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Zorn List Digest        Friday, April 10 1998        Volume 02 : Number 321



In this issue:
-
       Tom Cora R.I.P.
       Residents name / identity
       Re: plicky plicky plock
       Re: wynton marsalis
       Re: plicky plicky plock
       Re: plicky plicky plock
       Re: Tom Cora R.I.P.
       re: the residents
       Re: Music School vs. Music Lover
       Re: Residents name / identity
       Passover netcast from Lincoln Center
       Schoolers .vs. Lovers
       Henry Cow

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:32:11 +0200
From: Julien Quint <[e-mail]>
Subject: Tom Cora R.I.P.

Sad news: it seems that Tom Cora died of cancer this week. He had been sick
for some time now, but never gave up and tried to play music as long as he
could. Just two weeks ago he was on stage in Lyon playing with Roof, putting
all his energy in his music.

Tom Cora was a great musician and will sorely be missed.

*
Julien


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 11:38:49 +0200
From: Julien Quint <[e-mail]>
Subject: Residents name / identity

Gauthier Michelle A <[e-mail]> said:
> The Residents have never officially revealed their identities-- yet
> there is profoud speculation/rumors as to who they actually are... I
> know many people MUST know who they in fact are, such as other
> musicians... I've been told that Fred Frith has played with them
> before. I have always heard that they hailed from San Francisco-- or
> at least if they are from La, they didn't remain there too long. I
> heard that they acquired their name like this: They showed up at a
> club that they were not even booked to perform at, got up on the stage
> and just began playing "music"... people were asking their band name,
> astonished by the music...  their only claim was that they were the
> "residents" of this club at that particular time... the name
> supposedly stuck after that....

From what I know (most of this information I got from the excellent RzWeb
website: http://www.residents.com) the Residents were originally from
Louisiana and decided to move to SF. They sent tapes to record company with a
return address but no name whatsoever, so when the tapes were sent back they
were sent to the "residents" of said address. The name is supposed to come
from here.

Fred Frith did play with the Residents (on the Commercial Album, and maybe on
some other occasions) which led people to think he was one of the Residents
(the same kind of reasoning led people to think that Frank Zappa, Snakefinger,
the Beatles, Laurie Anderson, and so on were also in the Residents.) My
current favorite answer to "Who are the Residents?" is from Frank Pahl* who
played with Brian Poole of Renaldo and the Loaf -- also rumored to be in the
Residents, of course -- on different occasions. He said that Brian Poole told
him that having met the Residents on different occasions, he could reveal the
shocking truth: tha group was really composed of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

(I guess that would make swiss cheese out of the Louisiana origin theory.)

Any other funny/serious opinions on who the Residents really are?

*
Julien




* Shameless plug: Frank Pahl's latest CD "Remove the Cork" is out now on the
Demosaurus label, featuring guests Eugene Chadbourne, Brian Poole, Denis
Palmer and many others... e-mail [e-mail] for info. Sorry for the
spamming.


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 08:01:39 -0500
From: Rich Williams <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: plicky plicky plock

FUNKADELlC wrote:
>
> okay okay okay.... someone gimme the lowdown on Henry Cow... should i shell
> out my money for this stuff?

    Well, if a band that mixes equal parts of Chamber music, progressive
rock, and free-improv sounds good to you, then you should definitely
check them out.

Rich

- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 09:17:32 -0400
From: "Chris Barrett" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: wynton marsalis

>Yes, you did interpret me wrong.  What I saw and responded to was some
>musical snobbery that I have seen too often and can't stand; this
>fallacy that training and chops = no heart and no ears.  Garbage.

Cool.  I was hoping that was the case.....

- -Chris



- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:31:11 -0400
From: philz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: plicky plicky plock

>FUNKADELlC wrote:
>>
>> okay okay okay.... someone gimme the lowdown on Henry Cow... should i shell
>> out my money for this stuff?
>
>Grab the first album (the one with Nirvana for Mice) immediately! Then
>go for the "Concerts" album.

