Saturday, April 28, 2012

Playlist

Don't miss Seattle Composers' Salon, Friday, May 4, 8pm at the Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle.

I will be performing the first book of Emily Doolittle's Minute Etudes.

Recorded

April 21, 2012

Gradus 178 - Neal Meyer (June 2010)

April 22, 2012

Egmont Overture - Beethoven - Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Panama - Luis Russell [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
Will You Love Me Tomorrow - Shirelles [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
I'm A Man - The Yardbirds [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
I'm Sticking With You - Moe Tucker [from I Feel So Far Away - Moe Tucker Anthology 1974 - 1998]
Banned Couple 3 (May 1985)

An intersection of particular interiors
A crossing of weird innards
Allowing intrusions of still delicacy

"No pickles no mustard
No ketchup
No buns no meat
It's a Bickleton Burger
Bickleton Burger
Have 'em away."

Banned Rehearsal 238 (November 1990, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt)
Banned Rehearsal 238 Doodle

April 24, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 578 (July 2000, Isaac Eisenbrey, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Meyer)

Hot day out on the porch in jug band mode.
Isaac, not quite 4, was being a bit of a pill, but there was more lethargy than focus anyway.

April 26, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 685 (June 2005, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Meyer)

Put sounds in a room and shake.
 
Fence 100704 - Keith Eisenbrey

I spent the summer of 2010 tearing down a fence in our yard. This was 40 minutes or so of squeaking nails, pounding sledges, ringing metal, cracking wood, and clattering boards - against a backdrop of traffic, songbirds, crows, and general Saturday summer afternoon hubbub.

In Session at The Tintinabulary

April 23, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 812 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Meyer



Upcoming

Friday May 4, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Seattle Composers Salon - The Chapel Performance space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
I will be playing Emily Doolittle's Minute Etudes Book 1.

Saturday June 23, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
music by Emily Doolittle, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, and J. K. Randall

Saturday October 13, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Preludes in Seattle Part 4: Preludes by Ken Benshoof, Keith Eisenbrey, Lockrem Johnson, and Greg Short

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Playlist

Live

April 14, 2012
Cristina Valdés
Cristina Valdés
Mano a Mano: an evening of contemporary piano music by Latin American composers
Poncho Concert Hall - Cornish College of the Arts - Seattle

Tiento VI - German Cáceras
Simurg - Mario Lavista
Tres Piezas para piano - Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann
oscurecimiento gradual - Orlando Jacinto Garcia
Mano a Mano - Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez

I was turning pages for Cristina, so my attention was on matters other than simple enjoyment. The choice of these pieces, of these composers, and of this ethnic segment of the repertoire, without shoving it in our faces, make it clear that the chosen ethnic segment is anything but a monolith, that the featured composers are vibrantly musical, and that the pieces are glimpses of a vast and manifold wealth of deeply engaged musical thinking over on the other side of our shamefully militarized border. I very much appreciate Cristina's able championship of this music. It is my understanding that she has recorded most, if not all, of these pieces. I eagerly await the finished recordings!

Adrienne Varner
April 20, 2012
Adrienne Varner
Chapel Performance Space - Good Shepherd Center - Seattle

Ellie - Jarrad Powell
In A Landscape - John Cage
Tara's Love Will Melt the Sword - Janice Giteck
Opening - Philip Glass
Prelude - Jarrad Powell
Three Irish Legends (I. and III.) - Henry Cowell
Sugar Cubes - Bunita Marcus

Until a week ago this concert was to have been shared with Tiffany Lin, who unfortunately had to bow out due to a hand injury. Rather than cancel, Adrienne stepped up to the plate and put on a full show with very little warning. Well done!

I was glad to hear how well our local composers shone amidst their more widely known colleagues. Janice's set of four short pieces were fragmentary patternings of sonorous figures, richly textured fabric scraps, musics not of propulsion or drama, but of inhabitance and empathy. Jarrad's Ellie was puckish and fey, looking at us from an upside-angle, while his Prelude (my favorite piece of the evening) was like an artist's palette in which some inscrutably chosen array of color-layers has been slipped askew.

