AFMM show

Thought I'd share a few reactions to the AFMM show last night, May 25,
while they're still fresh in my mind.

Token, by Pat Glazier, was a gorgeous piece. Used 8th-tones
fairly simply, but very effectively and colorfully. Finally, someone
knows how to use samples without them sounding Midi-cheesy. Indeed,
production-wise, in terms of its sheer "sound", the whole was of high
quality. Also the sense of drama: I was busted out of my seat
(frightened) several times. It's a nice thing when that happens. I
suppose the pervasive use of ppp dynamics, with sudden subito ffffff
gestures helped with that. :)

Another highlight of the program for me, was Johnny's performance
of Scelsi. Executed with utter confident assurance, I was floating away
into the land of those rich harmonics of low bassoon tones. I was
completely captivated. I don't know what else to say.

Joseph Pehrson's work, Blackjack, unveiled the rich
resources, in terms of JI-possibilities, of the Blackjack scale. In terms
of the musical character, I was reminded of two things: the
contemplative enumerative structures of the visual artist Sol LeWitt; the
other vision I had was of a 19th-century score pamphlet, titled something
like "The Compleat Trombounist", some 19th-century compilation of famous
march-tunes, but then you look into this compilation, and everything's
freaked out and fragmented: fragments of marches in the 'bone, and
oompaapaa's at dozens of different tempi in the "piano." the microtones
were negotiated fearlessly and expressively by Chris Washburne. (who
teaches jazz (trained as ethnomusicologist) at Columbia.)
Ivor Darreg's "Colorless Green Ideas sleep furiously", to my
ears, the soundtrack to "Deliverance" put through the prism of 22tet, was most
enjoyable and reminded me of Partch, especially with the composer's spoken
introduction. (i.e. HE reminded me of Partch anyway.) I hadn't heard
any of Darreg's music before. It was nice to catch up on that stuff.
Interestingly, the 22tet harmony reminded me of Paul's TIBIA quite a bit,
they both certainly know their way around juicy aspects of the
temperament's harmonies. (I believe, at least in Darreg's
case, it's lots of faux-4:5:6:7 JI chords, realized of course in 22tet).
Marc Jones's guitar tunes presented lots o' pop grooves and hooks.
I was especially attracted to #2 (the lament, he called it)---its hooks
were especially juicy for my ears.
The Wendy Carlos tune. . . I thought the performances of the
"acoustified" lines were good (I particularly remember some fairly vivid
choir (15tet harmonies), but I thought the mix could use a bit of "Jacky
Ligon" Mastering Magic to pep it up and clarify it a bit.

Well, those are impressions I have with me now. . . . I have a
horrible memory, so if I left anything important out, forgive me!!

C Bailey

Thanks for the review. How was Patrick Grant's piece?

* David Beardsley
* http://biink.com
* http://mp3.com/davidbeardsley

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the impromptu review, and congratulations to those on the
list that contributed and make such things happen!

You know, I've been thinking... JR's a real marvel when it comes to
getting things done and it seems like he's always full-steam-ahead
when it comes to promoting microtonality... but I've often wondered
why the AFMM doesn't have something as equally ambitious and
industrious going down on the recorded front--perhaps something akin
to the Knitting Factory where the recorded product and the performance
space make for a multifaceted entity that almost defines its own
movement or genre.

I mean at this point JR and the AFMM have a sizeable historical track
record of achievement and hard work on their side... and I just think
something like that would go a long way towards "legitimizing" the
whole enterprise and could quite possibly make the AFMM and JR
something like the type of household words that say the Knitting
Factory and other prolific New Yorkers such as John Zorn are... or at
the very least raise the profile of microtonality while documenting
the music and distributing it at the concerts et al... just some
thoughts.

take care,

--Dan Stearns

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christopher Bailey" <cb202@columbia.edu>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, May 26, 2002 5:49 AM
Subject: [tuning] AFMM show

