Scale of the Day: F Ionian 3% wide

The F Ionian 3% wide Scale. At 36-cents wider than a 2/1 octave, the systematic detuning sounds deliberate.

HurdAudio Rotation: Quarters, Poems and Duets

Charles Ives, Ivan Wyschnegradsky: Quarter-tone Pieces. 2006. Hat Hut: hat[now]ART 143.

Josef Christof: piano
Steffen Schleiermacher: piano

24 Preludes in Quarter-Tone System (excerpts) (1934/70) Wyschnegradsky

Three Quarter-Tone Pieces For Two Pianos (1903-23) Ives

Three Page Sonata (1905) Ives

Etude sur le "Carre Magique Sonore" op. 40 (1957) Wyschnegradsky

The language of microtonal discourse is caught within a peculiar deference to the displacement of writing a music that so thoroughly exposes the conventions and weaknesses of both notation and instrument design. The quasi-spiritual assertions of just intonation advocates Lou Harrison and Ben Johnston as "prophets in the desert" as found in the liner notes of this 2006 release serves to reinforce the cult-like mystique of deliberately throwing the 12-tone-to-the-octave order into disarray.

Furthering this sense of spiritual isolation we have the deeply mystical pronouncements and compositions of Ivan Wyschnegradsky. The fact that recordings of his music are frustratingly rare and hard to obtain only enhances the image of a wise seer perched at the highest mountain top. When the music is rendered audible in recordings such as this, I am struck by how transcendent it truly is. The microtonal qualities gives Wyschnegradsky's music an added profound chromaticism that is striking and irresistible. Here, 12 of the 24 quarter-tone preludes are presented. When will a full set be available on record? The hunger to feed these ears a more complete representation of Wyschnegradsky's musical universe grows with this sampling.

With the Charles Ives quarter-tone pieces we find a different attitude toward expanded harmonic materials, something less steeped in mystical overtones. In Ives' universe the quarter-tone serves as expansion, period. The sound is changed by the additional harmonic possibilities. But that sound is still rooted in a world of familiar melodies and idiomatic styles. The allusion to rag-time piano music or unorthodox harmonizations of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" keeps an earthiness in the sound that suggests a healthy alternative to the mystical detachment or righteous assertions of breaking with prevailing harmonic conventions.

Richard Strauss: Tone Poems. 1988 (Collector's Edition of recordings from 1957, 1958). Deutsche Grammophon: 463 190-2.

Karl Bohm: conductor
Staatskapelle Dresden
Berliner Philharmoniker

Eine Alpensinfonie op.64
Don Juan op.20
Waltzes from Act III
Also sprach Zarathustra op.30
Festiches Praludium op.61
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche op.28
Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome op.54
Ein Heldenleben op.40
Tod und Verklarung op.24

There was a time when I'd be lost in these sweeping, long narrative symphonic works. A younger version of myself had written off the romantic syntax and rejected the notion that an abstract sequence of sounds could convey image and story. As I revisit that impression with more wisdom in the ears I find the scope of these epic tales to be human and surprisingly easy to understand and follow. Three discs of Strauss tone poems is a heavy dose of Germanic music to take in one sitting (which is exactly how I've approached them as an avoidance of the spectacle playing out on American television this Sunday). I am struck by the orchestrations Strauss applies to these works. Particularly the use and incorporation of organ in Eine Alpensinfonie (heralding the storm) and Festival Prelude (presumably calling the masses to celebrate).

Lee Konitz: The Lee Konitz Duets. 1967 (Re-released in 1990). Milestone: OJCCD-466-2.

Lee Konitz: alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, varitone saxophone
in duets with:
Marshall Brown: trombone
Joe Henderson: tenor saxophone
Elvin Jones: drums
Karl Berger: vibraharp
Eddie Gomez: bass
Richie Kamuca: tenor saxophone
Ray Nance: violin
Jim Hall: guitar
Dick Katz: piano

In the middle of this collection is "ERB," possibly the most exquisite free improvisation between alto saxophone (Konitz) and guitar (Jim Hall) ever recorded. The presence of this three-minute, atonal gem would be startling in midst of any collection of duets - especially one with as many bop oriented tunes as this one - except that the same quiet, shimmering inventiveness of Hall and Konitz is found on every track no matter how "free" each piece may or may not be. "Tickle Toe" presents a focused, sparkling two tenor take on the Lester Young classic (performed by Konitz and Richie Kamuca) while "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" offers up a spirited slice of soulful sax and valve trombone (Marshall Brown) complete with some light overdubbing on the final chorus. "Alphanumeric" closes out this set with a full ensemble of players unloading all the restraint that makes the duets so taut, lean and brimming with verve. These players are so good, even Konitz's typically understated excellence nearly boils over. This is a great album and one well worth dusting off and rediscovering.

