Playlist

Bickleton, WA

Preface

ODE TO SIR ANDREW AGNEW:

AND ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.

"Sir Andrew Agnew, oh! thou scourge of sinners,

Thou legislator against vice

And nice

Hot Sunday dinners!

What shall we do

Now thou art gone - thou and Sir Oswald* too -

To make men fast and pray

Each seventh day?

Who now shall save us from sin's burning embers?

Now that we've lost our two old Marrowbone members?"

But seriously, Sir Andrew, do you think

There's so much harm in meat and drink?

That a hot steak

Ate once a week

Show a depraved state of society?

That frizzled bacon

Argues a soul mistaken?

And - pray don't start! -

That devil'd kidneys show a dev'lish heart?

That there is irreligion in hot fry?

And that cold pie alone is pie-ty?

If so, begin, Sir, with the rich: ask these

To give up their ragouts, and stews, and fricassees.

I guess they'd think your application rather strange;

but if you will work out your bill,

Believe me, you must take a wider kitchen range.

Then Sir you think it wrong

In 'bus or cab to ride along

The streets,

Intent on rural treats

At Hampstead, Islington, or Turnham Green;

but have you never seen

The crowd

Of knight and dames, on palfreys fierce and proud,

That fill

Hyde Park o' Sundays? I don't wish to tease,

But, Sir, for riders such as these,

There ought, I think, to be a rider to your Bill.

No doubt it's very wrong, and shows but little nous,

To go a tea-drinking, and making merry

At th' Eagle, Rosemary Branch, or Yorkshire Stingo; -

Chalk Farm's as vile, by jingo!

There's something very black about White Conduit House.

Richmond is sad;

And Twickenham's as bad:

And Hampton Wick is very wicked - very.

But Sir, - excuse the freedom of my pen -

D'ye think that they
Who spend the day

At Tattersall's, in laying wagers

On Derbys, Oaks, and Legers,

are better men?

And then, the Clubs! - where gambling of all kinds,

and vices such as daylight never saw,

Are carried on behind cast-metal blinds -

For these, Sir, Can't you frame some new Club Law?

Then, Sir, I know

You vote rat-killing low;

And wouldn't sit

For worlds in the Westminster Pit.

And so no doubt it is - extremely shocking;

But so is cocking!

And I have known full many a noble lord

(I have, upon my word,)

Fight cocks upon this day:

so pray,

Before us poor folks you legislate,

Just try to quell this main-ia in the great.

Then music drives you mad:

And, Scotchman tho' you be,

I know

You wouldn't suffer even a Scotch fiddle;

And, as for "down the middle,"

And such-like tricks of Dame Terpsichore,

I've often heard you say they're quite as bad;

And that all persons merit a sound whipping

Who are found tripping,

(Apropos -

How you'd be shock'd in France

To see, Sir, a whole country dance!)

Mind! I don't say but that all this is wrong:|

But is it worse, Sir, than the Sunday song

of Grisi, Albertazzi, Betts, Rubini,

Lablache, or Tamburini?

And would it not be better first to wipe out

This sin among the high and mighty of the State,

Before you put the poor man's pipe out?

For my part, I think Vivi tu

As wicked as All around my hat - don't you?

And really I don't know

How you can stop Jim Crow,

And let the rich

Carry their concerts, Sir, to such concert pitch.

And, if, Sir, I may speak

My mind, you plan to gag our week

(Tho' done perhaps with very best intention)

Is but a weak invention.

Besides, Sir, here's a poser, -

At least to me it seems a closer,

And shows a shocking lack of legislative skill -

If nothing, Sir, 's to work from Saturdays to Mondays,

Pray how's your bill

To work on Sundays?

*Sir O. Moseley, who lost his election, they say, from having seconded Sir Andrews' Sunday Bill."

from The Comic Almanack an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, Containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips and Oddities, First Series, 1835-1843

Texts

Recorded

Bickleton, WA

April 27, 2025

Madrigals, Book IV: Anima del cor mio poi che da me misera me - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini

a poetic/sung breath
opens
and fills a constellation of pitches 

neumes become sound

Das ist je gewichlich wahr, SWV 388 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana

these words
are inscribed
upon the space
beneath the cathedral dome
in which
we participate 

these things
are certain
and
will not be moved

Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 148 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella

long notes
pointed at
and underlined multiple times 

this this this
is the pitch that matters
and these pitches
are how it matters

Premier Ordre (sol): La Bourbonnoise, Gavotte - François Couperin  Kenneth Gilbert

jolly and free of care

Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gotte, BWV 76 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Ton Koopman

long tones shine like brightening stars 

||excursus:
late 18th Century eschewal of contrapuntal forms
perhaps
a reaction
to what might seem to be
the constant chugging engine
of voices
working themselves out
over the tops of each other 

began to make the dukes yawn?

