David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World

July 5, 2006
Critic's Notebook
David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World
By JON PARELES

Forty years ago David Lewiston decided to change his life. He traded a desk job for a self-invented career as "a musical tourist": a recorder and collector of traditional music from dozens of countries over a territory that extends from Bali to Kashmir to Peru. He has brought back recordings for the Nonesuch Explorer Series, and then for other labels, that became revelations for many listeners: albums like "Music From the Morning of the World," his ear-opening Balinese collection.

Mr. Lewiston is not an ethnomusicologist or any other kind of academic. His guideline, he said, is simply "the pleasure principle."

Mr. Lewiston, 77, now lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui. There he has 400 hours of music � half of it digitized from his old tapes, half of it recorded digitally � and 12,000 photos that he wants to archive, catalog and perhaps find a way to make available online. "While I'm still alive, I have to make sure this material gets archived," he said. The entire project, he estimates, would cost between $150,000 and $200,000. "I don't have it myself," he said. "I need to find somebody who's got more money than they know what to do with."

He visited New York City not long ago to speak at the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea and to revisit briefly Greenwich Village, one of his haunts as a young man. At a Village cafe, he spoke about a lifetime of what he calls "creative stumbling."

Mr. Lewiston, who is English, earned a graduate diploma in 1953 from Trinity College of Music in London, where he studied piano. He grew interested in the spiritual teachings and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff, who had traveled widely in Asia. Gurdjieff was also a composer, drawing on non-Western traditions, and his music suggested to Mr. Lewiston that there were possibilities beyond the Western classical canon. Mr. Lewiston came to the United States to study piano with Thomas de Hartmann, Gurdjieff's musical collaborator and the leading interpreter of their compositions.

To make a living in New York, Mr. Lewiston became a financial journalist, working for Forbes magazine and then for the magazine of the American Bankers Association. He was bored.

So in 1966, Mr. Lewiston took a leave of absence from the magazine and traveled to the other side of the world: to the Indonesian island of Bali, where he thought he might record some music. A photographer friend lent him some first-class condenser microphones and a few hundred dollars; Mr. Lewiston packed his modest mono tape recorder. And in Singapore, where his plane made a stopover, Mr. Lewiston made a crucial purchase, a cheaply built Japanese machine, a Concertone 727, which happened to be one of the first portable stereo tape recorders.

Bali in 1966 was trying to build a tourism industry, and when Mr. Lewiston inquired about music, locals were eager to help him. In his 10 days in Bali, Mr. Lewiston sometimes recorded three groups a day. The Concertone, which barely outlasted the trip, gathered the first stereo recordings of Balinese music: the clanging, shimmering gong orchestras called gamelans. Mr. Lewiston also recorded the Kecak monkey chant, a circle of men singing hearty, percussive syllables that go ricocheting all around.

Back in New York City from Bali, Mr. Lewiston found himself in a Sam Goody record store looking at a rack of international albums including music from Japan and Tahiti; they were on the Nonesuch label.

"Oh, there's a record company putting out this sort of stuff," he said he recalled thinking. "Being a good journalist, I wrote a pitch letter, just addressed to Nonesuch Records. And I got a call back."

He took his tapes to the office of Tracey Sterne, whose unpretentious title was A&R coordinator for Nonesuch. Her engineer, Peter K. Siegel, went to listen to the tapes and came rushing out of the studio moments later, saying, "Hey, this you've got to hear!"

There had been ethnographic recordings well before the 1960's, notably on labels like Folkways. But most of them had been dry, scholarly collections, with brief examples of various styles more for study than enjoyment. "Music From the Morning of the World," although still a sampler, reveled in the sheer sound of the music.

Released in 1967, it became the first album of the Nonesuch Explorer Series, for which Mr. Lewiston would go on to record more than two dozen collections. In the decades before the Internet, the well-distributed Explorer series was often the only traditional world music available in many stores. After Nonesuch curtailed its Explorer series in 1984, Mr. Lewiston's recordings appeared on Bridge, Shanachie and Ellipsis.

When Mr. Lewiston returned to the United States from Bali, he worked for about a year and took off again, this time to South America, where he visited every country and came back with music from Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil, as well as Mexico. He returned broke. He had his last day jobs in the early 1970's, disciplining himself to save a third of his pay toward, he recalled, "never again having to do anything like this."

On subsequent trips Mr. Lewiston recorded in Tibet, Kashmir, India, Pakistan, Morocco and Central Asia. "I just thought, 'Oh, haven't been to that place, let's go and see what it's like," he said. He also returned to Bali in 1987 and 1994. On his early trips his travel budget, he recalled, was often $5 a day. He found musicians simply by asking around. "Don't organize, just go," he said.

