I listen quite a bit to the nine tracks of guitar stuff you posted
awhile back.
I agree as to the being-there of jazz. But here we have a non-human
player of my compositions... If the player were players, and real
human players at that the compositions may be the same but some of the
effects of liveness would be there too... Mr. Vaio may be a little too
much of a time perfectionist... And, I've yet to find a really
convincing sax sample -- even after spending bank... here, your point
on noise is very very true.... no pad sounds, no growl, no overblown
squeaks...
referencing instrumentation: I think this varies per track ...
something like 'cabbage town' I think is a bit in the weather report
(the zawinul, shorter, pastorious, erskine days) vein...
In terms of arrangement 'fanfarewell' might show more than a little
influence from Pastrious (who in some regards wanted to be Mingus --
as a composer, not a player)... Arranging this piece took longer than
you might think... I mean, the piano is very simple -- but the horns,
noise, bass are heavily orchestrated... 'Mighty Ajax'(actually in
reference to a friend's chihuahua) is something of a perverted
samba... the main verse parts are actually based on a 21 bar 2/4
phrase, so it isn't 4/4/4 all the time... but I think the melody
(which is distributed through the ensemble [or [n]+semble])rides the
beat in a way that the time issue is somewhat hidden... the waltz --
'palais de glace' is inspired by looking at old jules cheret posters
for absinthe and such... 'slow eggs' not sure where this one is coming
from -- I mean, oboe in a little jazz band is not common but seemed
necessary here... this piece did start with the accented a/c/a cadence
-- the melody built out from there, then the glock arpeggio which was
a big pain in the ***....
On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:58:36 -0500 (EST)
Alan Sondheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
You're taking on BlueNote here, was just listening to Herbie Hancock
DVD the other day, incredible stuff, this fits right in, thought the
4/4 would remain really appreciated the waltztime although wondered
about the calliope effect or what I read as such - btw if you have
any comments on the mp3s I've put up wd be glad to hear them -
curious about the instrumentation you're referencing - this is so
fucking sophisticated - clean - brings back memories of Downbeat
magazine, that's still going but it's lost the edge from the Jones'
Applecores days - anyway - you've even got the snare/hihat in there
w/ the echo & that high flute - cool or even cold version of Mingus -
then again I love the being-there of jazz, the _body_ of it, the
real-time edge to it - can't stand those latenight talkshow bands -
Paul Shaffer - all this cymbal work - there's an odd repression to at
least the bands I've listened to - keeping the equalizer even-paced -
I miss Cherry, Pharoah Sanders - that fucking dates me - well I used
to go walking thru Cabbagetown - this is the revised edition - after
the new money moved in - where's Walker Evans when we need him -
there's an existential aspect to the being-outside-of-time in these
peaces - that's cresendos and diminuendos as if there were solos -
but then more - coming in - Ascension on quaaludes to the
incandescent power (The Ogre) - tuned in tuned down - one of the
problems I've got w/ digital - there's no noyz boyz - no string buzz
cough breath errors - don't know if you listened to the Track stuff
I've got up - it's all that - noyz of acoustic guitar - buzz/ -
errors - strin/g slippage - hammer on w/ nail click - times you can
hardly here the cords - alway/s had a problem w/ vibraphone btw -
played xylophone at 1 point - again that hammer sound - vp takes it
all out - anyway - west coast jazz - cool jazz - continuous
transmutation of form - wonder about the beat - the 4/4/4 the most
part but then I'm tired of breathing that way - prefer the 1/1 of
fast new music - which can go to X/Y or any such - depends and
usually doesn't - or nothing - when Ayler and friends loosen out into
that boundary no-man's no-woman's either between open/close
statements - lost in the bridge of infinitude - infinite speedup
sends it Coleman or sum such - those fast riffs all orderly - I'm
always wondering about beauty - that split in yr work - between the
scratch-lexture and the cool jazz stuff - prefer the chalk but that's
the annihilation/apocalypse in me talking - these are unutterably
beautiful - alan
On Sat, 17 Dec 2005, Talan Memmott wrote:
Blue Node // [N]+Semble
Seven, count 'em seven new tracks from [N]+Semble.
A little jazzier than the previous album, PulpCycle.
http://memmott.org/nsemble/
comments?
For URLs, DVDs, CDs, books/etc. see
http://www.asondheim.org/advert.txt .
Contact: Alan Sondheim, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
General
directory of work: http://www.asondheim.org .