Bickleton, WA

April 28, 2025

Sonata in B-flat Major, Kk. 272 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder

passages
with similarities of figuration sequence
but differing tonal motions

Sonata in F Major, K. 533 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Mitsuko Uchida

stage repartee
master chef in the kitchen 

middle movement
idealized maidenhood
pious and pure
kept 

third movement
distinctly not
a ripsnorting finale
a quiet pleasure

Die Schöpfung: Der Fünfte Tag - Franz Joseph Haydn - English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir, Sylvia McNair, Donna Brown, Michael Schade, Gerald Finley, Rodney Gilfry

title card
the curtain opens
to the cute critter dance
the vibrantly encreatured world

Humoreske in B-flat Major, Op. 20 - Robert Schumann - Peter Frankl

a suite of conversations
a vision of timestopping beauty
a thrilling encounter
a sanguinary yarn
tender confidences
strung
so that
the oddball alternations
reach outside
the confines
of their number 

one can never
not expect
a return

Bickleton, WA

April 29, 2025

Sonata in F-sharp Major, Op. 30 (#4) - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev

tonal parfumier
for me
not an aroma
but
the image of one 

senses quickened
and the hounds are off
on the scent

Dippermouth Blues - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band [from The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz]

music
as decorative art
fashions change

Finnegans Wake, Chapter 7 (continued) - James Joyce - Neal Kosály-Meyer [streamed January 9, 2021]

the hand's touch
is a language without words
as very recently
as a thousand rains ago
the noxious pervert's
perfect lowness
stank out of sight
how is that
for low
laities and gentle numbs
the Monster Book
of Patriotic Poetry
whiff the polecat
at close range

I Can't Get Started (take 1) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]

hitch a ride
on the silver screen fantastical

Symphony No. 1/rejected mvt. 2. Largo (1938) - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives Plays Charles Ives]

in search of past music

Sonatas and Interludes: Sonata X - John Cage - Adam Tendler

exotical fan fiction

Janet - Duke Ellington [from Piano Reflections]

energetic intro
sudden calm
outro back to energetic
(fade)

Bickleton, WA

The Blessing - Ornette Coleman [from Something Else!!]

sequential speechifying
in lengthy periods
of ornately metered lines

Anna (Go To Him) - The Beatles [from Please Please Me]

here guys
sing into this can

Crosstown Traffic - The Jimi Hendrix Experience [from Electric Ladyland]

misogynistic sex brag

You're Pretty Face Is Going To Hell - The Stooges [from Raw Power]

another one
priapic strutter

Sunbird - Carole King [from Welcome Home]

living the dream
life
in a sunbaked hippie montage

The Murder Weapon - T Bone Burnett [from Proof Through The Night]

a double attempt
on an epic
U2 type
stadium entrance
but
his voice isn't that big
gets lost
in such a large space
tries too hard for grandeur
unearned

Improvisation for Organ and Guitar (Part 4) - Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [from Wake - Yu Feng - Improvisation]

occasional intonation
(when the beams cross)

thrashing away
energy release
allows relaxed functioning
for cooperative listening

Track 2 - Elizabeth Panzer [from Talking Harp]

harp music
that sounds like harp music
so that
if you want harp music
you can have some 

this one
has sharp words in it

this music wears the costume of a story teller
every page colorfully illustrated

Banned Rehearsal 500 (part 3) - Isaac E, John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Holden K, Kia M, Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 27, 1998]

Keith Eisenbrey · Banned Rehearsal 500 980627 part 3

I announce
that I will go prepare the coffee 

a feedback has been formed 

it had already been a long session
and we were fading 

Aaronsbundler attempts a rescue 

tunes into
our stress fractured commonality
hanging in there

Bickleton, WA

{journal entry of July 6, 2006:

of all human endeavors
music exists
or could
strenuously
for our benefit
music
for the sake of music
that is
for the furtherance
of the art of music
is an empty task
unless
understood
as a metaphor
an image
of ourselves
furthered
in the music
experienced
as furthered
in the music 

generates
into a parallel knot
of domestic livingsound}

April 30, 2025

Interlude - Jay-Z [from The Black Album]

up from below

Banned Rehearsal 736 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [April 7, 2008]

