Friday, June 25, 2010

another + review

certainly very high praise! wow!

http://cliffordallen.blogspot.com/2010/06/music-briefly-reviewed-june-2010.html

I’m not sure if it’s right to say that Katherine Young is the Anthony Braxton of the bassoon – probably better to say that she’s a “restructuralist master” of the instrument and/or the Katherine Young of the bassoon. Indeed, she’s worked extensively with Braxton as well as in ensembles directed by composers Andrew Raffo Dewar and Matthew Welch (both also Wesleyan & Braxton alums). Further Secret Origins is Young’s first disc under her own name, presenting seven compositions for bassoon and (occasional) electronics that are both sprawling and economic. The bassoon is really taken to a direct and contemporary point on this recording, and there is no effort made to turn the instrument into something that it isn’t, whether plodding through a maddening pulse track with wonderful cyclical blats and a whimsical multiphonic line on “Patricia Highsmith” or engaging gargled harmonics in concert with rhythmic taps and indeterminate whir on “Elevation.” Certainly Young can produce masses of unruly sound that sometimes recall Braxton’s work on the contrabass clarinet, from hot low outpourings to twittering upper-register whine. A mildly irregular beat and low, uneven tones create much of the landscape on the quarter-hour “For Autonauts, for Travelers,” stark wisps and garish asides stitched into a knotty and unsettling mood. Koan-like quips rest atop looped (and bassoon-generated) rhythms on “Relief,” eventually drawn out into a series of overdubbed tones that waver, buzz, and pucker the ear. Raw and peerless, Katherine Young’s bassoon landscapes deserve serious recognition and study.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Releasing Bound Water in Green Material

well, i was so busy getting ready for this show that i failed to put it up here in advance, but Issue Project Room added me to their WFMU free music archive curated pages, so that's nice.

the show, which was made possible by one of Issue's Emerging Composers Grants, went great (Thursday, June 10, 9:30 pm - - details below) - - thanks to all who came and supported! zam!

FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE announcement
FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE page
> > > < < < > > > < < < > > > < < <>RELEASING BOUND WATER IN GREEN MATERIAL.

the centerpiece of this whole thing is a trio for mixed percussion (gongs, drums, wooden objects, etc), which will be debuted by TimeTable (A. Lipowski, M. Gold, M. Ward).

also performing will be: Jeff Snyder (serge analog synthesizer), Emily Manzo (piano), Dan Peck (tuba), Nathaniel Morgan (saxophone), Jacob Wick (trumpet), and Brad Henkel (trumpet).

AND there will be visuals by artist Michael Kenney, who "will operate a sculpture that externalizes its insides, projecting memories of the objects it contains." (there is a schematic drawing above.)

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Issue Project Room
232 3rd Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://issueprojectroom.org