HurdAudio Rotation: Of Ergodicity and Dance

James Tenney: Melody, Ergodicity and Indeterminacy. 2007. Mode Records: 185.

Featuring performers from The Barton Workshop

Poem (1955)
Jos Zwaanenburg: flute

Ergodos I (1963)
tape music

Monody (1959)
John Anderson: clarinet

Ergodos II (1964)
tape music

Seegersong #1 (1999)
John Anderson: clarinet

String Complement (with Ergodos II) (1964)
Jacob Plooij: violin
Manuel Visser: viola
Nina Hitz: cello
Stefan Pliquett: contrabass

Seegersong #2 (1999)
Jos Zwaanenburg: flute

Instrumental Responses (with Ergodos I) (1964)
Jos Zwaanenburg: flute
John Anderson: bass clarinet
James Fulkerson: trombone
Krijn van Arnhem: bassoon
Jacob Plooij: violin
Manuel Visser: viola
Nina Hitz: cello
Stefan Pliquett: contrabass
Tobias Liebezeit: percussion
Charles van Tassel: baritone

Ergodos III (1994)
Frank Denyer: piano
Nora Mulder: piano

Percussion Response (with Ergodos I) (1964)
Tobias Liebezeit: percussion

Ergodicity is a formal and textural quality where each moment is statistically the same as any other moment from the same composition. It is a quality that marks much of Morton Feldman's music. And it was an aesthetic fascination with my friend and former composition teacher James Tenney. This turning toward non-dramatic form and content was a consistent and heart felt decision. In part a reaction to an abundance of media, marketing and institutional bias toward directing or manipulating people's feelings. In part a sensitivity to the feelings and inner life that people naturally have when it's not being drowned out through advertising or driven away through escapism. An inner life that is rarely afforded space in a contemporary existence filled with noise, spectacle and distraction. Melody, Ergodicity and Indeterminacy offers a clear eared space to experience the ideas that grew from Tenney's fascination with ergodic forms along with chance operations and explorations of Charles Seeger's Dissonant Counterpoint theory. Things that require a particular attitude on the part of both the performers and the listener. The musical equivalent of taking a solitary walk through a lush forest. The Barton Workshop brings a pitch perfect attitude to these pieces. The music offered here is a gentle invitation to experience ideas and acoustical phenomena. This music gently prods the listener and rewards the mind that absorbs the relative stillness.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set - bonus disc]. 2004. Revenant Records: 213.

Bonus disc features two tracks of the U.S. Army 76th AG Band in rehearsal on September 14, 1960. Private First Class Albert Ayler played tenor saxophone and was a featured soloist on the two tracks found on this disc.

This disc is included as a curiosity and a short presentation of a part of the life narrative that shaped Albert Ayler as an artist. These two swing numbers have no trace of the explosive voice on tenor saxophone that would come later as Ayler's playing is sublimated into the singular culture of this Army ensemble. What this disc does is complete an exploration of the Holy Ghost box set. A collection that does a remarkable job of rendering through slices of sound the life, struggle and development of Albert Ayler over his tragically short lifespan. A journey filled with a full range of human cries and responses to the various stages of discovering an inner sound that sets one completely apart from what was expected and what had come before. A fascinating, if still somewhat elusive, figure that demands honest listening.

Kneebody: Kneebody. 2005. Greenleaf Music: GRE-02.

Adam Benjamin: fender rhodes, piano, wurlitzer, pedals, melodica
Kaveh Rastegar: electric bass, pedals
Ben Wendel: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, bassoon
Nate Wood: drums, percussion, guitar, pedals
with guest Davey Chegwidden: percussion

The musicianship and extremely honed chops of this group is impressive. With a rhythmic precision that is nearly inhuman. Add in the tight, polished arrangements and Kneebody sounds like a band made up of recent Berkeley School of Music graduates from the top of their class. It takes a few listenings of this disc to get past being blown away by the abundant qualities of this debut release to detect what is missing. It's a great CD. The production is outstanding. The compositions positively rock while maintaining a nice range of textural variation. There are plenty of inventive turns to keep the ear engaged while the body feels the irresistible tug of the danceable pulses. The polish and sheen are just a little overdone at times - allowing things to careen perilously close to fusion excesses without sounding overly commercial or "smooth." This polish does gloss over a hollowness within this music. The sense that these are recent graduates who have not yet honed a sonic voice that comes with the wisdom of life experience. Individual improvisations are afforded very little space within these textures. Leaving these ears longing for a singular voice to cut through the mix with a counter balance to the layers of clever ideas. Beyond that, I'm happy to spin it again and enjoy the effusive energy of this music and believe that there are bigger things in store from these players.