>
> Thought I'd share a few reactions to the AFMM show last night, May
25,
> while they're still fresh in my mind.
>
> Token, by Pat Glazier, was a gorgeous piece. Used 8th-tones
> fairly simply, but very effectively and colorfully. Finally,
someone
> knows how to use samples without them sounding Midi-cheesy. Indeed,
> production-wise, in terms of its sheer "sound", the whole was of
high
> quality. Also the sense of drama: I was busted out of my seat
> (frightened) several times. It's a nice thing when that happens.
I
> suppose the pervasive use of ppp dynamics, with sudden subito
ffffff
> gestures helped with that. :)
>
> Another highlight of the program for me, was Johnny's performance
> of Scelsi. Executed with utter confident assurance, I was floating
away
> into the land of those rich harmonics of low bassoon tones. I was
> completely captivated. I don't know what else to say.
>
> Joseph Pehrson's work, Blackjack, unveiled the rich
> resources, in terms of JI-possibilities, of the Blackjack scale. In
terms
> of the musical character, I was reminded of two things: the
> contemplative enumerative structures of the visual artist Sol
LeWitt; the
> other vision I had was of a 19th-century score pamphlet, titled
something
> like "The Compleat Trombounist", some 19th-century compilation of
famous
> march-tunes, but then you look into this compilation, and
everything's
> freaked out and fragmented: fragments of marches in the 'bone, and
> oompaapaa's at dozens of different tempi in the "piano." the
microtones
> were negotiated fearlessly and expressively by Chris Washburne.
(who
> teaches jazz (trained as ethnomusicologist) at Columbia.)
> Ivor Darreg's "Colorless Green Ideas sleep furiously", to my
> ears, the soundtrack to "Deliverance" put through the prism of
22tet, was most
> enjoyable and reminded me of Partch, especially with the composer's
spoken
> introduction. (i.e. HE reminded me of Partch anyway.) I hadn't
heard
> any of Darreg's music before. It was nice to catch up on that
stuff.
> Interestingly, the 22tet harmony reminded me of Paul's TIBIA quite
a bit,
> they both certainly know their way around juicy aspects of the
> temperament's harmonies. (I believe, at least in Darreg's
> case, it's lots of faux-4:5:6:7 JI chords, realized of course in
22tet).
> Marc Jones's guitar tunes presented lots o' pop grooves and hooks.
> I was especially attracted to #2 (the lament, he called it)---its
hooks
> were especially juicy for my ears.
> The Wendy Carlos tune. . . I thought the performances of the
> "acoustified" lines were good (I particularly remember some fairly
vivid
> choir (15tet harmonies), but I thought the mix could use a bit of
"Jacky
> Ligon" Mastering Magic to pep it up and clarify it a bit.
>
>
> Well, those are impressions I have with me now. . . . I have a
> horrible memory, so if I left anything important out, forgive me!!
>
>
> C Bailey
>
>
>
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Hi Dan,

Yes, we are aware that we have been building up recordings. However, the
industry is in tatters. It seems to us at the AFMM that it is important to
do things right. This includes the packaging, the rights, the agreement of
all players, etc.

Since the AFMM began in 1981 we have been told that there will be a right
moment, as Dan seems to intuit, and it may be drawing near. I just received
the Brandenburg #4 AFMM recording and it sound great. This summer we will
continue to pursue the releasing of CDs. We had bad luck with Newport
Classic when they sold our recording to Sony...who proceeded to bury it. The
Ives Universe Symphony recording is now a year late...nothing in the bigger
scheme of things.

Keep in mind that we are a concert producing organization. Recordings are
secondary to us. The more primary they become, the less performing we do.
It is the performing that makes our reputation. The CD will merely confirm,
not that this is unimportant. Frankly, it costs money that we as yet do not
have. But we still have a few surprises. Hope it helps!.

Best, Johnny Reinhard

p.s. FYI, Chrisopher misidentified David (not Pat) Glazier). It was great
reading a review so soon after the last gig.