Personally I find I listen to the albums after Henry Cow fused with Slapp
Happy, such as _Desperate Straights_ and _In Praise of Learning,_ more than
I do the instrumental records, though they're all, imho, excellent
releases.  Also excellent are the News from Babel releases (reissued on ReR
on 1 cd) and, of course, the Art Bears releases, particularly _Hopes and
Fears_.

philz



- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:32:12 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Caleb Deupree)
Subject: Re: plicky plicky plock

>>>>> "FUNKADELlC" == FUNKADELlC  <[e-mail]> writes:

    FUNKADELlC> okay okay okay.... someone gimme the lowdown on Henry
    FUNKADELlC> Cow... should i shell out my money for this stuff?

First album, Legend (1968), all instrumental and very well done.  This
got me hooked the first time I heard it, and opened up a whole new
world for me of the Recommended (now ReR) label, Chris Cutler, Fred
Frith, et al., with all the wonderful music they led me to (probably
even to Zorn when Frith went to New York).

They joined forces with a poppish group, Slapp Happy, and put out a
couple of records with both names.  First introduction of Dagmar
Krause on vocals.  I personally found that her voice took some getting
used to, and when I listen to these old Cow records I still find it a
little grating, although I've come to like some of her more recent
work (e.g., Domestic Stories).

Then there's the concert recordings, much more improv than the studio
records (and the first not released by Virgin, as I remember).  Some
of the studio cuts redone as well.

Their last album, Western Culture (1978), was their first on
Recommended, and back to all instrumental.  I also like this album a
lot.

One could also mention Art Bears, whose first album (featuring Frith,
Cutler, and Dagmar) was intended to be a Henry Cow album, but not all
members of the group agreed to the material.  Still available on ReR.

I have all of these on vinyl, so I don't listen to them all that
much.  The Virgin releases have been reissued on CD, but the Wayside
catalog said that they had been radically and unsympathetically
remixed, so perhaps some kind of caveat is in order (they aren't
listed in the current Wayside).  They have one song on the Rhino
history of progressive rock, from the poppy Dagmar album, which is not
terribly representative of their best work.

IMO, their instrumental work is their most interesting (but then I'm
not much on songs anyway).  Fairly complex and clever arrangements and
instrumentals, odd time signatures, etc..  Legend is somewhat lighter
in tone than Western Culture, which came after ten grueling years of
touring and politicizing, and which sounds more labored (but also more
complex).

They probably sound a little dated now, and they are definitely in the
progressive rock vein.  You can check out the Gibralter Encyclopedia
of Progressive Rock (http://www.ari.net/prog/gepr/) for more info, and
Fred Frith also has an interesting site at http://www.fredfrith.com.



- ---
Caleb T. Deupree
;; Opinions are not necessarily shared by management

Computers are useless.  They can only give you answers.
(Pablo Picasso)


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:49:45 -0400
From: philz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Tom Cora R.I.P.

>Sad news: it seems that Tom Cora died of cancer this week. He had been sick
>for some time now, but never gave up and tried to play music as long as he
>could. Just two weeks ago he was on stage in Lyon playing with Roof, putting
>all his energy in his music.
>
>Tom Cora was a great musician and will sorely be missed.


*sigh*

say it's not true...

Skeleton Crew/Roof/Curlew/The Ex/John Zorn/David Moss/Eugene
Chadbourne/Third Person/The Hat Shoes/Catherine Jauniaux/countless other
collaborations...

I'm going to miss this amazing voice, my favorite cellist ever, a monster
on the instrument and an excellent conceptualist...


            Rip up the afterlife, Tom!


philz



- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 10:17:34 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Joseph S. Zitt" <[e-mail]>
Subject: re: the residents

On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, Gauthier Michelle A wrote:

> I heard that they acquired their name like this:
> They showed up at a club that they were not even booked to perform at, got
> up on the stage and just began playing "music"... people were asking their
> band name, astonished by the music...  their only claim was that they were
> the "residents" of this club at that particular time... the name
> supposedly stuck after that....

