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From: owner-zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (Zorn List Digest) To: zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: Zorn List Digest V3 #813 Reply-To: zorn-list Sender: owner-zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Zorn List Digest Sunday, March 10 2002 Volume 03 : Number 813 In this issue: - Re: *Sigh* Record Players Masada -- First Live Performance? Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? Re: A bit more cello Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? Zorn's Rituals Re: A bit more cello RE: Zorn's Rituals Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 16:08:22 -0800 From: Jim Flannery <newgrange@sfo.com> Subject: Re: *Sigh* Record Players hatta wrote: > So what do people recommend for a person to purchase who doesn't > want to blow the "proverbial wad" and intends to only use the record > player to transfer the records The only limits there are, you want the player to be good *enough* that you're getting a reasonable reproduction of what's actually on the vinyl, and you want to not *damage* the record in the process. For your purposes, you'd probably be happy with the Music Hall MMF-2.1, a decent entry-level table that'll run you less than $300. I *would* advise buying from a real (meatspace) dealer rather than mail/web order, as you're probably better off having the shop set up the table (install cartridge, balance arm, etc.) than trying to do it yourself the first time at home. - -- - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim Flannery newgrange@sfo.com "Unexamined assumptions and axioms can be collected the way one might collect stamps." -- James Elkins np: Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast, _s/t_ nr: Philip K. Dick, _The Dark Haired Girl_ - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 02:21:45 EST From: Samerivertwice@aol.com Subject: Masada -- First Live Performance? Has anyone heard about Koch releasing a disc called Masada: First Live 1993? CDUNIVERSE.com has it listed as being released on 4/23 -- the same day as the live Naked City disc. http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=3070497&cart=118628234& style=music Tom - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 09:42:48 -0500 From: James Hale <jhale@sympatico.ca> Subject: Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? - --------------306F9AA7E5E59C98E6DE7B50 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going to put this out. Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. James Hale Samerivertwice@aol.com wrote: > Has anyone heard about Koch releasing a disc called Masada: First Live 1993? > CDUNIVERSE.com has it listed as being released on 4/23 -- the same day as the > live Naked City disc. > > http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=3070497&cart=118628234& > style=music > > Tom > > - - --------------306F9AA7E5E59C98E6DE7B50 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going to put this out. Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. James Hale Samerivertwice@aol.com wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>Has anyone heard about Koch releasing a disc called Masada: First Live 1993? CDUNIVERSE.com has it listed as being released on 4/23 -- the same day as the live Naked City disc. <a href="http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=3070497&cart=118628234&">http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=3070497&cart=118628234&</a> style=music Tom -</blockquote> </html> - --------------306F9AA7E5E59C98E6DE7B50-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 12:27:36 -0500 From: Mathieu =?iso-8859-1?Q?B=E9langer?= <mathieu.belanger@UMontreal.CA> Subject: Re: A bit more cello Hello, >I just have one more question: Fred Lonberg-Holm? >(...) >So what gives. Any further recommendations for this guy? I can only comment on what I've heard, but I guess it's better than nothing.= =2E. If you liked what you've heard with the Boxhead Ensemble, then you probably will want to pick up the other Boxhead's album he was involved in. He played on their last three releases: _The Last Place To Go_, _Niagara Falls EP_ and _Two Brothers_. The first one is from the European tour for the _Dutch Harbor_, the second from the American tour. My favorite is the ep followed by the recent _Two Brothers_. In the melodic/quiet/etc. genre, Terminal 4 and Pillow have some nice moments. Terminal 4 is FLH with Ben Vida on guitar, Jeb Bishop on guitar and trombone and Josh Abrams on bass. They have one album on Truck Stop Media. I was not so impressed at first, but I played it again yesterday and it's quite nice actually. There is one song with a singer which doesn't fit so well with the rest in