HurdAudio Rotation: Three Faces of the Piano

Thelonious Monk: The Complete Riverside Recordings [disc 2]. 1986. Riverside: RCD-022-2.

Thelonious Monk: piano
Art Blakey: drums
Ernie Henry: alto saxophone
Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone
Oscar Pettiford: bass
Max Roach: drums
Clark Terry: trumpet
Paul Chambers: bass

A devastating document of this incredibly important slice of jazz history (much of this material recorded in 1956-7). On a box set that includes many alternate takes and "mistakes" there is only the one "false start" on this disc on the opening of "Pannonica," and even as one hears how this body of music was being birthed in the studio it essentially arrived fully formed. So much so that it's hard to imagine the jazz landscape without a "Bemsha Swing" or "Brilliant Corners." With recordings so strong that the ears naturally refer to these versions if they've ever encountered them before. Equally devastating is the way Monk's hands shaped the very sound of the jazz piano in his wake. His sturdy bridge between stride and bop that continues to color how improvisers approach the ivories. Also, Oscar Pettiford's solo on "Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are" got my attention. I need to hear more of his playing.

Olivier Messiaen: Messiaen Edition [disc 1]. 1963, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1996, 2000. Warner Classics: 2564-62162-2.

Petites esquisses d'oiseaux (1985)
Preludes (1928-1929)
Quatre Etudes de rhthme (1949-1950)

Yvonne Loriod: piano

Time extracted its continual erosion upon of musical history when Yvonne Loriod passed away last May. She was the widow of Olivier Messiaen and the leading interpreter of his piano works, some of which are documented on this disc. These are intense, difficult pieces that she executes with such grace that the tension rests entirely within the music and not in the feats of playing them. Her fingers passionately grasp the dissonances of Petites esquisses d'oiseaux while coaxing out the lyrical impressionist colors of the Preludes. Quatre Edudes de rythme makes surprising use of serial processes in the evocation of ritual. The considerable forces of intellect and heart brought into pitch-perfect balance for this recording. This direct connection to the composer and irreplaceable pianistic talent will be missed while recordings such as this are treasured.

Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd: In What Language? 2003. Pi Recordings: 08713-0092.

Vijay Iyer: piano, keyboards, electronics, compositions
Mike Ladd: voice, electronics, lyrics
Latasha N. Nevada Diggs: voice, electronics
Allison Easter: voice
Ajay Naidu: voice
Ambrose Akinmusire: trumpet
Rudresh Mahanthappa: alto saxophone
Dana Leong: cello, trombone, flugelbone
Liberty Ellman: guitar
Stephan Crump: bass
Trevor Holder: drums

Music theater using multiple narrators to tell the modern day mythology (and terribly true tales) of airport security. The collision of global culture with anxiety and prejudice. "The airport is not a neutral place. It serves as a contact zone for those empowered or subjugated by globalization." The music crossing over several stylistic borders as the spoken voice and electronics with a hip hop sensibility. The sound is often unpleasant in exactly the same way that air travel is also unpleasant. Complimenting the uneasy truth of travel "with an uneasy proximity of tan." The individual elements of this piece work extremely well. The lyrics are smart. The music is polished and thought through. The visual theater of the experience in conspicuously absent. And this may account for my own reluctance to embrace this work. I'm left strangely unsatisfied even if I can't identify where this piece falls short.

HurdAudio Rotation: Ugly Noises and Reimaginings

Joshua Jefferson: Jefferson Solo. 2007. Limited edition CD-R.

Joshua Jefferson: alto saxophone

Ten short improvisations that place the ear at point blank range. Immersed within the plumbing and mechanical workings of the instrument. Ever mindful of the organism of lungs, breath and spit that make it work. These are ugly noises and they are honest noises. Strong noises emitted from frail, human artifacts.

Vijay Iyer: Reimagining 2005. Savoy Jazz: SVY 17475.

Vijay Iyer: piano
Rudresh Mahanthappa: alto saxophone
Stephan Crump: bass
Marcus Gilmore: drums

A quartet that bursts through the speakers with a mixture of rhythmic intensity and joy on "Revolutions" for the opening track before winding down the sonic journey with a solo piano "re-imagining" of John Lennon's "Imagine." Somewhere in the middle the intensity slows - mostly out of necessity given the big bang that starts the set - that never settles into a low moment. This is a tight ensemble and Iyer has plenty to say musically. For all the extremes of musicianship oozing from every nuanced second of this music there is a lot of heart in this music as well. An outstanding record.

