New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions,
Oct.-Nov. 2006 (selective list)

Stephen Gorbos

Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. Fantasia ispanica (CD 15227) and Rosario d’arabeschi, Gulistan (CD 15226). Both discs featuring Jonathan Powell, piano. Sorabji, a privileged recluse in the vein of Scelsi, has a biography that has similarly entered the status of “legendary”. As far as the pieces go, imagine the musics of Messiaen and Scriabin mating and producing offspring…very long-winded unremarkable offspring. The Fantasia ispanica owes a wee bit more to the eroticized Spain of Ravel and Debussy. While there are interesting moments, the music on these discs collapses under the strain of its own epic weight.

Real Quiet. Tight Sweater: The Music of Marc Mellits (CD 15229). This disc, featuring 4 pieces by Cornell alum Marc Mellits, runs the gamut of traditionally untranscendant Reich/Bang On A Can imitation (the ensemble Real Quiet shares percussionist David Cossin with the All-Stars). Where this recording departs from traditional Cantaloupe records fare is in its production: the sound is a lot more forward and hard edged, almost like they’re using contact mics on the instruments. In that sense, the very up close sound world is appealingly immediate. While there is undeniably beauty to be found in the tender lyricism of tracks like Sheep Bells from the solo piano opus Agu, I have yet to hear a Mellits piece that does not sound derivative of the slightly older composers that are consistently listed in his press materials. Try a comparison between this disc and the Bang On A Can All-Stars Renegade Heaven (CD 8385) to see what I mean.

Orquestra Sinfonica de Xalapa. Revueltas (CD 15221). This group really captures the ironically quirky nature of Revueltas music. It also contains very informative liner notes that attempt to give the sad biography of Revueltas a context in the post-revolution musical culture of Mexico as a “more authentic” Chavez. These recordings are extremely live and exciting, but a little sloppy in the production. Certain tracks are plagued by what sounds like uneven balance between splices, which is a shame because these performances never lack energy or charm. Most of the scores to these pieces are available in our library, as are several alternate recordings of the pieces collected here: check out CDs 12050 and 10180.

10 + 2 : 12. American Text Sound Pieces (CD 15228). A reissue of a 1750 Arch Records release from 1974, out of print since the early 1980s. As Charles Amirkhanian points out in his liner notes to the reissue, this under theorized sub-genre of 1970s experimental electronic music really has yet to have its history written. Perhaps this is because of the variety contained therein: much like today’s interactive software, the technology and aesthetics were adopted by a wide range of artists - from composers, to poets, to performance artists – with staggeringly different results. The pieces on this recording, all made from recorded spoken texts, range from Anthony Gnazzo’s fanatically minimalist The Population Explosion to Charles Dodge’s vocoded Speech Songs, to the wild In Sara, Mencken, Christ…by Robert Ashley. If you’re into or curious about experimental electronic music or novel approaches to text setting, there is something for you on this recording. I was delighted to find that we still have the original LP in our library’s holdings: apparently it was designed with “lock grooves” at either end of the record, which kept Gnazzo’s piece on side 1 and Aram Saroyan’s similarly obsessive crickets on side 2 spinning into eternity (Rec 1497 T28).

Imaginäre Landschaften. Elektroakustische Musik (CD 15223). Compilation from 2000 of pieces from composers working in Germany. Several of the composers on this disk have had some association with the Akademie der Künste Berlin, and almost all of them were trained in German studios (the pieces themselves were realized at a variety of European studios). What’s nice about this disc is that the concepts behind each of the 8 pieces are as varied as the sounds themselves. All of these pieces were realized in the 1990’s, and although there is some uniformity in the methodology (particularly the slowly-shifting hummmmmm aesthetic) the variety contained is refreshing. Inge Morgenroth’s Requiem für ein Schwein is weird and strangely addicting. The piece sounds like amplified room hum with short samples of, you guessed it, Schwein. And not just any Schwein, little Johnny: we’re talking about polyphonic Schwein. I know their new digs by the canal are going to be great, but why did the “Got Beef” store have to move away from my neighborhood on Seneca Street? I dedicate my performance of Morgenroth’s Requiem to this former cultural pillar of East Seneca Street, soon to be re-opened as Sebastian’s.

