Scale of the Day: A Phrygian no 4 1% wide

The A Phrygian no 4 1% wide Scale.

Scale of the Day: A Phrygian no 4 mapped to the Triative

The A Phrygian no 4 mapped to the Triative Scale.

HurdAudio Rotation: The Path from Heaven to Minneapolis

Olivier Messiaen: Messiaen Edition [box set] [disc 2]. 2005. Warner Classics: 2564 62162-2.

La Nativite du Seigneur (1935) - Neuf Meditations pour orgue
Le Banquet celeste (1928)
Apparition de l'eglise eternelle (1932)

Marie-Claire Alain: organ

This is the sound of devotion. Organ music born of faith and an expression of Messiaen's Catholicism prior to the trials of his faith that were in store after these pieces were composed. These are also prior to his discovery of bird song as a source of melodic inspiration. The sense of devotion that would carry Messiaen through those trials is already audible. Such faith has an other worldly quality. Without the talented composition and skillful performance by Marie-Claire Alain it would be hard to imagine the particular nerve this music touches.

Miles Davis: The Complete On The Corner Sessions [disc 1]. 2007 (recorded in 1972). Sony BMG Music Entertainment: 88697 06239 2.

Miles Davis: trumpet
Dave Liebman: soprano saxophone
Chick Corea: synthesizer
Herbie Hancock: electric piano, synthesizer, organ
Harold Ivory Williams: organ, synthesizer
John McLaughlin: guitar
Colin Walcott: electric sitar
Michael Henderson: electric bass
Jack DeJohnette: drums
Don Alias: congas, percussion, kalimba, African percussion
Badal Roy: tablas
Billy Hart: wood block, cowbell, percussion, drums
Carlos Garnett: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Bennie Maupin: bass clarinet, flute
Dave Creamer: guitar
Lonnie Liston Smith: electric piano
Al Foster: drums

After such a heavy dose of spiritual edification, On The Corner pulls the body along with unedited master takes of some large ensemble, improvisational funk. Also an expressive necessity no more or less threatening than the devotion of Messiaen. This music created a stir among the jazz intelligentsia and critics of its day. Today it feels incredibly vital and absolutely necessary. A reminder of how aesthetic movements will counter-balance past excesses and gleefully leave behind those not ready to find the road (traveler, there is no road). These deep grooves are to rhythm what Kind of Blue's modal jazz was to harmony. A simplification that reveals incredible potential and an awesome beauty offered to the open ear. The physicality of a sound that invites dance and movement with a gravitational pull of Dionysian abandon.

Happy Apple: Youth Oriented. 2002. Sunnyside Records: SSC 3006.

Erik Fratzke: bass guitar, guitar
Michael Lewis: soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, double bass
David King: drums, toys, waterphone, megaphone, mellotron

Great band. I appreciate the lines Michael Lewis spins through these tracks. The solid bass lines put down by Erik Fratzke. And David King is the same incredible drummer he is with The Bad Plus. You put these three together to realize their own creative compositions and out comes a complete winner like Youth Oriented. The range of textures out of this trio is remarkable. From the punkish energy of "Salmon jump suit" to the protracted open spaces of "Drama section" complete with a multi-stylistically informed range of gleeful genre-bending sounds in between. In a more just world this trio would be an overwhelming presence on the radio and tour circuit.

Scale of the Day: D Sharp Phrygian no 4 mapped to the Square-root-of-2

The intervallic content of the D Sharp Phrygian no 4 mapped to the Square-root-of-2 Scale.

HurdAudio Rotation: I Shot the Sheriff

Charles Ives/Ivan Wyschnegradsky: Quarter-Tone Pieces. 2006. Hat Hut Records: hat[now]ART 143.

Josef Christof: piano
Stefen Schleiermacher: piano

24 Preludes In Quarter-Tone System (excerpts)(1934/70) by Ivan Wyschnegradsky
Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos (1903 - 23) by Charles Ives
Three Page Sonata (1905) by Charles Ives
Etude sur le "Carre Magique Sonore" op. 40 (1957) by Ivan Wyschnegradsky

Where is the obsession due for Ivan Wyschegradsky? Come on, people. He's Russian. Russian composers are supposed to be over-exposed to the point where I'm tired of hearing them (think Shostakovich or Scriabin). He's even a wild-eyed mystic (like Arvo Part). Is it the microtonal thing that's holding back his exposure? Because I scratch and dig for recordings of this cat and I cannot get enough. The excerpts from the 24 Preludes is fantastic. And it's typical in the current recorded oeuvre of Wyschnegradsky that there isn't a complete edition readily available out there. Let's have an all-Wyschnegradsky festival at Tanglewood so these ears can get their fill of this important microtonal composer.

Charles Ives is another composer these ears have enormous appetite for. These works for two pianos tuned a quarter-tone apart are pure joy. And again, I know there is much, much more material like this out there. Hungry ears left hungry well after this beautiful appetizer. Especially the "Chorale" movement from the Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos.

This disc is harmonically rich, rich modernist music beautifully performed. The extra layers of dissonance and consonance afforded from dividing the octave into 24-equal parts opens up surprising vistas that remain an open frontier nearly a full century after these works were composed.

Andrew Violette: Sonata for Unaccompanied Violin. 2008. Innova: 711.

Robert Uchida: violin

A substantial composition for solo violin. Andrew Violette focuses squarely upon the linear development of melodic materials and their formal presentation as base constructs that are systematically and creatively deconstructed, varied and later reassembled.

The first disc of this double-CD includes .pdf files of the score and the liner notes. A practice I heartily applaud as following along with the score reveals the compositional integrity and prolonged focus of this piece. I am struck by the total absence of dynamic markings - leaving interpretive freedom to the individual performer taking on this long form and making it their own (something Robert Uchida has done with enormous musicality). Also missing to a large extent are rests. Or any vibration of string other than bowing (no pizzicato). Other than the space between movements, these are straight melodic slabs that meticulously work through the intervals found within the Aria (and its numerous variations), Bells (later appearing with trills and scales) and a long Chaconne.

Robert Uchida's performance brings this score to life with impressive depth. The prolonged focus upon the linear harmony of this music shimmers with a balance of disciplined playing and humanity. A work worthy of revisiting.

Bob Marley and The Wailers: Burnin'. Premium Audiophile pressing on heavyweight 180 gram vinyl of the 1973 classic. Island Records: 07314 54889414.

"Get up, stand up. Stand up for your rights." Words of truth and words of consequence in regard to fighting on the side of justice for the oppressed. Musically fascinating and resonant as a near-concept album espousing right in the face of power. My younger ears escaped the hook of this music. Now the appeal is immediate and embraced. Add to it the warmth of vinyl with a lazy summer evening and this soul hears something eternal in this expression of honesty combined with the intrinsic musicality of this production.

HurdAudio Rotation: Traveler There Is No Road

Elliott Sharp/Bootstrappers: GI = GO. 1992. Atonal Records: ACD 3014.

Elliott Sharp: guitar, bass clarinet, processing
Jan Kotik: drums, percussion
Thom Kotik: prepared bass

Elliott Sharp working his guitar with a powerful, tight rhythm section from the era when I developed a strong identification with his aesthetic. This sound continues to have a pull for these ears as the familiar timbral language pulses and throbs. The jagged, dissonant angles running in lock step with a forceful willingness to keep time within abrasive materials. While the music has aged well, the titles for these tracks have not. "Optimize My Hard Disk, Baby" makes me cringe over the text even as the improvised sound bearing its name resonates deeply.

Dave Douglas: Freak In. 2003. RCA Victor: 09026-64008-2.

Dave Douglas: trumpet, keyboards, voice
with:
Jamie Saft: keyboards, loops, programming
Marc Ribot: electric guitar
Karsh Kale: tabla, drums
Joey Baron: drums
Romero Lubambo: acoustic guitar
Brad Jones: ampeg baby bass, acoustic bass
Ikue Mori: electronic percussion
Seamus Blake: saxophone
Chris Speed: saxophone, clarinet
Craig Taborn: fender rhodes
Michael Sarin: drums

"Put on your headphones and FREAK IN. Call on world leaders to do the same." I freakin' love Freak In! From the coursing, electric opening of the tablas to the sonic montage of groove and melody to the mellow turns of "Maya" flowing into the explosive 4-against-3 rhythms in "Traveler There Is No Road" this is an assemblage and snapshot of who's who of the downtown New York scene under the relentless creative vision of Dave Douglas. And it just sounds better and solidifies as a touch stone of a sound I simply love. "This is also important. Have fun and don't let them stop you."

Rene Lussier/Martin Tetreault: Dur Noyau Dur. 1997. Ambiances Magnetiques: AM 057 CD.

Rene Lussier: acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Martin Tetreault: tourne-disques, pick-up, radio

This recording places the ears at an extreme proximity to the sounding sources. Ear drums placed impossibly close to the struck guitar string or coursing within the same electrical wiring that powers the amplification of signal and noise. A confluence of free improvisation within musique concrete. Or a musique concrete aesthetic operating within a free improvising duo. A sonic microcosm almost completely devoid of anything beyond its sounding machinations. Noise turning upon an indifference that both challenges one to listen and try to turn away. In the end, the ears return to this world. Changed in some way. Defiantly beautiful. Defiantly ugly.

Scale of the Day: A Phrygian no 4 major 6 mapped to the Square-root-of-2

The A Phrygian no 4 major 6 mapped to the Square-root-of-2 Scale. Plenty of quarter-tones between the harmonically equivalent "tritones."