Mr. Lewiston recorded wherever musicians felt comfortable. "It should be a party," he said. "It should be totally enjoyable for musicians. If it's enjoyable, it'll be reflected in the music making. These aren't session musicians. These guys are farmers, and when they get together for music, it's basically to have a good time. I don't want to interfere with that."

He sets up his recording equipment quickly. "Especially in villages, people get impatient really fast," he said. "So I have a configuration that I can just plunk down, switch it on and say, 'O.K., ready.' Because I don't want to make them nervous by fiddling with this and fiddling with that. And the trick is � at least my trick � if I'm not happy with the way I've positioned the musicians and the mics, I'll just unobtrusively go in and reposition them and set the levels to what they should be. And just have rapt admiration for everything and say, 'Wow, that was great,' and, 'Do you have more?,' " he said. "And after four or five or six pieces say: 'Well, I really enjoyed that first piece you played. Can I hear it again, you think?' Rather than saying, 'Take 2.' "

He learned another recording technique in Colombia. "We had a bottle of aguardiente, firewater," he said. "When the aguardiente ran out, the music stopped. So that was a lesson. But on other occasions I've provided too much, and the musicians passed out."

His equipment has improved through the years. He now records digitally onto a hard drive. But the villages he goes to are not so isolated anymore. "All India Radio, which is the government broadcasting system, has stations all over India," he said. "Of course, what people want to hear are the Bollywood hits."

"So increasingly that's the music that's heard and, of course, it's picked up in the villages," he continued. "So if I go into a village, it's like this: I immediately look for a guy wearing a shirt, tie and jacket, right? I know he'll be either the local doctor or an administrator or a schoolteacher. I say, 'I'm David Lewiston, I'm very interested in the local music.' "

"I'll explain what I want is the pure traditional music," he said. "So when the musicians set up, these intermediaries will be listening, and they will have enough knowledge of the local culture to know whether it is really local music or whether it's a Bollywood tune."

Mr. Lewiston keeps returning to Gurdjieff's music. In the early 1990's, before his hands grew arthritic, he recorded his own interpretations in a San Francisco Bay Area studio, and he wrote via e-mail that lately he had been playing the slower pieces again, noting their similarities to the Persian classical improvisations called taqsim. But he has no interest in the countless recent world music fusions, some inspired by the recordings he made.

His albums are documented with his photos and with liner notes that he struggles to write but are filled with both historical fact and delight in the music. But his appreciation, he insists, is not intellectual but sensual.

"The ethnoids," Mr. Lewiston said, using his joshing term for ethnomusicologists, "can't stand me. They'll review one of my records, picking every nit they possibly can. And then the final line will be 'The sounds on this album are superb.' They can't get away from that."

* David Beardsley
* microtonal guitar
* http://biink.com/db

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, David Beardsley <db@...> wrote:
> David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World

Thanks db. It was Lewiston's Nonesuch recordings, along with those of
Bob Brown, that introduced me to the world of the gamelan back in the
70's.

Cheers,
Jon

Jon Szanto wrote:

>--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, David Beardsley <db@...> wrote:
> >
>>David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World
>> >>
>
>Thanks db. It was Lewiston's Nonesuch recordings, along with those of
>Bob Brown, that introduced me to the world of the gamelan back in the
>70's.
>
>Cheers,
>Jon
>
Same here. I think my next listening spree will be checking out my international collection.
Back when I was internet broadcasting 49/48 radio I bought a ton of CDs that need to
be listened to more than a few times.

--
* David Beardsley
* microtonal guitar
* http://biink.com/db

Likewise these recording were my first exposure to gamelan and much other world music on this label.
It is a shame that this type of work goes on my "renegade" recorders with the ethnomusicological world seems more interested in french philosophical theories and rap music

David Beardsley wrote:
> Jon Szanto wrote:
>
> >> --- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, David Beardsley <db@...> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World
>>> >>>
>>> >> Thanks db. It was Lewiston's Nonesuch recordings, along with those of
>> Bob Brown, that introduced me to the world of the gamelan back in the
>> 70's.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Jon
>>
>> > Same here. I think my next listening spree will be checking out my > international collection.
> Back when I was internet broadcasting 49/48 radio I bought a ton of CDs > that need to
> be listened to more than a few times.
>
> -- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU <http://www.kxlu.com/main.html> 88.9 FM Wed 8-9 pm Los Angeles

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...> wrote:
>
> Likewise these recording were my first exposure to gamelan and much
> other world music on this label.
> It is a shame that this type of work goes on my "renegade" recorders

Kraig --

With Lewiston, I think you have to ignore his protests against
ethnomusicologists because there are basic ethical issues with his
recordings -- have the musicians been correctly identified? did they
formally give permission for the recordings to be made? were they
compensated for the recordings? And add to these questions the fact
that his liner notes, are at once sketchy, vague, misleading, and
frequently totally wrong. At the very least you want to know who was
playing, what they were playing, where and when they were playing, and
under what circumstances the recording was made. Lewiston nearly
always fails to meet this minimum.