Keith Eisenbrey · Banned Rehearsal 736 080407

sounds of objects interacting
back alleys of culture
prestige transits elsewhere
in the public eye
we make mechanisms
that can be made
to make sounds
make sounds
in the ways
they are made
to make them 

splooshy puddles of organ clumps 

piano sets up a soapbox
to huckster from 

we sit back
to enjoy the evening dim

Here Comes The Sun - Peter Fedofsky [from False Ties and Nice Hoods]

cinematic moment
for happy romance

Bickleton, WA

Banned Telepath 61 Port Haiden - Aaron Keyt [March 14, 2018]

through these sounds
we bring this room
to you 

acoustic character
imported spaces

The Many Voices In Our Heads - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from The Many Voices In Our Heads]

improvisatory collaborative groove production
subcultures within subcultures 

it's subcultures all the way up

Sly Mongoose - Montrose String Orchestra [from Turn Me Loose White Man]

in those days
our time was fluid 

that fiddle player
sure can play

School Girl Blues - Rosa Mae Moore [from Really The Blues]

heart to heart
mom & daught? 

scenes from a weary life

The Flat Foot Floogie - Louis Armstrong, The Mills Brothers [from Louis Armstrong and Guest Stars]

one of the greatest tracks of all time
in my ever so humble opinion

Little David Play On Your Harp - Merle Travis [from Turn Me Loose White Man]

its time
follows its own internal logic
with no apparent concern
for industrial uniformity

Walking at Night in Key West - Allen Ginsberg [from Holy Soul, Jelly Roll]

when the mad
have lost their glad

Of Thee I Sing (Take 1) - Sarah Vaughan [from Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin]

just about the kinkiest song ever
eh?

Track 4 [from The Life Treasure of Christmas Music]

in multiple languages!

In a Station - The Band [from Music From Big Pink]

alienation of uniqueness
among the inanimate

I Wish You Would - David Bowie [from Pinups]

barely a chord in width

Rave On - Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band [from Live at The Roxy July 7, 1978]

finding his inner Memphis

BB JB KE SJ DS 830725 - Benjamin Boretz, Jill Borner, Keith Eisenbrey, Sarah Johnson, Dan Sedia [recorded at Bard College, July 25, 1983]

we pause to hear our thinking

at the time

and for some time thereafter

I felt I had made a significant breakthrough

in how I thought of/played/composed with the piano

this session 

in my enthusiasm

I may have taken over some of it

spreading new wings 

but

this first part is just lovely 

starts with guitar and piano dancing
Jill's electric violin pizzicato
provides prodding 

if

in fact

this is the tape I think it is

which I think it is

as it gets to the part

where I play loud 

here's my Bill Evans chorale chords

and yet
I may be mistaken
time has passed since then 

quite an enjoyable session though 

I'm not sure I have the track labelled correctly
as to personnel

{confirmed wrong on all right-aligned counts

not that tape at all}

Sabre Dance - Canadian Brass [from More Greatest Hits]

does not sound safe or sane

Banned Rehearsal 347 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [December 17, 1993]

Keith Eisenbrey · Banned Rehearsal 347 931217

as though we had never stopped
plug it in
and it goes 

turn off all the choices
it doesn't know what to say 

I'm guessing
I'm doing my pinniped imitation on sax
and Aaron is on the keys 

Jingle Bells
as we near the holiday 

had not yet developed
a reasonable mic placement
the room sounds emptier than it does now
its reverberation was harsher 

Aaron sings the haydideedayday song 

like a waffle in the waves
weightless waiting within

Bickleton, WA

{journal entry of December 1, 1998:

saxophone makes an early squeaky appearance
is it me ?
:sounds like Aaron on the organ
I don't think Karen tried to play it...
yes
must be Aaron at keyboard
myself at sax 

what is the difference between a tune and lyricism?
a tune is composed from outside
prepared
and lyricism
is an active state
an activity
a compositional activity
a tune can be invented on the spot
but
this is not the same
as waxing lyrical
a tune
composed
can be a stimulus
to lyrical activity/composition
but
is it possible
or even desirable
at one and the same time
to compose a tune
which stimulates
a separate
and time-skewed
lyrical activity? 

||tuning violin and organ
a lyric stasis
a need for lyrictivity
a prefound basis
a seed
from outside
an insemination
sounding
like some familiar surface
familiar
or current event
onhooking
to
John here
here's Njoh
cleverness
is something recognizable
an event
for clinging 

a matrial material matrix}

Bickleton, WA

May 1, 2025

Changeling - The Kent 3 [from Blood on the Flat Track Soundtrack]

complete with its own narration
monodynamical 

Psalm 133 (take 1) - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [recorded at Jack Straw Cultural Center, May 10, 2005]

pretty good take
but for one bobble (mine)