The story I heard was that they sent a demo to Warner Brothers with a
return address but no band name. Warners sent it back addressed to
"Residents".
- - ---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1---------1----------
|||/ Joseph Zitt ===== [e-mail] ===== Human Systems \|||
||/ Maryland? = <*> SILENCE: The John Cage Mailing List <*> = ecto \||
|/ http://www.realtime.net/~jzitt ====== Comma: Voices of New Music \|


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 12:20:37 -0600 (CST)
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Music School vs. Music Lover

I have been in school for some time studying to be a professional
musician.  I think the reason why many 'schooled' musicians place emphasis
on technical ability is because much of what is stressed in school is
technique.
The goal of most musicians I know and admire, I think, is to make great
music, and for many musicians, classical music is the choice of
performance---I must say that it is very difficult to pull off a
Rachmaninoff piano concerto if you can't play your scales, or a set of
Paginini variations if you can't move your fingers quickly.  I cannot
make excuses for bad musicians, but I must defend musicians who
practice their technique in order to reach a higher goal.

I don't think Mr. Marsalis is a genius; I think technically speaking, he
is a wunderkind---the knock on him, among jazz and classical players
alike, that I've heard, is that he's a self-righteous ass.  I wonder if a
lot of criticism isn't based on persona, rather than on music.

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998, Christopher Hamilton wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, 9 Apr 1998, George Grella wrote:
>
> > It is the "music lovers" whose
> > dollars lead to the "top 40" programming of classical organizations like
> > the New York Phil [their new season schedule is just appalling,
> > seemingly dictated by the marketing department], while musicians gnash
> > their teeth in frustration over not getting anything that is risky.
>
> While I've known plenty of adventurous-minded, conservatory-trained
> musicians and thus wouldn't want to endorse Peter's generalization, I
> don't buy this general take either.  (It may be true of the New York
> Phil; I have no way of knowing what its members would like to be
> playing.)  A local chamber orchestra consisting largely of music students
> has constant conflicts with its director when he wants to play music
> composed since 1900.
>
>      Some attitudes I've encountered among schooled musicians include:
> Free improvisation is dubious because it's open to fakery.  All free jazz
> is fraudulant because you just play random notes.  A considerable amount
> of technique is required to play good music (used to dismiss Arto
> Lindsay).  A considerable knowledge of theory is required to be a real
> musician (used to dismiss Bootsy Collins).  Three of these claims were
> made by people who attributed their views to their schooling.
>
>      Of course, the director of the local chamber orchestra mentioned
> above is also a schooled musician.  The point isn't that schooled
> musicians are in general narrow in their appreciation of music, but only
> that some are.  I doubt that those with attitudes like the ones I've cited
> are the rule, but I also doubt that they're as much an aberration as
> George suggests.
>
>      I also think Peter has a point, although I don't think schooling has
> much to do with it.  Many musicians do overrate technique's importance, to
> the point of admiring other musicians for their speed rather than their
> music.  But I've encountered this attitude among only
> non-conservatory-trained musicians (like myself).  This might indeed be
> one reason why someone thinks Marsalis is a genius.
>
> Chris Hamilton
>
>
> -
>
>


- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 14:21:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ken Waxman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Residents name / identity

The residents? What about the Brian Poole cited below? Wasn't he the lead
singer of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes who had a 1960s British Invasion
hit with "Here Comes My Baby"? I thought he had become a professional
butcher.

Ken Waxman
[e-mail]

adding some useless musical trivia





On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, Julien Quint wrote:

