 |
| dabbling - Seward Park, Seattle |
"Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure. Consider also the devilish brilliance and beauty of many of its most remorseless tribes, as the dainty embellished shape of many species of sharks. Consider, once more, the universal cannibalism of the sea; all whose creatures prey upon each other, carrying on eternal war since the world began."
Herman Melville, from "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale."
Texts
Recorded
April 12, 2025
Handle With Care - Traveling Wilburys [from Traveling Wilburys]
(we're old)
Nocturnes or Discourses (mix) - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded by Tom Stiles, December 2, 1993]
thinking elaborationally
the presence of two sessions in the mix
with their separate pedalings
and separate actions
and weight shifts
tests our counting of
the scrim layers
it opens up their rhyming
listen to the time of the moment
Wear a Red Rose - James King [from Bed By The Window]
sociability on stage
to model sociability in the hall
id est
we're all one of y'all
 |
| skunk cabbage - Seward Park, Seattle |
Psalm 133 (A) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey, Karen Eisenbrey [recorded at Jack Straw Cultural Center, May 17, 2025]
finding a path to setting text
that doesn't get in the text's way
by goosing its imagery
The Lucifer Project - Goat [from Special Agent]
life
in the techno-adventure cinematic universe
Gradus 228 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 17, 2013]
what now does silence signify?
it signifies
an intention
to
invoke
a mode
of listening
the notes
say things to each other
passing information packets
the information
changes
with each passing
they compare
results
the problem
with metronomic pulse
is that
metronomes
are under the impression
that all seconds
are the same
length
Dear Beer - The Bombpops [from Dear Beer]
the engineered sound
is like that of the 80s
in its track
discretion
but made of a softer skin
 |
| paddling - Seward Park, Seattle |
April 14, 2025
Banned Telepath 100 Magnuson Frogs - Jennifer Chung [April 7, 2023]
a liquid sound
fills its container
croaks in every cranny
intermittencies
small irregularities
spark language listening
mode
it could all be filtered speech
radio transmissions
picked up
by a froggy evening pond
Madrigals, Book IV: Sí ch'io vorrei morire - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
music such as this
is
as much
or more
a form of poetry
as/than
a form of music
Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, SWV 386 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
a solid statement
a mustard seed
illuminates
and reflects
upon all things
we follow
a selection
of dendritial paths
Fuga in C Major, BuxWV 174 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
butterflies sparkle in the dome
Premier Ordre (sol): La Pastorelle - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
an amusing decorative device
Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman
artistry of the entrance
oboe as voice double
the word painting
occurs within such a refined rhetorical context
it leaves no lingering patina of cleverness
Sonata in C Major, K. 270 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
the very picture
of a pedant in action
has a habit
much lampooned
of pounding his finger thrice
for
emphasis
four taps
means
thinking about something
 |
| Odd Fellows Cemetery - Bickleton, Washington |
a master scenery builder
as though conjuring the whole shebang
with nothing but flamboyance
wears its artifice
on its sleeve
decorated puppet strings
fancy music
imitating simple music
this guy wins the melisma contest
hands down
Symphony in G minor, (1st Version) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schröder, Christopher Hogwood
the tunes
are made
to be a conversation
we must have menuets
to be considered civilized
orchestration
images an arena of voices
moving among each other
 |
| bark - Seward Park, Seattle |
Die Schöpfung: Der Dritte Tag - Franz Joseph Haydn - English Baroque Soloists, The Monteverdi Choir, John Eliot Gardiner, Sylvia McNair, Donna Brown, Michael Schade, Gerald Finley, Rodney Gilfry
