they wrote. The Rachmaninoff Vocalise was originally a wordless vocal piece, later transcribed by the composer for strings and since by many others for many combinations of instruments. Note how the Moog can alter the tone character of the melodic line as it moves along. Next comes the Prokofieff Prelude, Op. 12, No. 7, a piece originally written for piano or harp; those glissandos in the middle section of this charming, all-too-seldom-heard piece have never before had quite the treatment that Wurman brings to them!
Hans Wurman speaks of his Variations on the Paganini theme as having been specifically composed for Moog and four-track recorder. In writing them he joins such illustrious company as Liszt, Brahms, Schumann, Rachmaninoff and the contemporaries Blacher and Lutoslawski, all of whom have composed variations on the same theme, itself originally written as the basis for a set of variations in the last of Paganini's 24 unaccompanied violin caprices.
The towering Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, no doubt the best-known of the composer's organ pieces, here receives a performance which particularly displays both the performer's and the instrument's improvisatory capabilities in its concluding pages. The final selection is Mozart's delightful serenade, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, heard in adventurous new sounds that give transparency to the four voices, originally written as string parts.
It's marvelous music, imaginatively realized and beautifully played. And it's great fun, too.  (Norman Pellegrini from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1.  ''Black Key'' Etude, Op. 10, No. 5  {1:33}
Chopin

2.  Turkish March  {3:22}
Mozart

3.  Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14  {6:17}
Rachmaninoff

4.  Prelude, Op. 12, No. 7  {1:54}
Prokofieff

5.  Thirteen Variations on a Theme of Paganini  {10:04}
Wurman

Side 2

1.  Toccata and Fugue in D Minor  {7:15}
Bach

2.  Eine kleine Nachtmusik: I. Allegro  {5:23}
Mozart

3.  Eine kleine Nachtmusik: II. Romanze: Andante  {5:36}
Mozart

4.  Eine kleine Nachtmusik: III. Menuetto: Allegretto  {2:27}
Mozart

5.  Eine kleine Nachtmusik: IV. Rondo: Allegro  {2:48}
Mozart

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Arpa Paraguaya

Jorge Gurascier - Arpa Paraguaya

LP released in 1971

Unfortunately, there is not any useful information to be found about Jorge Gurascier or this particular LP. No liner notes have been provided by the label. All I can say is that if you enjoyed the Paraguayan Harp, Vol. 2 post from last year, you'll enjoy this one.

Tracklisting:

Side A

1.  Pajaro Campana  {4:23}

2.  Canto del Reservista  {3:41}

3.  Rodriquez Pena  {2:03}

4.  Misionera  {3:11}

5.  Que Sera de Ti  {3:30}

6.  Asuncion  {3:10}

Side B

1.  Tren Lechero  {3:06}

2.  Sueno Otonal  {3:47}

3.  Cascada  {3:55}

4.  India  {3:48}

5.  Virgencita de Caacupe  {2:23}

6.  Mis Noches Sin Ti  {3:36}

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Frog Talk

NorthSound - Frog Talk

CD released in 1990

I figured it was time for an actual new post. As usual, my time lately has been occupied by real life. But, hopefully, I can find time to post a little more often as well as re-up more material. I do promise that there will be another new post within the next few days. BTW, check the "Updates about Old Posts" page. I re-upped several posts earlier today.

It's been a long while and long overdue since frogs have last made an appearance. It's as a good time as any since winter is almost over (here in the northern half of the planet).

Since the beginning of time, a nightly chorus of frogs has heralded warm-weathered evenings in the wilderness. The chirps, peeps, and deep-bellied croaks create an auditory enchantment with the power to soothe. The orchestration of a gathering of frogs is not only a delight to the ear, but an indication of the natural evolution of the day. As Thoreau commented: "They would begin to sing almost with as much precision as a clock ... every evening."

Immerse yourself in a serene northwoods chorus of wood frogs, leopard frogs, and spring peepers! These are the same sounds that lulled you to sleep on camping, canoeing, or hiking forays into the wild. These are sounds that have been with humankind since the beginning of time. If you long for tranquility, let the ancient sounds of a spring evening soothe your soul.  (from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

1.  [track 1]  {29:18}

2.  [track 2]  {29:12}

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