June 2002 - zorn-list - mailman.xmission.com

singer-songwriters
by Parry Gettelman 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

I always thought of the term as fairly neutral, but perhaps for the singer-songwriters who don't suck, we could adopt a term used as an album title by the magnificent singer-songwriter-composer-bassist-orchestra-director-ringleader-plaguer-of- booking-agents Chandler Travis: "Writer-Songsinger." Parry, Looking forward eagerly to two impending gigs by the Chandler Travis Philharmonic next weekend.

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RE: Chimeras
by alastair＠pretentious.co.uk 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Steve Smith <ssmith36(a)sprynet.com> wrote: >(though I failed to locate Alastair and his Rough Trade bag). Hey - we were there! I just didn't stick around for the after-show wine and nibbles as I felt very out of place. Having done Erik Friedlander, Mori/Courvoisier/Belogenis, Bailey/Ibarra, Barnes/I-Sound, John Hollenbeck Claudia Quintet, David Krakauer, the Louis Belogenis Trio and of course JZ's Chimeras in the last five days I've realised that everyone on each of the interlocking NY scenes appears to know everyone else and the idea of standing by myself sipping my wine was not for me - and there were Paul Auster books to buy in Barnes & Noble (where I went after the gig...). But I'm not insulted ;>). I heartily endorse Steve's review but would like to make a couple of additions. For the first nine (? sometimes difficult to keep count) books there was only one soprano on stage - Ilana Davidson. However, during the tenth one became aware of notes that weren't obviously coming from the performers on stage. Were they another voice? Or another flute, perhaps? It was at about this point that I paid attention to the black mass on stage to the performers' right which I'd not noticed before. Sure enough, for the climactic part of the piece, on walked Beth Ann Hatton from behind the black mass to take her place alongside Ilana Davidson. Schafer asked Zorn about this in the discussion and he confirmed that installing uncertainty into the audience was indeed what he had intended, and solved at least one of the problems of writing a piece which included two sopranos. I think it'll lose a bit on translation to CD though... And one further musician-spot: Sylvie Courvoisier. Alastair -- Personalised email by http://another.com

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Re: Chimeras
by florid oratory 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

steve? perhaps you can tell us more about Chimeras....the instrumentation and the personnel? and elaborate on the "uproarious" panel discussion. thanks, GC

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Re: Robin Holcomb, at last
by Samerivertwice＠aol.com 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Since no one responded to my Elvis mention, here's a review of last night's Denver show. Costello great beyond belief By Mark Brown, News Popular Music Critic June 3, 2002 At times in his career, Elvis Costello has seemed indifferent to both his audience and his catalog. He's widely acknowledged as one of rock's most consistent, sophisticated songwriters, surpassed only by Bob Dylan. Yet he'll ignore his music and his fans to go do whatever moves him, be it obscure movie appearances or classical work. But in the past few years he seems to have developed an abiding appreciation for both his work and for those who love it. Three years ago at the Paramount Theatre, Costello gave one of his best-ever acoustic performances. Sunday night at the Fillmore was the opposite extreme, with Costello giving one of his best-ever electric performances -- roaringly loud, spine-tinglingly exuberant and packed with big hits (Pump It Up, Alison) and overlooked gems (I Hope You're Happy Now, Honey Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?) from his own vast, eclectic body of work. He's performed classic shows over the years with any number of lineups, but his best work (and that closest to fans' hearts) is that with the Attractions. He has the best of that group with him this tour, with Pete Thomas' explosive drumming and Steve Nieve's keyboard flourishes (only malcontent bassist Bruce Thomas is absent this time around, forcing the name change to The Imposter). Fans all over the world will look at the Internet today and will know this was a glorious show just from the setlist: Beyond Belief, Hi Fidelity and No Action all made rare and welcome appearances. It was a career retrospective in some ways, and it works because the songs Costello wrote in his early 20s were mature and lasting enough that they sound perfectly natural as he performs them in his late 40s. For every new song from his latest album, When I Was Cruel, he threw in plenty of crowd-pleasers and classics, including Radio Radio, You Belong to Me and Lipstick Vogue. Like Dylan, Costello has rediscovered the guitar late in his career, shredding through solos and playing with an intensity that seemingly didn't matter to him earlier in his career. But it's his vocal delivery that has blossomed, as illustrated in I Want You, his final encore. Haunting and terrifying, he improvised his way through the dark tale of infidelity, literally going from a scream to a whisper at points. While his new album sometimes lacks the human drama and sexual politics of his earlier material, songs such as Alibi and Little Blue Window were as solid and compelling as his best work. He's an artist far, far from over. ______________________________________________________________________ Phil Spector: "I've been listening to a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber lately, and enjoying it. Someday I hope to set his stuff to music."