The M is for Magnificique

Trio M @ An Die Musik, Baltimore, MD
Saturday, February 2, 2008

Myra Melford: piano
Mark Dresser: bass
Matt Wilson: drums

This is not the first time I've had the pleasure of taking in one of the greatest piano trios of all time. Many qualities of this trio sound have developed and the playful interaction between stellar improvisers have only improved since their jaw-dropping performance at the Guelph Jazz Festival. The spell they cast upon a room full of ears is consistent as the smaller venue of An Die Musik allowed the energy to crackle with a little more spark. And from my angle I managed to get a good look at how Mark Dresser pulls off that beastly sound with his unique amplification system.

Wedged well beneath the fingerboard is a device that powers two pick-up microphones. With two cables running down to the floor and into a pair of volume pedals Dresser uses to dynamically shape his tone by balancing between two very different microphone positions on the same instrument. The right pedal is the standard, amplified acoustic bass sound. The pedal on the left is used to unleash the inner-throat singing imp lurking somewhere high up the fingerboard. Throwing that second pedal all the way up opens up a whole world of sonority found along the neck of that instrument. The range of sound that Mark Dresser is mining is fiendishly cool.

With Myra Melford and Matt Wilson this trio is filled out by improvisers with a developed vocabulary and similarly expansive range of sound. Myra Melford's technique inside the piano is a natural extension of the sound she gets from the keyboard. And Matt Wilson works with an exponential combination of sticks/brushes/bare hands on surfaces (not to mention his joy filled laughter and utterances) to keep the percussive texture varied.

Beyond the timbral and textural range is the broad compositional and improvisative territory covered by the music itself. With contributions from the considerable oeuvres of these individual players the music took turns at focused melodism, free improvisation, blues and various conventional forms stretched with odd meters and creative explorations. Even Mark Dresser's on stage (and mid-piece) replacement of a broken bass string (the E-string no less, I've never seen anyone break one of those before) took on the same performative spirit as a fearless forward push filled with confidence in the face of uncertainty.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Ionian 2% wide

The intervallic content of the E Flat Ionian 2% wide Scale.

HurdAudio Rotation: Begin A Gyan

Briggan Krauss: Descending to End. 1999. Knitting Factory Records: KFW-251.

Briggan Krauss: electronics

With a studio created sound so meticulously polished and honed into an other worldly aural artifact the sensation of submersion into a fully alien sonic atmosphere courses throughout this listening. There's a healthy sense of "loud" coursing through these creations and the occasional periods when reference points from this world poke through the din - the crescendoing saxophone tones against drums in "Encumberance Essence" being one of the most dramatic - provides strong gravity to the swirling processed timbres that dominate the soundscape. Ugly and beauty are forcefully reconciled and come out one and the same.

Elliott Sharp/The Soldier String Quartet: Cryptid Fragments. 1993. Extreme: XCD 020.

Elliott Sharp: composer, computer processing, buchla thunder
Margaret Parkins: cello
Sara Parkins: violin
Laura Seaton: violin
David Soldier: violin
Ron Lawrence: viola
Mary Wooten: cello
Michelle Kinney: cello

I recall the shock and complete dismay at finding this disc in a 99-cent bin some years after I had already purchased it new. The feeling of existing within a society that treasures its trivial detritus at the expense of genuine value has rarely been so singularly encapsulated. The idea that a CD that had so consistently informed, influenced and nourished my musical thinking had become so thoroughly devalued remains unfathomable. To this day, the music found on Cryptid Fragments continues to be a reference point for these ears.

The primary attraction remains the four movements of the title track, an exquisite study of the brittle sonority of severely processed string timbres. The music that follows that track is an excellent snap-shot of Sharp's "ir/rational music," a kind of improvised/algorithmic approach toward string music that coaxes such startling forms and resonances. The final track, Umbra, presents a live-oriented approach toward processed solo strings as a conceptual bookend for the studio processed material at the start of this sequence. The contrast between the studio and live approach is both severe and fascinating.

Terry Riley: The Book of Abbeyozzud. 1999. New Albion Records: NA 106 CD.

Terry Riley: composer
David Tanenbaum: guitar
Gyan Riley: guitar
Tracy Silverman: violin
William Winant: percussion

The formal and melodic sensibility of Terry Riley as refracted through acoustic guitar-centric settings. This is another reference point for my ears as it gets a few spins in the rotation. And on this visit it's the two-movement duet for guitar and percussion piece, Dias de los Muertos that draws me in with the strongest gravity. The light touch of hand chimes, cymbals and membrane drum provide punctuation for the guitar lines at times. This is counterbalanced against sections where the marimba weaves in accompanying melodic material. The expressive sensitivity of the performances on this disc are remarkable.

Scale of the Day: F Ionian diminished 5 2% wide

The F Ionian diminished 5 2% wide Scale. Aesthetically, the counter-balancing impulses of the diminished fifth against the stretched expansion of all intervals conveys a peculiar balance.

Scale of the Day: E Flat Ionian diminished 5 1% wide

The intervallic content of the E Flat Ionian diminished 5 1% wide Scale.