I was not a big fan of Philip Glass before, and I'm still not.  

In A Landscape is proof again of Cage's early fascination with keyboard figuration, as though some scrap of Satie had been left to bleach in the sun for 50 years. Can there really be anything left when there was nothing there to begin with? Cowell is big and splashy, always fun to hear, and Bunita Marcus's Sugar Cubes is (are?) tiny and careful - an interesting choice to finish with.

Adrienne is an excellent pianist, but a young performer, and it feels like she's still searching for a comfortable sense of herself as a physical presence on stage. Her fall-back persona last night was, for want of a better description, 'student recitalist'. For my money that has got to go. It has a tendency to put the audience into 'student recital' mode, with all its attendant judgmental ickiness. It isn't necessary either, since she plays quite well, and with obvious affection and sympathy for her chosen repertoire (big thumbs up for local music!) I am sure that with experience will come confidence, allowing us to see more fang now and then. I hope she visits Seattle often!

Recorded

April 16, 2002
Eckstein Middle School
Eckstein Bands 2004-2005

My oldest son attended Eckstein Middle School in Seattle. By far the best part of the experience was the superb music program run by Moc Escobido. Many of these kids went on to the award-winning jazz programs at Roosevelt and Garfield. This is the sampler disk from the 2004-2005 school year.

Banned Rehearsal 776 - (June 2010, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, and Neal Meyer)

The 26th Bannediversary. An assembly of parts, a bell rung, fed back into realms of pressure quanta punctuated: an accumulation of pointednesses.

April 17, 2002
Glory Glory Glory Glory to the Lamb - Kentucky Ramblers
Walking To New Orleans - Fats Domino
I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher

Incandescent by sheer dumb luck.

Walk Awhile - Fairport Convention
Jealous Again - Black Flag

maleloquence.

April 18, 2002
Banned Sectional 3 KEE NWM - (May 1985, Keith Eisenbrey and Neal Meyer)

An improv session at which only two are in attendance was early on dubbed a sectional, rather than a full rehearsal. We had at the very least an agreed upon a starting point, vocalizing on a single pitch (something like a C-sharp), easing into multi-phonic space. Looking back we must have planned this out pretty carefully, because 20 minutes in we start plucking on ukulele and mono-chord, and everything is tuned to the same C-sharp. I can't remember what the mechanics were, but we also had a subtle feedback system in place, bringing forward the standing waves.

April 19, 2002
Banned Rehearsal 237 - (November 1990, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt)

All bell (h)reeks loose. Triumphal stampede in tambourine overdrive. The Funmaker finds the funny chord (haywire flat five, I think). Grand!

April 20, 2002
Psalm 22:9-10 - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, soprano
Gathered Songs Test Mixes - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, soprano

Various slices of a recording session in May of 2005.

In Session at The Tintinabulary

April 16, 2010
Gradus 210 - Neal Meyer

The paths through these points are not straight.

Upcoming

Friday May 4, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Seattle Composers Salon - The Chapel Performance space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
I will be playing Emily Doolittle's Minute Etudes Book 1.

Saturday June 23, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
music by Emily Doolittle, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, and J. K. Randall

Saturday October 13, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Preludes in Seattle Part 4: Preludes by Ken Benshoof, Keith Eisenbrey, Lockrem Johnson, and Greg Short

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Playlist

Recorded

April 10, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 28 (May 1985 - Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Meyer)
Occupying Keith's Living Room - Greenwood 1985

What makes this, at first, sound so composed? A limited instrumental palette, an absence of outside interference, note-y gestures. We build a drone intensity, inviting or demanding ecstatic release, provided vocally by Neal, the post-ecstatic clarity. Followed by distraction. We become a rattle, interplucked with guitar, comments by violin.

April 12, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 236 (November 1990 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt)
Aaron - 1990

pipe pluck scrape
anarchy to sing
tk tttk

Karen & Keith - 1990
We make a loud sound that wakes the baby, who would be my eldest, now 21, then in utero.

Is there a necessary disjuncture between how hearing how this sound sounds and how this going goes?