my opinion, but the song itself and the rest is very good. Pillow is Micheal Colligan on reeds and dry ice, Liz Payne on bass, Ben Vida on guitar and FLH. They have three albums. The first one is on Boxmedia, but I doubt it's still available. It was a 250 edition... It's quite good though and could be my favorite of the three. The second is called _Fields on Water_ and was an lp-only release. It's good (actually played it this week and better than the impression I had from the previous times), but probably not enough to buy a turntable just to play it. The third one was released in September if I remember correctly and is called Three Henries. It's better than the second one and it explores similar paths. Both of these projects have similarities with Town & Country, which is not so surprising considering Josh Abrams, Ben Vida and Liz Payne play in Town & Country. You probably will want to look for their albums even though FLH is not involved in this band. _It All Has To Do With It_ is definitely my favorite. The first one is good too but I can't say the _Decoration Day_ ep impressed me. I haven't heard the recent _C'mon_, but they apparently explore more repetition. There are also a few "non-melodic" improv albums: _Claque_ with Axel D=F6rner and Michael Zerang, _First Meeting_ with Jaap Blonk and Micheal Zerang, _35 Grapes (19 Shown)_ with Michael Zerang, _Site Specific_ with various guitarists and a solo album called _Personal Scratch_. I haven't listened to most of these recently, but I remember enjoying the duo album with Michael Zerang and _Site Specific_. Not that the others are bad though... If you don't already own them, both albums by the Peter Br=F6tzmann Chicago Tentet on Okka are essential: the eponymous 3 cd set and _Stone/Water_. FLH is sometimes a little in the back in the mix, but the music is great. He was also involved in Cornelius Cardew's _Treatise_ with Guillermo Gregorio, Carrie Biolo, Jim O'Rourke, Jim Baker, piano & synthesizer and Art Lange. If you liked what you've heard with the Flying Luttenbachers, there is an album with Walter Weasael and Jim O'Rourke on Grob. Heavy improv! There is also a cd with John Corbett and another guy whose name I forget at the moment and another one called _I'm Sick About My Hat_ by John Corbett and Heavy Friends where JC is joined by some "friends/musicians". Nothing essential here in my opinion. There is an interview with Lonberg-Holm that I have just found where he discuss some of his projects: http://www.croutonmusic.com/zine_lonberg.html A search on Google for =46red Lonberg-Holm could probably be helpful too. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but I guess it's a start... Hope it helps, Mathieu - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 10:00:19 -0800 From: skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? > This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. - --MS_Mac_OE_3098599219_189001_MIME_Part Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit on 3/10/02 6:42 AM, James Hale at jhale@sympatico.ca wrote: Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going to put this out. Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. James Hale Yeah, but Dave, Joey, and Greg are all spotless readers. Not a deterrent. skip h - --MS_Mac_OE_3098599219_189001_MIME_Part Content-type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Masada -- First Live Performance?</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> on 3/10/02 6:42 AM, James Hale at jhale@sympatico.ca wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going to= put this out. Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. James Hale </BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, but Dave, Joey, and Greg are all spotless readers. Not a deterr= ent. skip h </BODY> </HTML> - --MS_Mac_OE_3098599219_189001_MIME_Part-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 14:23:37 -0500 From: James Hale <jhale@sympatico.ca> Subject: Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? - --------------8F57811CE5756BC675B49A00 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Absolutely, but even Dave was interested in hearing what he sounded like negotiating the early Masada book on their first date. James skip Heller wrote: > on 3/10/02 6:42 AM, James Hale at jhale@sympatico.ca wrote: > > > Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going > to put this out. > Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. > > James Hale > > > > Yeah, but Dave, Joey, and Greg are all spotless readers. Not a > deterrent. > > skip h - --------------8F57811CE5756BC675B49A00 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Absolutely, but even Dave was interested in hearing what he sounded like negotiating the early Masada