Fallen So Hard - Smokestack and The Foothill Fury [from A Live Wire]

a live recording
sounds about like he did when we heard him

Songs Your Mother Should Know - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Karen Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, July 5, 2013]

introducing the man who formerly had no hair

a mini musical

I must have been hosting Salon that night

Ain't So Simple - Brenda Ray [from Original Songs/1950s Music]

a member of our church shared these tracks that she had made

Magnuson Park 230411 A - Keith Eisenbrey [April 11, 2023]

Keith Eisenbrey · Magnuson Park 230411 A

some crows having a ruckus
traffic and twitter birds
traffic
that constant roar of the urban world

Bleeding Hearted Blues - James P. Johnson [from Really The Blues]

blues thread
comment thread
dance thread
all twisted together
a strong rope

Ha Ha Blues - Rosie Mae Moore [from Turn Me Loose White Man]

scenes from rural life
in the low lane

Bickleton, WA

I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket - Herman Chittison [from That Devilin' Tune]

style and influence
followed with
baseball stats! fluency
every year
a new amazement
trace of pedigree

Sonata Breve, Op. 26 - Lockrem Johnson - Lockrem Johnson, Gerald Ogle

they go through things together
two for one
and one for two
a not unmassy breve
as breves go

Saving My Love For You - Johnny Ace [from Turn Me Loose White Man]

so this
is the late great Johnny Ace 

a completely believable voice

Frankie and Johnnie - Morgana King [from Sings The Blues]

right through a hardwood swingin' door 

how few verses are required
to tell the whole sorry tale?

The Bells of St. Mary - Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans [from A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector]

if a bell is mentioned
a bell must be rung 

repressed
by a wall of sound
only the hook matters
the rest is window dressing

Let There Be More Light - Pink Floyd [from A Saucerful of Secrets]

now there
is an entrance
perfectly cinematic
that
actually sounds
like something
somebody
cares about 

emphatically
not
in song form
more like
sprawled
in an altered state
across the ruin
of a song form

Quadrophenia - The Who [from Quadrophenia]

replacing orchestration
with attitude and amplification 

if you make the soundtrack
the film will surely follow
build it
they will come 

vamp after vamp
all intro
no showtime
overture
in the form
of a table of contents

Bickleton, WA

Utopia - Sun Ra & Walt Dickerson [from Visions]

these guys
are on some same page alrighty 

adept at tuning
to a going
that isn't a groove
that
could be sold and fitted
to use elsewhere 

something about the vibe of this
reminds me of Mike Marlin's Dubious Duo
(equally fab) 

this is about them
with each
we
are witnesses to it

The Cutter - Echo & The Bunnymen [from Porcupine]

tracks have histories of their own
how they got made
and histories
of connections
how they found me
compilators are valuable
to mix culture
for our mutual benefit 

this track
and its band
found me
via Nancy's Mix
underground share tapes

In Session at The Tintinabulary

April 27, 2025

Swanwick - Keith Eisenbrey

Keith Eisenbrey · 95 Swanwick 250427 [250427]

April 28, 2025

Gradus 413 - Neal Kosály-Meyer

pursues its path
approaches all taken
or each taken
all transformation
all the time
acoustic models
limit tonal possibilities
wrist shaking
fist shaking
proclaimed
in high legend

Postscripts

Drops

I had the great good fortune to meet the eminent Seattle composer Lockrem Johnson (1924-1977) a few months before his death. A vast treasury of information on Lockrem and his times, including scores and historic recordings, can be found at lockremjohnsonestate.com.

1-24: 24 Preludes, Op. 50 (1967)
25: Sonatina for Trumpet and Piano, Op. 35 (1950)
26: 2 Songs to a Child, Op. 27 (1942/1948):

Do You Hear The Snow

Good Night

27: Chaconne, Op. 29 (1948)
28: Songs in the Wind, Op. 32 (1949)
29: Jazz Hanon 11 (1971)
30: Last 2 Songs, Op.52 (1973):

Because I Cannot Tilt Your Head

An Old Tune

31: Fifth Sonata, Op. 34 (1953)

Keith Eisenbrey, piano (all tracks)
Peter Nelson-King, trumpet (Op. 35)
Susan Payne O'Brien, soprano (Op. 27 and 52)
Lorri Froggét, soprano (op. 32)

Songs in the Wind recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, October 13, 2007
2 Songs to a Child and Last 2 Songs recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, March 16, 2024
All other tracks recorded 2023-2025 at The Tintinabulary, Seattle.

texts
Do You Hear The Snow by Lewis Carroll
Good Night by Mark Twain
Songs in the Wind by Ruth McDonald
Because I Cannot Tilt Your Head by Anon.
An Old Tune by Robert Abraham

recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream