Karlheinz Stockhausen: Klavier Stuecke. 1958 (re-released in 1994). HatHut: Hat ART CD 6142.David Tudor: piano
Klavierstücke I - VIII & XI (4 versions)
What a beautiful confluence it was that David Tudor came to these piano pieces as Stockhausen was composing them. These are striking, uncompromisingly Stockhausen-esque ideas realized on the piano in a manner that makes both the instrument and ideas feel so fresh a full half-century after this recording. There's an openness of semi-improvised details within an alternative notation system along with the sonic rigor of serialized component parts that makes this music so intriguing. But it's the pianism of David Tudor that makes this recording incredible - like hearing the Glenn Gould of avant garde music playing one of the 20th century's Well Tuned Claviers. Tudor had an amazing ear for the detail and resonance lurking within these gestures and often pointillistic textures that coaxes so much from a music that tempts cold detachment from performers less sensitive to the many nuances within such challenging material.
Elliott Sharp: Sharp? Monk? Sharp! Monk! - Elliott Sharp plays the music of Thelonious Monk. 2006. Clean Feed: CFG001CD.Elliott Sharp: acoustic guitar
Elliott Sharp's playing answers the same question as emphatically as the title of this set of five monk tunes realized on the Dell Arte Grande Bouche acoustic guitar. With fingers working every part of the instrument - strumming the fingerboard close to the tuning pegs, attacking the instrument at times or coaxing these great melodies from odd angles Sharp embraces the spirit of Thelonius Monk's compositions with an approach that is both personal and respectful. This is music that Sharp has lived with for a long time and it shows with the patience he brings to it along with an instinctive knack for keeping the harmonic underpinnings (an Monk-ish intervallic peculiarities) of these pieces intact.
Leroy Jenkins: Themes & Improvisations on the Blues. 1994. CRI: CD 663.Themes & Improvisations on the Blues (1986)
The Soldier String Quartet
Laura Seaton: violin
David Soldier: violin
Ron Lawrence: viola
Mary Wooton: cello
Panorama 1 (1983)
Leroy Jenkins: violin
Henry Threadgill: flute
Don Byron: clarinet
Marty Ehrlich: bass clarinet
Vincent Chancey: french horn
Off Duty Dryad (1990)
The Soldier String Quartet + bass
Lindsey Horner: bass
Monkey on the Dragon (1989)
Leroy Jenkins: violin
Henry Threadgill: flute
Don Byron: clarinet
Marty Ehrlich: bass clarinet
Janet Grice: bassoon
Vincent Chancey: french horn
Frank Gordon: trumpet
Jeff Hoyer: trombone
Thurman Barker: traps
Myra Melford: piano
David Soldier: violin
Jane Henry: violin
Ron Lawrence: viola
Mary Wooton: cello
Lindsey Horner: bass
Tania Leon: conductor
Chamber works by the late - and sorely missed - jazz violinist. The ensembles offering a multi-instrument blend of the unmistakably playful and melodic sensibilities found in Jenkins' improvising. Added to this compositional base is an earnest restlessness in these pieces as Jenkins works his ideas through toward startling transitions and conclusions. On this pass through the rotation I am struck by Off Duty Dryad for string quintet with its textural shifts and gestures emanating from the lower register of the cello and bass. The personnel assembled for Monkey on the Dragon is stacked with so many musicians and composers that have affected me over the years. It is a particular fascination to hear them assembled to realize Leroy Jenkins' compositional voice. A voice that deserved more concerts such as this one to expose the beauty of his compositional output.
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