book on their first date. James skip Heller wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>on 3/10/02 6:42 AM, James Hale at jhale@sympatico.ca wrote: <blockquote>Dave Douglas told me a couple of years ago that JZ was going to put this out. Dave is sight-reading all his parts on it. James Hale </blockquote> Yeah, but Dave, Joey, and Greg are all spotless readers. Not a deterrent. skip h</blockquote> </html> - --------------8F57811CE5756BC675B49A00-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 15:11:11 -0500 From: Jonas Leddington <JLeddington@SARDVERB.com> Subject: Zorn's Rituals Hi - Zorn's Rituals received its US premier last night (see below). I understand it has been performed elsewhere (Japan, more?) and that it may have been recorded. Has anyone heard it? I found it convoluted and repetitive, and am eager for other views. His other compositions -- including such ones as Memento Mori, for instance -- I've found much more inriguing, inviting and whole. (Obviously, I disagree with Lubman's characterizations below, but could be convinced to re-approach the piece.) Rgds, Jonas AMERICAN PREMIERE OF ZORN'S 'RITUALS' PRESENTED BY EASTMAN'S MUSICA NOVA AT COOPER UNION New York, NY - "It's as multi-faceted as the composer himself," is how Bradley Lubman, music director of the Eastman School of Music's Musica Nova, describes John Zorn's Rituals, a 30' work being given its American premiere by that ensemble in The Great Hall at Cooper Union (East 7th Street at 3rd Avenue) on Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. Lubman has been studying the score to this mammoth 1998 work for singer plus 10 instruments, and calls the piece "an amazing adventure," with "virtuoso writing and original sound textures that make the piece absolutely refreshing." - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 13:50:26 -0800 From: Jim Flannery <newgrange@sfo.com> Subject: Re: A bit more cello Mathieu B=E9langer wrote: >=20 > I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but I guess it's a start... To cover a different base, tho I'm sure not exhausting the discography,=20 there's _Theory of Motion_ from 1990 (Curious/Pogus) which includes=20 Braxton and Winant, among others, often in more of an=20 academic/composition vein, with some very nice solo tracks folded in the=20 middle. Oh, and on yet another planet, FLH also plays on Zeek Sheck's _Good Luck=20 Suckers_. - --=20 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim Flannery newgrange@sfo.com "Unexamined assumptions and axioms can be collected the way one might collect stamps." -- James Elkins np: Music Emporium, _s/t_ nr: Philip K. Dick, _The Dark Haired Girl_ - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 17:34:21 -0500 From: "Steve Smith" <ssmith36@sprynet.com> Subject: RE: Zorn's Rituals I found Rituals to be another pretty damned exceptional recent Zorn concert music piece - and in general, I find that his concert pieces are becoming more and more convincing and less derivative. The piece, in five movements stretching out over 30 minutes, was scored for soprano vocalist, violin, cello, bass, flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet (doubling E-flat and bass clarinets), oboe, bassoon (doubling contrabassoon), trombone, piano (doubling organ and harpsichord) and two percussionists (with massive resources to marshall, from tuned percussion to gongs, wind chimes, water gong, two wind machines, two bull roarers, bird calls and even more surprising elements). The Eastman students played with remarkable skill and poise, meeting Zorn's outrageous demands with more success than quite a number of "professional" performances I've heard. The essentially episodic nature of Zorn's compositional voice continues to come through, but I refuse to hear this as a liability - it's just who he is. But I must admit, I did wonder if there was an unstated "program" of some sort behind the piece. Given the title and the fact that at one point during the final movement, one of the percussionists was called upon to shovel dirt in a wooden box, you couldn't help but wonder who was being buried, and why. Anyway, it certainly made for a welcome and engaging theatricality. As Jonas noted, there was an element of repetition of certain elements across the movements, but I thought this added a certain unity and a conceptual through-line to the relatively large-scale work. I'll just add to this that as a percussionist by training, I've noted that many composers don't seem to have an intuitive grip on writing effectively for percussion: for instance, Varese and Rouse certainly do; Carter, aside from the solo timpani pieces, generally doesn't. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Zorn does, absolutely. He calls for extremely unorthodox effects - at one point, the two percussionists were both whirling ball bearings in metal mixing bowls of different sizes at different speeds; at another, one percussionist removed the canvas cover from his wind machine and rotated its handle while sticking a bit of 2x4 wooden plank between the barrel's ribs. Zorn seems to be able to realize and score virtually any sonority he can imagine; wedded to that imagination, the results can be impressive indeed. (As visiting Texan Z-lister Brent Fariss and I returned to the empty auditorium to retrieve something we'd left behind, I saw the two percussionists carrying the sandbox out. I offered them a personal round of applause and some witty and original observation like, "Oh-My-Gawd." One of them replied, "Dude, that's what WE'VE been saying all week...") This is not to sell anyone else's efforts short. In particular, the woodwinds, violinist and pianist were especially distinguished. From a nostalgic point of view, it was a pleasant surprise to hear an electronic organ making "that sound" we all know so well from the Elektra recordings like 'Big Gundown' and 'Spillane.' The soprano had little more to sing than raltively conservative wordless vocalises - no Shelley Hirsch glossolalia or Diamanda shrieks - but these she handled quite well. The cellist played well, breaking a string at one point and recovering nicely; the trombonist also seemed to handle Zorn's demands, and if I felt a certain shortcoming in that department, it's most likely only in comparison to the very individual and agressive style of the Downtown trombonists of Zorn's earlier recordings, like Lewis and Staley - which is a hell of a lot to expect a student to live up to. Only the bassist seemed curiously detatched. The audience was on the smallish side, filling less than half of the hall; how much this had to do with a new concert series and limited publicity and how much it had to do with a pairing with the frequently arid serialism of Charles Wuorinen is up for debate. To be honest, I enjoyed parts of the two Wuorinen pieces, but ultimately they weren't anything for I could work up a great deal of general enthusiasm, though Wuorinen has in fact written some damned engaging music in his day, including the wonderful Percussion Symphony. (Interesting to note that Tzadik is about to issue a Wuorinen disc, including a new remastering of his Pulitzer-winning electronic piece 'Time's Encomium.') But the crowd was populated by a number of New York new-music concert scene movers and shakers (including programmers from the Miller Theatre, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Lincoln Center Festival) and fellow composers and artists (Ikue Mori, Annie Gosfield, Fred Sherry and Fred Ho), which made it feel a bit more like the significant event it was. Avant-minded senior citizens mixed with students with jeans and backpacks. The Times, alas, couldn't be bothered to send out a reviewer, to the concert promoter's bitter chagrin, but a newly shorn Zorn seemed quite happy with the performance. I don't mean to rebut anything that Jonas stated - certainly music remains among the more subjective artistic experiences - but alongside the string quartets and the violin concerto Contes des Fees, I actually thought Rituals was one of Zorn's more fully realized and engaging concert pieces, and one I'd be happy to hear again. There was no sign of any recording activity in the hall (Bruce Gallanter aside, perhaps), but I for one would welcome it. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - Derek Bailey and Jamie Muir, "I soon learned to know this flower better," 'Dart Drug' (Incus) - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 17:22:16 -0800 From: skip Heller <velaires@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Masada -- First Live Performance? on 3/10/02 4:04 PM, Banjology at banjology@yahoo.com wrote: > > >> Yeah, but Dave, Joey, and Greg are all spotless >> readers. Not a deterrent. >> >> skip h > > Joey Baron doesn't read music > That's completely incorrect. I don't know who told you that. skip h - - ------------------------------ End of Zorn List Digest V3 #813 ******************************* To unsubscribe from zorn-list-digest, send an email to "majordomo@lists.xmission.com" with "unsubscribe zorn-list-digest" in the body of the message. For information on digests or retrieving files and old messages send "help" to the same address. Do not use quotes in your message. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "zorn-list-digest" in the commands above with "zorn-list". Back issues are available for anonymous FTP from ftp.xmission.com, in pub/lists/zorn-list/archive. These are organized by date. Problems? Email the list owner at zorn-list-owner@lists.xmission.com