this recitative
is a narration
of the argument
a picture-book oratorio
Arabesque, Op. 18 - Robert Schumann - Wilhelm Kempff
embedded tales in tapestry
Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 55 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Claudio Arrau
doesn't establish its key
but
as
it is enraptured by it
Cello Concerto in B minor - Antonín Dvořák - Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Walter Susskind, Zara Nelsova
1
folk legend opening
atmosphere of adventure and romance
we
meet our hero first
as a horn rumors them
acclamation and fanfare
finally
in the flesh
busy preparations
determination
sets
in their chin
but
they love their mother
as
the horn had informed us
the distance homeward
sinks in
but
some lands
are enough like theirs
to encourage
2
simple bucolic quiet living
were it not for stern
necessity
3
night before action
a heart is stirred
home calls to
battle
or
at least
to thrift and hard work
hearts are
won
a new home
for our tired hero
a glorious victory
 |
| Odd Fellows Cemetery - Bickleton, Washington |
this music
moves
from space to space on its stage
Henpecked Blues - Charlie Straight [from That Devilin' Tune]
the blues
are not something one can have
in general
the
blues
must be
specific
and personal
to be blues
at all
well I'll be blued
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean - Blind Lemon Jefferson [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
this music is a poetic framework
keeping its lines in their proper
relations
I'm Gonna Lock My Heart - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
a taunting tune
seal my windows up in tin
Three Improvisations, No. 1 (1938) - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives Plays Charles Ives]
meanwhile
harumphing about in the basement
Old Uncle Modernist
Sonatas and Interludes: Third Interlude - John Cage - Adam Tendler
how very Gertrude Steinian
to follow the Second Interlude
directly
with the Third
Things Ain't What They Used To Be - Duke Ellington [from Piano Reflections]
slow and sultry skateboard dance
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Little Richard [from Little Richard]
the whole list of {x}oon words
music to enforce the meter
Half A Man - Willie Nelson [from Here's Willie Nelson]
slides into speech
as easily as Billie Holiday does
twist the
knife
Ten Feet Off the Ground - Louis Armstrong [from Disney Songs The Satchmo Way]
that's how music's magic is made
Breathe (In The Air) - Pink Floyd [from Dark Side Of The Moon]
patient with itself
That's All I Want From You - Nina Simone [from Baltimore]
intimated stories
this music
is their warm golden glow
 |
| Odd Fellows Cemetery - Bickleton, Washington |
I am a heroine
in a bodice ripper
trapped
in a loop
to
seep in
more thoroughly
you'll forget
when you are
Improvisation for Organ and Guitar (part 2) - Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [from Wake - Yu Feng - Improvisation]
all the kinds of volumes
that sounds can be
bubbling into each
other
Now Those Days Are Done - King's Singers [from Chansons D'Amour]
suburbourgeois sentimentalism
without irony
(scary)
Banned Rehearsal 500 (part 1) - Isaac E, John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Holden K, Aaron Keyt, Kia M, Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 27, 1998]
in celebration
we come apart
at the strum
the time will come
apart
into
our constituent spaces
social
cohesion/repulsion
different people
have different tolerances
to group size
14 years of din
lists and drones
the listed word sets
that are anagrams
of
Banned Rehearsal
 |
| bark -Seward Park, Seattle |
Shouldn't We Talk III - J. K. Randall [from Open Space 19]
within its clock grid tolerance
rhythms and notes
can be produced
accurately
as intended
even sampled sound
can only be
produced
within
a carapace
of their recorded space
the
gathered bodies
of their mutual presence
is absent
from the
recorded trace
leaving us
with a question
what
is the
social function
of this music?