Martin Zehn. Olivier Messiaen Vingt Regards Sul L’Enfant-Jesus (CD 15218). Ok. Here’s a trivia question for you: which gaze at the Prince of Peace renders a naked woman in a fetal position on a rock…twice…(there’s another “secret” copy underneath disc two…shhhhh). Just curious. The liner notes, with additional photos of Messiaen, Zehn, and an essay by Dr. Barbara Dobretsberger, don’t even give us a photo credit for the artist who produced that enticing gaze. If you’re wondering where Messiaen’s epic piano work from the 1940s fits into this, you are not alone, but do read on. Zehn’s recording is a little more relaxed than the renditions we have on hand by Aimard and Loriod (CDs 9002 & 2943). While I still think I prefer Aimard’s regal, somewhat stately interpretation, I think Zehn’s might be a bit more intimate. Other releases in Zehn’s effort to record Messiaen’s complete piano works that we have in our library include the Preludes Etudes; Canteyodjaya (CD 14617)

Kairos…the boutique record label of European contemporary music. Klangforum Wien, the house band for Kairos, is at it again on these two releases: Quarderno di strada (CD 15217) and Ultima Thule (CD 15222). The first, featuring music by the Sicilian Salvatore Sciarrino, contains a collection of 13 gorgeous miniatures for baritone and ensemble called Quarderno di strada. These small aphoristic pieces are vintage Sciarrino: two words that continually come to mind when I hear his work are elegant and delicate. The texts are taken from a variety of sources – Roman graffiti, Rilke, and the newspaper in his adopted hometown of Siena (among other sources). The vocal technique is an invention of Sciarrino’s based on an Italian early-baroque style called sillobazione scivolata, which the liner notes describe as a step-wise glissando. One continually finds in his work gripping combinations of unique sounds. These pieces are no exception.

Wolfram Schurig, the composer featured in the second Kairos disc, is a new name to me. A student of Lachenmann from 1992 - 1995, his work has gained popularity in the last 10 years. The music on this disk, while making use of sounds that one could relate to Lachenmann’s music, is distinct, and could possibly be likened to the Sciarrino, albeit a Sciarrino sound world that is much bulkier and about half as subtle. The third and fourth pieces on the disk are concertos for violin and bass clarinet (respectively). They both are quite interesting in how the soloist fades in and out of the ensemble. The other standout on the disk is the title track, Ultima Thule, for 5 ensembles, which could possibly be read as a 21 st century response to Stockhausen’s Gruppen.

John McLaughlin. Industrial Zen (CD 15224). A very typical McLaughlin release, blending thinned-out 1970’s Mahavishnu Orchestra sounds with a synthesizer aesthetic that is perhaps close to Lyle Mays. Joined here by familiar faces Zakir Hussain, Bill Evans (Sax), Dennis Chambers, Shankar Mahadevan and others, McLaughlin continues his journey on the path of blindingly virtuosic fusion. While McLaughlin has been into guitar synthesizers for years, this album feels a bit heavier in that direction than usual. Perhaps this is because virtually every track is accompanied by HEAVY use of synthesizer pads and arpeggiators as filler. The highlight so far has been Wayne’s Way, a tribute to Wayne Shorter. The low point has been the first 5 minutes of Dear Dalai Lama.

The Dutch Jazz Orchestra. The Lady Who Swings the Band: Rediscovered Music of Mary Lou Williams (CD 15225). Premiere recordings of the important bandleader/composer arranger Mary Lou Williams by the excellent Dutch Jazz Orchestra. A project overseen by the director of the Mary Lou Williams Foundation, nine out of these fourteen tracks had yet to be recorded. The playing here is excellent (as are the liner notes), and the pieces, spanning the length of her career, seem like a collection of snapshots from WWII-era big band through the 1960s: one can get a vivid picture of the impressively diverse array of elements that Williams absorbed into her style from this disc. Williams’ music never fit into the stereotypical mold of women put forth in our received jazz history, and it’s good to see that organizations are starting to acknowledge and spend some time with this music. The Dutch Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble that has the state-sponsored freedom to pursue such worthy endeavors, has previously devoted similar care to recording the music of Billy Strayhorn (CD 11174).

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Updated: 13 Dec. 2005