HurdAudio Rotation: Child, Ghost and Atomic Clock

David Lang: Child. 2003. Cantaloupe Music: CA21013.

David Lang: composer
Carlo Boccadoro: conductor, piano, brake drum
Paola Fre: flute, piccolo
Mirco Ghirardini: clarinet, bass clarinet
Andrea Rebaudengo: piano
Thomas Schrott: violin, brake drum
Antonello Leofreddi: viola
Marco Decimo: cello, brake drum
Andrea Dulbecco: vibraphone, percussion
Filippo Del Corno: brake drum

Child has a clear ancestral lineage to the music of Louis Andriessen - the Dutch composer the second movement is dedicated to - with many of the same shimmering, rhythmically propulsive qualities and crystalline arrangements that one associates with the European minimalist. With each movement composed for different ensembles in Paris, Milan, Stockholm and Rome the final continuity of this large-scale composition becomes apparent when assembled sequentially on disc. The tranquil yet restless wonderment of human growth from embryo to infant becomes the narrative form of this music as David Lang applies a light, Satie-esque touch to the layers of sound that make up the whole.

Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost [box set] - disc 7. 2004. Revenant Records: RVNT 213.

Don Ayler Sextet - January 11, 1969 @ Town Hall, NYC
Don Ayler: trumpet
Albert Ayler: alto saxophone
Sam Rivers: tenor saxophone
Richard Johnson: piano
Richard Davis: bass
Ibrahim Wahen: bass
Muhammad Ali: drums

Albert Ayler Quartet - speculated to be July 28, 1970 @ La Colle sur Loup, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Albert Ayler: tenor saxophone
Call Cobbs: piano
Steve Tintweiss: bass
Allen Blairman: drums
and probably Mary Parks: tambourine, hand clapping

Disc 7 is the roughest, most challenging material in this box set with audio fidelity and sonic material at its most uneven. The difference between Don Ayler and Albert Ayler as band leader is immediately striking. The ragged edges and fierce energy takes on a tangible cohesion under the direction of Albert while the Don Ayler Sextet shows several flashes of potential it is quickly buried under the rough acoustics and less-than-ideal recording conditions. The Albert Ayler session from France shows rare flashes of the quartet feeding off of the appreciative energy of the audience and reveals musically intense material that is well worth wading through the low quality recording.

Mark Helias' Open Loose: Atomic Clock. 2006. Radio Legs Music: RL 012.

Mark Helias: bass
Tom Rainey: drums, percussion
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone
with guest Ellery Eskelin: tenor saxophone on one track

These ears are again transfixed by the drumming of Tom Rainey. I don't think I've ever heard him in any context that was less than outstanding. Here he is one third of a tight trio playing Helias' excellent charts. This music has incredible depth and I look forward to catching more details with repeated listening. There's a wonderful balance of energy and deep jazz roots at play in this sound. Tony Malaby is a revelation to these ears with his sustained creative fire.

Scale of the Day: F Sharp Pythagorean Mixolydian

The intervallic content of the F Sharp Pythagorean Mixolydian Scale. The 3-limit take on the familiar "dominant" tonal sound.

Scale of the Day: A Mixolydian diminished 5

The A Mixolydian diminished 5 Scale as one would find it on any conventionally tuned, equal tempered instrument. The augmented second between the fifth and sixth degrees adds an interesting ripple in this otherwise "dominant" tonal harmonic texture.

Scale of the Day: E Dorian 1% wide

The E Dorian 1% wide Scale. The intervallic symmetry of the Dorian scale stretched out along a wide octave.

HurdAudio Rotation: Of Mountains and Celestial Pathways

Myra Melford/Tanya Kalmanovitch: Heart Mountain. 2007. Perspicacity: PR03.

Myra Melford: piano, harmonium
Tanya Kalmanovitch: viola, violin

These 19 brief tracks flow like movements from a single work. As improvisers, Melford and Kalmanovitch frame a wide range of sonic ideas and responsiveness to each other that keeps things fresh throughout this listening experience. This is incredibly pleasant music and it's a welcome spin in the rotation.

James 'Blood' Ulmer: Birthright. 2005. Hyena Records: TMF 9335.

James 'Blood' Ulmer: vocals, guitars, flute

How does one man channel so much feeling and soul-drenched expression into a solo sound? Not only is James 'Blood' Ulmer on a first-name basis with the devil, with a blood curdling cackle to go along with such familiarity, but Ulmer can also put the dark lord in his place and make credible demands of the angels as well. With a gravelly voice and honest words about vice, deed and intention Birthright is an impressive collection of raw, beautiful blues playing.

Sun Ra: Strange Celestial Road. 1987. Rounder Records: CD 3035.

Sun Ra: keyboards
Michael Ray, Curt Pulliam, Walter Miller: trumpets
Craig Harris, Tony Bethel: trombones
Harry Wilson, Damon Choice: vibes
Richard Williams, Steve Clarke: bass
Vincent Chancy: french horn
John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Elo Omoe, James Jacson, Danny Thompson, Kenny Williams, Hutch Jones, Sylvester Baton, Noel Scott: reeds
Luqman Ali, Reg McDonald: drums
Artaukatune: percussion
Skeeter McFarland, Taylor Richardson: guitar
June Tyson, Rhoda Blount: vocals

A much appreciated slice of Sun Ra. And on this side of the holidays the lengthy, rambling grooves with sprawling segments of "space age" poetry, free improvisation and funk is exactly the tone to bring on a new year. Hearing Vincent Chancey's horn playing within an Arkestra setting is a particular aural treat within a large ensemble stacked with outstanding (and underrated) talent. Of the vast Sun Ra catalogue, this isn't his most striking or most challenging recorded evidence. But it is a piece of the sound and journey of the Saturn soul and each face of his arrangements and large ensemble sensibility is well worth a listen.

Scale of the Day: E Dorian mapped to the Triative

The E Dorian mapped to the Triative Scale. Intervallic symmetry on a 3/1-scale.

Pedals, Friction and Ritualized Improvisation

Janel Leppin/Anthony Pirog
Death in the Maze @ The Red Room, Baltimore, MD
December 22, 2007

Janel Leppin: cello, effects pedals
Anthony Pirog: guitar, effects pedals

Death in the Maze:
John Berndt: clarinet, percussion, inventions
Samuel Burt: clarinet, laptop, voice
Rose Hammer: alto saxophone, clarinet
Paul Neidhardt: percussion, frictions

With a juxtaposition of two different sides of improvisation these two sets of human inventiveness were a reminder and a celebration of the plurality of creative energy at work in the Mid-Atlantic. Each offered up some promising territories and avenues to explore.

Leppin and Pirog presented a structured, composed body of music for guitar and cello with generous helpings of effects pedals added into the sound. The often melodic, folk-inflected sound left plenty of room for filling in the details with spontaneity and forays into textures of noise. The duo from northern Virginia offered up a new twist on an Americana sound with an ear for variations in texture and density.

Death in the Maze followed up this light, buoyant sound with a darkness centered around ritual. With the lights turned out and only the illumination of candles many of the percussive frictions and invented instruments took on an other worldly mystery without the visibility to confirm each sound source. In this music the performers fused into a focused sound that often left sonic spaces unfilled.