the sounds produced
don't
appear to have one
among theirselves
Yu Feng: Seven Fugues for Toy Piano - Aaron Keyt - Aaron Keyt [from Wake - Yu Feng - Improvisation]
each entrance
twists
the prevailing metrical feel
the meter
was bent there
it becomes
a shape
within the meter
feel
Not That Far Away - Swamp Meat [from Swamp Meat]
boomy reverb
overpowers its image
Banned Telepath 61 Chignik Lagoon - Aaron Keyt [March 11, 2018]
the action sound
of the spinet
at Chignik Lagoon
echoes
the action sound
of the toy piano
in Yu Feng
Bad Life (with Bree O'C) - Bad Hug [from Dirt Cult Records - Dead Bars- You Don't Have to Be Cool Vol 1]
has that Sound Lab sound to it
Jazzin' Baby Blues - King Oliver [from That Devilin' Tune]
caricature
animation
the musicians impersonate
Yes I Know - Rev. Calbert and Sister Billie Holstein [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
how to learn lessons
repetition by song
etern-a-ty
Alley Woman Blues - Blind John Davis [from That Devilin' Tune]
angles at the beat
form the beat
a rock in the flow
'Deed I Do - Peggy Lee [from Rendezvous with Peggy Lee]
in the mares eat oats school
of lyric production
all the fashion
||stray notes:
look-up-er
arcanologist
arcanian
 |
| Odd Fellows Cemetery - Bickleton, Washington |
this music
is not a greeting card
it is an event
of telling
the specificity
of any ones
travails
a humor
unacceptable to the proud
Moscow, Cheryomushki, Act 3 - Dmitri Shotakovich - Residentie Orchestra The Hague, Russian State Symphonic Cappella, Gennady Rozhdestvensky
a nice community dance
with stakes
the soloists not singing
shout
over the orchestra
a bit of Beethoven
lots of lines in Russian
Italianate song
I can't imagine Dmitri spent more time on this
than he absolutely had
to
everybody stands and cheers
When You Wish Upon A Star - Stevie Wonder [from With A Song In My Heart]
sings like a horn player
who knows what they're doing
Save The Life Of My Child/Let Us Be Lovers - Simon and Garfunkel [from Bookends]
1
loading lyric
with obvious stakes
the 60s were so
ardent
2
much more human sized song
distinctly more mature
 |
| Seward Park, Seattle |
You've Been Around Too Long - Carole King [from Fantasy]
coming to terms
in a classy lounge
with album filler guitar
noodles
Because the Night - Patti Smith Group [from Easter]
a hook
with impaled lines
pounded out equally
at each
iteration
<a,b> - Keith Eisenbrey - MFA Composer's Workshop [recorded at Bard College, July 18, 1983]
I don't remember exactly what my score/prompt was for this
something to
do with refracted decay patterns I think
an image I had
of a
flavor of rhythm
lots of great sounding percussion
I might have had us partner up
one agent to initiate
the start
of the refracted shape
and other
to enact it
{hence the
ordered pair <a,b>}
mournful monochord
such procedures
succeed at producing things
but
is it a
thing
that needs to be produced
by anybody
for their own
use?
these ducks are getting agitated
one-trick pony on the bongos
 |
| Seward Park, Seattle |
Rockhouse - Roy Orbison [from For the Lonely: 18 Greatest Hits]
build tension
with bisyllabic lines
comes and goes
Nocturnes or Discourses (Pre-Mix) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded by Tom Stiles, December 2, 1993]
triangulating pitch
in its space
in terms of the project
this
is the recording of the sounds I made
into the room
(Brechemin late at night)
what isn't there
is
the score/stimulus
which was
what was playing
in my
headphones
for the first few minutes
this {the score/stimulus}
was silence
after that
what I was responding to
was a playback
of
the recording I had just made
the idea being
that the whole
would be
my sequential response
to that initial silence
and then
my response
to that response
the mix
was the score/stimulus
and the response
dubbed together
so that
the final mix
was essentially
what I was
hearing
as I was playing
like a long tape loop
In Session at The Tintinabulary
April 11, 2025
Sonatina for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 35 - Lockrem Johnson - Keith Eisenbrey, Peter Nelson-King
April 13, 2025
New York - Keith Eisenbrey
Postscripts
Drops
One of the shining lights of the local music scene during the pandemic lockdown was Nonsequitur's Wayward in Limbo series: 134 commissioned recordings of new work by local musicians. I was honored to be asked for a contribution. The essential intimacy of the clavichord seemed fitting for the occasion, and I offer this series of short improvisations for your enjoyment.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
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