The Flying Luttenbachers: 'Incarceration By Abstraction'. 2007. ugEXPLODE Records: UG23.

Weasel Walter: guitars, basses, mellotron, organ, clarinet, electronics, drums
guests Jonathan Joe, Aurora Josephson: vocals on one track

Weasel Walter paints in slabs of multi tracked aggression. Trafficking in ugly sounds as a more honest means of telling an imagined post apocalyptic story. Balancing the forces of relentless intensity against a loosely conceptual album. All of which works under the Flying Luttenbachers rubric, even if this proved to be the final gesture before disbanding the now one-person band. One can hear the manic insanity and attention to detail at work behind the multiple layers of guitars and drums. The striking quality of this work is a whole is the ability to create contrasts without softening the onslaught of tension and dissonance. At times sounding like a rock opera that has dropped all pretense of accessibility.

HurdAudio Rotation: From Feldman to Ayler and Iyer

Morton Feldman: Complete Works for Two Pianos. 2002. Alice Musik Produktion: ALCD 024.

Kristine Scholz: piano
Mats Persson: piano

Vertical Thoughts 1 for Two Pianos (1963)
Intermission 6 for One or Two Pianos (1953)
Projection 3 for Two Pianos (1951)
Two Pieces for Two Pianos (1954)
Piano (Three Hands) (1957)
Intermission 6 for One or Two Pianos (1953)
Piano Four Hands (1958)
Work for Two Pianists (1958)
Ixion - For Two Pianos (1958)
Intermission 6 for One or Two Pianos (1953)
Two Pianos (1957)

It was a fortunate happenstance that brought this CD into my collection. A casual glance that somehow registered "Morton Feldman" in a place I didn't expect to find him. Fitting for a music that stretches the conscious mind into a listening state best described as "Feldman-esque" and filled with unexpected sensory extremes.

Quiet, serene sonic landscapes drawing heavily upon Feldman's affinity for abstract painting. Each gesture reaches the attentive ear with a graceful sense of space, a sense of using slight brush strokes along a canvas marked by silence. Beautifully realized by Scholz and Persson as the effort of playing within a meditation leaves no trace of strain or rushed intention and every indication of understanding these pieces and textures. The tranquility feels natural - this is the challenge posed by extended periods of time within such a narrow dynamic range constructed of such deliberate formal stasis.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set] - disc 8. 2004. Revenant Records: 213.

Interviews with Albert Ayler:
with Birger Jorgensen for "Afterbeat" radio program - December 1964 and November 1966 in Copenhagen, Denmark
with Daniel Caux fo "France Culture" - July 1970 in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France

The music of Albert Ayler was the journey of an artist seeking out that which is honest and that which is creative. That such journeys are routinely viewed with suspicion and hostility is a traditional component of artistic development. In these interviews one can hear the mix of bewilderment and conviction present in the complicated development of one of the great free jazz players of the twentieth century. The conviction that there is no good reason for the misunderstandings that dogged him is particularly touching. The supportive refuge found in Europe balanced against the desire to bring this music "home" to America. The characterization of Cecil Taylor as both "brilliant" and "hard" against his own conception of "smooth" is particularly interesting. There is the desire to reach backward through the decades to this pure creative soul and reassure him that history will be kind to his work. That it will inspire so many. The hostility of its own time belonging to smaller minds incapable of transcendence or forward thinking. The desire to reach back and blunt the frustrations that contributed in no small way to cutting down this voice prematurely. If anything, these recordings manage to reach forward toward understanding for those walking similar paths in our own time.

Vijay Iyer: Reimagining. 2005. Savoy Jazz: SVY 17475.

Vijay Iyer: piano
Rudresh Mahanthappa: also saxophone
Stephan Crump: bass
Marcus Gilmore: drums

It is easy to imagine being absorbed into the same ideas that occupy the mind of Vijay Iyer. The disjointed phrasing of his improvisations in "Revolutions" follows much of my own sense of contour. The re-imagined treatment of John Lennon's "Imagine" applies a different gravity than the original that presents the twin faces of recognizing both the original song and the new sensibility applied toward turning it into a contemporary expression of longing for peace in our time. The shock of realizing that Vijay Iyer was sitting beside me - absorbed in the same colloquium experience as myself at Guelph last week - carries into the many turns toward recognition lurking in the creative expression of Reimagining. An uncommon sound from an instrument Iyer and I share in common. A rewarding music to apply ears toward.