Wednesday, October 27, 2010

a bit of Arthur Russell

http://vimeo.com/16158818

Rob Patterson http://ratiofarm.blogspot.com/ made a lovely video of some of my set at the Post Family Gallery in Chicago. Thanks, Rob!

(photo by the Ratiofarm)

Friday, October 22, 2010

some really supportive words from Peter Margasak at the Reader about Architeuthis Walks On Land!

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/10/21/katherine-youngs-bold-bassoon

[K]ickass bassoonist Katherine Young is back in town for a couple of concerts, the first of which is this evening.... During her days in Chicago, Young's regular musical partner was violist Amy Cimini; they both live in New York these days, and they're still playing together. Their long-running duo project Architeuthis Walks on Land recently released its second album, Natura Naturans (Carrier), a bracing blast of free improvisation that benefits from the pair's mutual familiarity—their rapport is clear, whether they're shadowing each other with ghostly harmonics or colliding strident squawks and slashing double stops. Bassoon and viola aren't typically associated with the kind of raw dissonance and extended technique on display here, and "Glitterbird" has an almost Chinese tonality that suggests an erhu-guan duet. Recordings like Natura Naturans vividly refute the claim that free improvisation has worked itself into an idiomatic rut and no longer has the power to surprise. Yes, predictable free improv does happen, but a project like Architeuthis Walks on Land makes it clear that we're not at the end of the line.