> Gauthier Michelle A <[e-mail]> said:
> > The Residents have never officially revealed their identities-- yet
> > there is profoud speculation/rumors as to who they actually are... I
> > know many people MUST know who they in fact are, such as other
> > musicians... I've been told that Fred Frith has played with them
> > before. I have always heard that they hailed from San Francisco-- or
> > at least if they are from La, they didn't remain there too long. I
> > heard that they acquired their name like this: They showed up at a
> > club that they were not even booked to perform at, got up on the stage
> > and just began playing "music"... people were asking their band name,
> > astonished by the music...  their only claim was that they were the
> > "residents" of this club at that particular time... the name
> > supposedly stuck after that....
>
> >From what I know (most of this information I got from the excellent RzWeb
> website: http://www.residents.com) the Residents were originally from
> Louisiana and decided to move to SF. They sent tapes to record company with a
> return address but no name whatsoever, so when the tapes were sent back they
> were sent to the "residents" of said address. The name is supposed to come
> from here.
>
> Fred Frith did play with the Residents (on the Commercial Album, and maybe on
> some other occasions) which led people to think he was one of the Residents
> (the same kind of reasoning led people to think that Frank Zappa, Snakefinger,
> the Beatles, Laurie Anderson, and so on were also in the Residents.) My
> current favorite answer to "Who are the Residents?" is from Frank Pahl* who
> played with Brian Poole of Renaldo and the Loaf -- also rumored to be in the
> Residents, of course -- on different occasions. He said that Brian Poole told
> him that having met the Residents on different occasions, he could reveal the
> shocking truth: tha group was really composed of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
>
> (I guess that would make swiss cheese out of the Louisiana origin theory.)
>
> Any other funny/serious opinions on who the Residents really are?
>
> *
> Julien
>
>
>
>
> * Shameless plug: Frank Pahl's latest CD "Remove the Cork" is out now on the
> Demosaurus label, featuring guests Eugene Chadbourne, Brian Poole, Denis
> Palmer and many others... e-mail [e-mail] for info. Sorry for the
> spamming.
>
>
> -
>
>

- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 13:54:21 -0700
From: Todd Bramy <[e-mail]>
Subject: Passover netcast from Lincoln Center

Everybody see this?:


           CYBERSEDER TO BRING OUT MUSICAL ALL-STARS
           Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and John Zorn will be featured in
           a Passover netcast from Lincoln Center. If all goes as
           planned, it could give the still-embryonic business of
           netcasting a shot in the arm.
           . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/other/culture/story/11605.html

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Todd Bramy
[e-mail]
http://www.oz.net/~tbramy
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
"I don't want to spend my life explaining myself. You either get it or you
don't."
Frank Zappa
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````



- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 21:06:07 UT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Schoolers .vs. Lovers

Alright, I was making a sweeping generalization in my first post which was very
wrong.

On further review, it seems that musical tastes run in the same percentages
inside music schools as outside.  I remember taking a music history course that
painted Cage and Stockhausen as fools, and Reich and Glass as putterers.  So,
that just goes to show ya... something.  In any case, I will say that musical
schooling doesn't necessarily make musicians more open to obscure musicalities,
although it may offer more access, and I suppose it could depend on the school
too.  But there were plenty of people in the orchestra trying to figure out why
they should bother playing the Cage piece, when it "just sounded like everyone
was playing at once..."

Also, I will say I've known many instrumentalists to award interest based solely
on technique.  Like my one flautist friend who didn't like Jethro Tull because
Ian whoosit overblows his flute, or the other who couldn't stand Mississippi
Fred McDowell because he always sounded out of tune, or the recording of Cello
Suites I love, because the guy's "phrasing was all wrong."  In the meantime,
like I said, they rave about Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, who put out amazingly
sterile music, but with excellent speed and technique.

I guess they're entitled to their opinions, but it seems like they're missing
the point of the performance if they can't hear past that.  That's what I'm
saying, I guess.
Sorry to piss anyone off.
It *was* a bad generalization.

PeterR

===
Peter Risser, Senior Consultant, Norrell Information Services
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

[Yeah, I just figured out how to do this...:)]

- -

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 14:59:06 -1000
From: [e-mail] (Stephen Funk)
Subject: Henry Cow

Once upon I time I bought the 3 Henry Cow ablums, "In Praise Of Learning",
"Legend", and I forget the other. Had heard a lot about them, was curious.

Listened a few times, never listened to them again. Didn't really do much
for me. Sort of dry "art rock" or something, couldn't really appreciate
their style.

I do have the Slapp Happy CD, "Acnalbasac Noom", which I liked a lot and
still listen to occasionally. More on the tuneful side of things.

Just one man's experience.

- - Steve



- -

------------------------------

End of Zorn List Digest V2 #321
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