Review of Jay Williams CD

I am a huge fan of Mel Brooks, who at age 75 has reached the pinnacle
of his career (to my ears) with the wonderfully satirical music of
"The Producers" (Sony SK-89646).

Mel Brooks ain't got nothin' on this list's own Jay Williams.

Before I say more, an important disclaimer: three of the 12 pieces on
the CD Jay sent me make use of my own 7-limit adaptive tuning for the
piano part; Jay plays adaptive trombone over top. And yes, I think
these pieces are great! Mostly because of their content, not my tuning
(though I won't deny I love the tuning as well, but my opinion is by
definition biased). Of the three, my favorite is The Mishandled
Blacksmith, which cleverly weaves the famous Handel theme with the Big
Ben motif, along with some excursions of Jay's own invention.

But let's talk about the other nine cuts. Wonderful! They range from
the rather bizarre to the delightfully satirical. In the latter
category, Slide Trombona, a send-up of My Sherona, never fails to evoke
a belly laugh when I hear it (Jay won first place in a Dr. Demento
contest with this song). So, too, do I'll Never Dial Again, The
Carcinoma, and Jay's own Tuning at the Clubfoot (which may be the only
piece in 12-tET, due to the accordion accompaniment, but is still
delightful).

On the bizarre side are several selections which remind me of the music
in the movie Eraserhead. Atonal yet very vivid. Listening to them, I
feel transported to some other world, a bit frightening but somehow
when one is there, it's the perfect place to be.

Jay has hinted that he might be willing to MP3 some of these songs for
uploading. Let's all bug him to do so!

JdL

At 05:35 PM 9/29/01 -0700, you wrote:
>Thanks for this review John, you've definitely got me wanting to hear
>it--Jay is okay!
>
>
>--Dan Stearns
>
Soitnly, I've no qualms as to who has mp3's of these things. Of course,
copying the cd and sending it is another option. I'm always up for trading
music rather than charging for it.
Jay>
>
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