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Fw: John Zorn's Cobra in Amsterdam
by Remco Takken 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

----- Original Message ----- From: "Cobra in CoBrA" To: "Remco Takken" Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 5:50 PM Subject: Fwd: John Zorn's Cobra in Amsterdam > > > -persbericht Engels- > > Stichting TryTone presents a must-see event: > > John Zorn's most notorious "game-piece" Cobra -complex, theatrical, > dramatic, unpredictable and ultimately beyond description- with a new and > diverse assembly of some of Amsterdam's best young improvisers, under > direction of conductor/composer/performance-artist Nathan Fuhr, who was the > founder of the award-winning COBRA Ensemble-Cincinnati, and has performed on > bass guitar in Cobra under Zorn's direction in New York City. > > "I quit doing Cobra because it makes monsters out of people." > -JZ to NF, March 99 NYC > > Wednesday 5 June, 21.30 - Zaal 100, De Wittenstraat 100, Amsterdam > > Koen Nutters - double bass > Jodi Gilbert - voice > Corrie van Binsbergen - guitar > Tom Swafford - violin > Joop van der Linden - trombone > Ned Mcgowan - flute > Albert van Veenendaal - piano > Gijs Levelt - trumbet > Alex Parkinson - drums > Mark Haanstra - bass guitar > Tobias Klein - bass clarinet > Luis Diaz - percussion > Isak Goldschneider - clarinet > Nathan Fuhr - prompter > > ---

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Fwd: Re: Harras
by Efrén del Valle 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Hi, I remember listening to "Harras" some years ago but nothing similar to Masada comes to my mind at all. It's certainly an improv album with a pretty soft general tone but I wouldn't dig for any obvious melodies there and, of course, not any klezmer-inspired sections. The abrupt ending of the album caused many complaints despite of those explanations. Best, EfrÃ©n del Valle n.p: JZ "IAO" > > I just bought it a few weeks ago but didn't get the > chance to listen to > it carefuly. Here are my first very short > impressions: it's a rather > quiet album with some nice parts (some tunes sound > like Masada). But I > don't think it's a must-have... There is something > missing > somewhere...maybe drums... > > Here is the information on Zorn's discography by > Patrice Roussel: > > 200 - HARRAS: Derek Bailey, John Zorn, William > Parker > > 1/ Morning Harras > 10:19 > 2/ Noon Harras > 8:59 > 3/ Evening Harras > 36:01 > > Recorded by James McLean live at the Knitting > Factory, New York City > Produced by John Zorn and Derek Bailey > > Derek Bailey: guitar; John Zorn: alto; William > Parker: bass. > > 1995 - Avant (Japan), Avan 056 (CD) > > Note: the silence on the track #3 has the > following explanation: > "According to Derek Bailey, the abrupt cutoff > was planned. Derek wanted > to end it "on a high". The Bailey solo material > appended after the silence > was apparently Zorn's idea." (thanks to Peter > Stubley/Lynn Rardin) > > - TR > > Zachary Steiner wrote: > > >I was in a record store the other day and saw a > Zorn album on Avant called "Harras" with Derek > Bailey and William Parker. I had never heard of > this album, what's its deal? > > > >Zach > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > zorn-list mailing list > zorn-list(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/zorn-list _______________________________________________________________ Copa del Mundo de la FIFA 2002 El Ãºnico lugar de Internet con vÃdeos de los 64 partidos. Â¡ApÃºntante ya! en http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/fc/es/

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Re: Robin Holcomb, at last
by Samerivertwice＠aol.com 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Sorry. I see now that he was mentioned earlier as someone who was not initally considered a "singer-songwriter." Funny, as that's the only way journalists these days refer to him. Well, that and "former angry young man." I'm not angry anymore, Tom ______________________________________________________________________ Phil Spector: "I've been listening to a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber lately, and enjoying it. Someday I hope to set his stuff to music."

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Z'ev: The Sapphire Nature
by Thierry Raguin 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Hi everyone, Has anybody bought and can give a review this album released in May on Tzadik? Many thanks, - TR

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Re: Robin Holcomb, at last
by Samerivertwice＠aol.com 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

Um, Elvis Costello anyone? ;^) Always plugging EC, tom ______________________________________________________________________ Phil Spector: "I've been listening to a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber lately, and enjoying it. Someday I hope to set his stuff to music."

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Amsterdam Cobra
by XRedbirdxx＠aol.com 03 Jun '02

03 Jun '02

sorry should have included: can get more info at cobragroup(a)hotmail.com J

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