HurdAudio Rotation: Beethoven, Ayler and Bang

Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete Quartets, Vol. II. Performed by the Orford String Quartet in 1989. Delos: CD 3032.

Andrew Dawes: violin
Kenneth Perkins: violin
Terence Helmer: viola
Denis Brott: cello

String Quartet in G Major op. 18 no. 2
String Quartet in B-Flat Major op. 130

An early quartet juxtaposed with a late quartet. This chamber medium was a tremendous vehicle for Beethoven's creativity through all phases of his aesthetic evolution. Both pieces work through some incredible developments of a fixed set of themes. Yet the late work (op.130) takes more surprising turns as Beethoven broke the formal classical mold in favor of deeper, more personal expression. The four-square movements are gone as op.130 sprawls out along six movements - including a brief "Presto" that lasts just a couple of minutes as a self-contained aside - a tangential thought - as the second movement. Op.18 is a well-crafted gem of chamber music while op.130 spins out a yarn like a master story teller.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set] - disc 1. 2004. Revenant Records: RVN 213.

June 19, 1962 in Helsinki, Finland
Herbert Katz Quartet
Herbert Katz: guitar
Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone
Teuvo Suojarvi: piano
Heikki Annala: bass
Martti Aijanen: drums

November 16, 1962 in Copenhagen, Denmark
Cecil Taylor Quartet
Cecil Taylor: piano
Jimmy Lyons: alto saxophone
Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone
Sunny Murray: drums

June 14, 1964 at the Cellar Cafe, New York City
Albert Ayler Trio
Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone
Gary Peacock: bass
Sunny Murray: drums

This first disc in the Holy Ghost box set tells a story of creative birth as the curiosity of Ayler playing sleepy standards gives way to the aggressive freedom of playing with Cecil Taylor, Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray just a few months later before finally settling into a great recording of Ayler's own trio in New York two years later with his full creative voice. The 1962 vintage Taylor is a serious aural treat while the trio recording delivers the uncompromising honest improvisational vision one seeks when putting on an Ayler disc. The presentation from gentle-to-severe is a bit like easing into cold waters on a hot day. But the free dissonance is refreshing after the tepid take on "On Green Dolphin Street." When Ayler, Peacock and Murray cut into "Saints" they do so as equals in the forging of an overall sound - stripped away from the polite roles of soloist and backing rhythm section chained to the organized, predictable order of subdominant, dominant and tonic harmonies. Even the social implications of the language of "dominant" and "subdominant" are cast aside for the sonic beauty of individual and collective freedom.

Billy Bang: Vietnam: the Aftermath. 2001. Justin Time: Just 165-2.

Billy Bang (Sgt. E5 William Walker): violin, compositions
Ted Daniel (Spec. 4th Class): trumpet
Frank Lowe (Spec. 4th Class): tenor saxophone
Sonny Fortune: flute
John Hicks: piano
Curtis Lundy: bass
Ron Brown (Spec. 4th Class Ronald E. Brown): percussion
Michael Carvin (Spec. 4th Class): drums
Butch Morris (Spec. 5th Class Lawrence D. Morris): conductor

More than 30 years after the Viet Nam war Specialist 5th Class Lawrence D. Morris conducted the "TET Offensive." Leading a rag-tag team of Viet Nam war veterans, and a couple of civilians on piano and bass, Butch Morris applied his conduction expertise to Billy Bang's "TET Offensive," a composition at the center of a disc-long reflection upon his experiences as a soldier in south Asia. Drawing upon the scales and melodies Bang heard as Sargent William Walker along with a mix of jazz and funk Vietnam: the Aftermath is an intensely moving collection of expressive compositions. Added to the focus, energy and expressive substance of this music is the deeply creative and stunning solos scattered throughout this disc. Billy Bang, in particular, seems to dig deep within himself to make this honest and unflinching artistic offering.

Scale of the Day: D Sharp Pythagorean Locrian

The intervallic content of the D Sharp Pythagorean Locrian Scale. The key difference in a 3-limit (Pythagorean) Locrian is the difference between the 588.27-cent 1024/729 of the diminished fifth versus the inversion of that interval, the 611.73-cent 729/512 augmented fourth found between the fifth and ninth (second+octave) degrees. This difference between the diminished 5 and augmented 4 opens up a significant harmonic property that is lost when both are collapsed into a 600-cent tritone.

Scale of the Day: A Sharp Locrian major 2

The A Sharp Locrian major 2 Scale as one would find it on any conventionally tuned, equal tempered instrument. The altered second degree softens the "dark" shade of the Locrian scale while leaving the diminished fifth intact - an interval critical for the Locrian sound.

HurdAudio Rotation: Symphonies and Songs

Olivier Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony. Performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Recorded in 1967. Re-released in 2004. RCA Red Seal: 82876-59418-2.