Psalm 22: 9-10 - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey voice, Keith Eisenbrey piano

Our first set of recorded takes, from May 10, 2005. A dense piece of neo-modern counterpoint.

In Session at The Tintinabulary

March 26, 2012
Banned Rehearsal 810 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Meyer


Upcoming

Saturday June 23, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
music by Emily Doolittle, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, and J. K. Randall

Saturday October 13, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Preludes in Seattle Part 4: Preludes by Ken Benshoof, Keith Eisenbrey, Lockrem Johnson, and Greg Short

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Playlist

Live

March 31, 2012
Romantic Masters - Seattle Choral Company, Freddie Coleman
Saint Mark's Cathedral - Seattle

Aus der deutschen Liturgie - Mendelssohn
Drei Kirchenmusiken, Op. 23 - Mendelssohn
Chorale Prelude: O Welt, ich muss dich lassen, Op. 122, No. 3 - Brahms - Mel Butler, organ
Three Selected Motets - Bruckner
Zwei Motetten, Op. 74 - Brahms
Abendlied, Op. 69, No. 3 - Rheinberger

Sacred choral music shares with organ repertoire a long and fecund dialogue with sacred-space architecture, in a similar way to which rock and roll has a dialogue with guitar and amplifier design. A cathedral is really the only space within which this music can exist on its own terms. This program of a particularly spectacular corner of the repertoire, performed in fine style in a more than fitting space, was a pleasure of pleasures. Even without all that it would have been worth the price of admission to hear the tenor soloist, Christopher J. McCafferty, sing "Ave Maria" just once. Wow.

April 6, 2012
High Dive presents a benefit for UNICEF's TAP Project
The High Dive - Seattle

Your Mother Should Know
The Tailenders
Youth Rescue Mission
Curtains for You

By way of full disclosure: my beloved spouse Karen is the drummer of Your Mother Should Know, and her brother and my long-time collaborator Neal Meyer is guitarist and lead vocal. Consequently I have a hard time listening to them without being terrified of a disaster. Essentially I'm far too close to them as people to really hear what's going on. Even so, I was proud of them. There were some technical problems - a loud hum from Neal's amp - that precluded the use of one of his pedals, but all in all it went spectacularly well. That Seattle garage sound in all its earnest glory.

The Tailenders (fallen glam?) and Youth Rescue Mission (Pan-Northwestern Blues-Pop?) both checked in with fine performances, the former notable for some imaginative keyboard work, and the latter for clever lyrics and for trading instruments around the horn every few songs. Both bands have albums available for download. And after payday . . .

It is always a pleasure to hear Curtains for You. They are an energetic, feel-fabulous, ultra-smart, bouncy bunch of bros. Deep with eye-candy for the ladies, they are always just having the best time ever, and sharing it. I've blogged about them before and no doubt will again.

Recorded

April 1, 2012
Gradus at Gallery 1412 (May 2005) - part 2 - Neal Meyer

April 3, 2012
Your Mother Should Know at Full Tilt Ice Cream - Your Mother Should Know
Your Mother Should Know at Full Tilt

This was the recording I made of YMSK's first gig last June. Although Karen wasn't part of the band yet, her drums made a fine appearance under the sticks of Matt Ferbrache.

April 5, 2012
Symphony No. 1 in C Major - Beethoven - Academy of Ancient Music, Hogwood

Makes up in clarity what it might lack in gravitas.

No Home Blues - Louise Ross [from Allen Lowe's Really The Blues]

Choo Choo - Paul Whiteman [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]


Early loony tunes vibe.



Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]

The drummer knows his rudiments.

I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]

Tight.

If I Were Your Woman - Gladys Knight and The Pips [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
Over You - Roxy Music [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]

In Session at The Tintinabulary

April 2, 2012
Gradus 209 - Neal Meyer

Upcoming

Saturday June 23, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
music by Emily Doolittle, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, and J. K. Randall

Saturday October 13, 2012 concert begins at 8:00 PM
Keith Eisenbrey - piano recital at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Preludes in Seattle Part 4: Preludes by Ken Benshoof, Keith Eisenbrey, Lockrem Johnson, and Greg Short