This is in total contrast to the late Bob Brown, whose treatment of
the musicians was correct, and always compensated (however modestly)
for recordings, and which were presented with accurate background and
documentary information. Moreover, Brown selected the repertoire he
released on the best basis possible -- i.e. if I can only release one
lp from the Mankunegaran, what will represent the music of that
wonderful tradition best?

Sometimes, it really is more useful to have an ethnomusicologist than
a tourist do field recordings.

DJW

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, "djwolfbudapest" <djwolf@...> wrote:
> Sometimes, it really is more useful to have an ethnomusicologist than
> a tourist do field recordings.

Yeah, well, *sometimes*. I don't rever an enthnomusicologist anymore
than I rever any other specialist. That Lewiston managed to capture -
to be interested enough in the first place to capture - music I would
have never otherwise heard, is enough for me. It does not appear that
he abused his subjects, and if nothing else it gives us another take
on the musics of some of these places.

I knew Bob Brown for quite a few years, really liked him a lot,
mourned his passing, and have great respect for his work and
documentations. I'm also happy to have other people taking photographs
of this music. And I've played on enough recordings where I didn't get
credited that it simply is a moot point.

Cheers,
Jon

What a great article about David. Via the early Nonesuch label he introduced many of us to
Tibetan overtone chanting by the Gyuto monk and more recently made a fantastic recording
of the Gaden Shartse monks on Bridge. I agree with him on the issue of "World Beat," which is
simply "corporate globalization" of music, in the worst sense.

David Beardsley wrote:

> July 5, 2006
> Critic's Notebook
> David Lewiston, a 'Musical Tourist' of the World
> By JON PARELES

at least, "musical" tourist,
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/mireut/onstage.jpg

Clark

i know nor knew nothing about the protest of ethnomusicologist of Lewison.
but looking at the nonesuch recordings i notice it was Brown who had recorded them and had taken others comments as being accurate, at least in regard to the Javanese.
Others have complained though about his overcharging those at his camp in bali, someone gets exploited and maybe it is better to exploit those here than there, who seem to be able to afford it.

my comments were about my own observations of ethnomusicologist on their list.
Their is now a total disregard for say the taking of tuning measurements as being a 19th century practice of imposing the idea of scale upon these cultures.
There was just a trashing of Ellis in the last few days for his misguided collected of thai instruments.

Then they go on to quote sembiotics, cantometrics and the newest philosophical fashions as being the cutting edge of their field.
one feminist who was teaching at harvard ( right out of school and i assume was not working cheap) on this list referred to western male composers of the past as a privileged class.
When i pointed out that many if not most of these figures lived in not good economic situations, nor in institutions of power , i was placed on a list where, everyone of my post is now required to be approved beforehand by a now anonymous moderator.

There is no excuse that Lewison did these things in these times and he should reap the results of his actions.
On the other hand i have seen the same complaints made in some minor ways against Frances Densmore collection of native american songs.
That she collected them at all and made decision disc recordings seems to not be enough.and i still find no collection matches the size of what she did.

While there is still only one person who collected the music of the solomon islands (hugo Zemp in the 70's) rap, madonna, and the a host of others i have not even heard of who releases can out last week seem to be what the field is becoming
djwolfbudapest wrote:
> --- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...> wrote:
> >> Likewise these recording were my first exposure to gamelan and much >> other world music on this label.
>> It is a shame that this type of work goes on my "renegade" recorders >> >
> Kraig --
>
> With Lewiston, I think you have to ignore his protests against
> ethnomusicologists because there are basic ethical issues with his
> recordings -- have the musicians been correctly identified? did they
> formally give permission for the recordings to be made? were they
> compensated for the recordings? And add to these questions the fact
> that his liner notes, are at once sketchy, vague, misleading, and
> frequently totally wrong. At the very least you want to know who was
> playing, what they were playing, where and when they were playing, and
> under what circumstances the recording was made. Lewiston nearly
> always fails to meet this minimum.
>
> This is in total contrast to the late Bob Brown, whose treatment of
> the musicians was correct, and always compensated (however modestly)
> for recordings, and which were presented with accurate background and
> documentary information. Moreover, Brown selected the repertoire he
> released on the best basis possible -- i.e. if I can only release one
> lp from the Mankunegaran, what will represent the music of that
> wonderful tradition best?
>
> Sometimes, it really is more useful to have an ethnomusicologist than
> a tourist do field recordings.
>
> DJW >
>
>
>
>
>
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> -- Kraig Grady
North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
The Wandering Medicine Show
KXLU <http://www.kxlu.com/main.html> 88.9 FM Wed 8-9 pm Los Angeles