Turangalila Symphony.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra with
Yvonne Loriod: piano
Jeanne Loriod: ondes Martenot

The combination of ondes Martenot with strings and piano creates such shimmering colors and shades one wonders why this instrument didn't develop into a regular part of the orchestra going forward from 1948 on (the year this composition was completed). Turangalila Symphony is a massive-scale work - employing an expanded orchestral ensemble (with plenty of percussion and brass) along with the ondes Martenot and piano over a 10-movement, 80-minute work. And yet it's written with an almost chamber music quality and sensibility as clear, discrete lines and the familiar bird-calls of Messiaen's compositions maintain an easy focus in the foreground. The large-scale ensemble opens up a vast range of colors to augment the cyclical ideas and themes that give Turangalila Symphony its form. It's a spectacular piece that deserves a revival.

Jenny Scheinman: 12 Songs. 2005. Cryptogramophone: CG125.

Jenny Scheinman: compositions, violin
Ron Miles: trumpet
Doug Wieselman: clarinets
Bill Frisell: guitar
Rachelle Garniez: accordion, piano, claviola
Tim Luntzel: bass
Dan Rieser: drums

As a listening experience this CD is flawless. You put it on to hear the great band and the ears stick to the compositions. These short pieces cover a lot of ground with episodes of whimsy and seriousness. And all of it showcasing a real flair for arranging. Did I mention that the band is outstanding as well?

Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Symphonies. - disc 3. Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. 1994: The International Music Company: 205298-305.

Symphony No. 4 in B flat major (op.60)
conducted by Barry Wordsworth
Symphony No. 5 in C minor (op.67)
conducted by Claire Gibault

Sandwiched between the "Pastoral" Symphony and the most famous dun-dun-dun-duh in history, Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 seems to receive less obsession and fetish than the rest of the cycle. The famous story is that Beethoven even set aside what would become his famous fifth already in progress and cranked out Symphony No. 4 to fulfill a commission that was more immediate. And it does sound like a throw-back to his earlier compositional style. To my ears, however, it sounds like he was revisiting some familiar territory while going through his transition and the end result is intriguing because of that. The second movement in particular caught my attention with some interesting modulations I hadn't noticed before.

As for the dun-dun-dun-duh... Symphony No. 5 may be one of the biggest warhorses of them all. A status partially earned by the quality of the composition and partially layered upon it by a bizarre fixation on the opening phrase of the first movement. How that phrase became shorthand for "foreboding" is a puzzle. It does set off an exhilarating, and maddeningly irresistible journey with all the unbelievable variation and development that follows.

Scale of the Day: G Whole-tone 1% wide

The G Whole-tone 1% wide Scale. The characteristic whole-tone scale quality of scarce interval variation caries over into the stretched-octave variant with 202-cent seconds, 404-cent thirds, etc. The cognitively jarring de-tuning does little to dis-lodge the transitory nature of this scale.

Scale of the Day: G Whole-tone mapped to the Triative

The G Whole-tone mapped to the Triative Scale. This could also be thought of as a triative divided into 6 equal parts.

HurdAudio Rotation: Another Return into the Circular Temple of Esteem

Forbes Graham: Another Return. 2007. CD-R available from the composer.

Forbes Graham: trumpet, laptop computer

With the assistance of amplification and digital manipulation, hearing the trumpet in this sound is like scanning the horizon with a microscope. There are plenty of nice pauses and silences contained within these five compositions. "You're Here with Us Now" in particular has an interesting quality as the sound has a hard threshold so that past a particular amplitude it simply falls into an abrupt silence for the perceived duration of the gesture that crossed that threshold. There's a beautifully austere quality to this music as the active ear adjusts its focus upon it.

Matthew Shipp Trio: Circular Temple. 1990. Infinite Zero Archive: 9 14506-2.

Matthew Shipp: piano
William Parker: bass
Whit Dickey: drums

Circular Temple is Matthew Shipp at his most intense, and prolonged mode as these four tracks make up four movements for a singular compositional expression. And this has many of the qualities of an epic piano solo as Parker and Dickey seem to fuse into the same focus that Shipp brings to this outing. The synthesis of jazz history at work in this music is compelling as one can hear elements of bop and Cecil Taylor at work behind the concentrated intensity.

Steve Lacy Quintet: Esteem. 1975 (released in 2006). Atavistic: ALP260CD.

Steve Lacy: soprano saxophone
Steve Potts: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
Irene Aebi: cello, violin
Kent Carter: bass
Kenneth Tyler: percussion

The source material for this set comes from a cassette recording from Steve Lacy's personal archive of a show recorded at La Cour des Miracles, Paris, France on February 26, 1975. And the production quality reflects the limitations of the source media. So it's a testament to the quality of these compositions and the outstanding treatment these improvisers bring to them that overcomes - and even allows one to forget - the limited frequency range captured from this session. "The Uh Uh Uh" grooves incredibly hard and provides an unbelievable vehicle for solos from Lacy and Potts. There's a satisfying element of funk running through this rhythm section balancing out Lacy's rapid-fire sheets of sound.