George Cruikshank, from "The Comic Almanack. 1st Series, 1835-1843"
Texts
Live
July 3, 2025
Demure Asian Rage
Alex Chuang, Josh Hou, Leanna Keith, Yeeman
"ManMan" Mui, Shuxuan Zhou
The Chapel Performance Space, Good
Shepherd Center, Seattle
Opening Set - Good Luck Rabbits - Josh Hou, Alex Chuang, Shuxuan Zhou
music attached to region?
melody from a region and a time
1920s
Cantonese?
Late 20th Century Broadway?
1940s Paris Café?
American pop
of a certain value of swank?
a take
on what mixed cultures
hear of each other?
silent dance
miming a music
to a different music
echo
chamber of aggression
expulsion
breathing time (thank you)
not for nothing
(we do so
hope so)
Recorded
June 28, 2025
Madrigals, Book VIII: Perchè t' en fuggi, o fillide? - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
soloists step in and out of ensembles
without effort
ensembles
step in and out of each other
without trying
a dialog of
characters
embodied in soloists
and ensembles
that slip
between and among themselves
at will
the goal
is to
ravish
with beauty
Du Schalksknecht, SWV 397 - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
to impress
with solemn grandeur
where solemn truths
make their solemn homes
frowning sternly
upon the ravishments
of beauty
Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, BuxWV 186 - Dieterich Buxtehude -
Simone Stella
Bickleton, WA
procession with heavy robes
their seats sink
under their weight
Premier livre de clavecin: Deuxieme Ordre (fin) : La Garnier. Moderement - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
to impress
with gracious elegance
ur-fountain of the civilized
globe
living the role
committing to the bit
Ein ungefärbt Gemüte, BWV 24 - Johann Sebastian Bach - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Choir, Ton Koopman
each punctilio
explained at length
hortatorial recitativo
and the angels approve
polyphonically
with their own
additional
lessons
more hortatory
strings strike the podium
or support the
hortatoryor
in their transport
take this time
to reflect
model
of your expected response
a lovely song
we'll now turn to number 24 in the hymn book
please stand as you are
able
 |
| Bickleton, WA |
Sonata in D Major, Kk. 281 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
lighting upon each ready blossom
Symphony in E-flat Major, K. 543 (543) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schroder, Christopher Hogwood
1
some offbeat figures
have no intent
besides being off the
beat
some though
conspire
to confound
five bar phrasings
from offset openings
or doubled endings
canonic procedures
work
to loosen
strict statement answer
balancing act
more room to breathe
2
card play
politesse
tentative sympathy feelers
strong feelings behind the masks
residual anxiety
whether
I have kept my place
within its layout
(immaterial)
3
gentle
metrical
sleight of hand
4
domestic drama
in an hierarchical household
Die Schöpfung, Der Sechste Tag - Franz Joseph Haydn - Berliner
Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan, Gundula Janowitzs, Christa Ludwig, Fritz
Wunderlich, Werner Krenn, Walter Berry, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Wiener
Singverein
Bickleton, WA
illustrations
all about what was created
including us
do we take ourselves
to be the hero of this story?
(what a wondrous work is man)
(none other creature can write a fugue,
see?)
a choral fugue
is a social activity
among the chorus members
a doing together
 |
| Bickleton, WA |
Prelude in A-flat Major, Op. 28 #17 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
repeated chord figure in the middle register
part of the technology of
sonority sustenance
on top of its many voice-leading tasks
Album für die Jugend: Jägerliedchen, Op. 68 #7 - Robert Schumann - Eric Le Sage
we bounce along
what thrilling fun
Prelude in C Major, Op. 33 #3 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
this tonality's brow
is darkened in anger
London Blues - Jelly Roll Morton [from That Devilin' Tune]
moves easily in its own skin
G. Burns Is Gonna Rise Again - Johnson-Nelson-Porkchop [from Really The Blues]
comic stage act
Mary's Idea - Andy Kirk [from That Devilin' Tune]
pitches
here
indicate locations
within a cyclically
generating meter feel
Falling In Love Again (take 2) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
master class
in goal-oriented vocal lines
Sonatas and Interludes: First Interlude - John Cage - Boris Berman
a peculiar clock in constant conversation
It's Alright - Ray Charles [from Yes Indeed!]
keep on singing children
Make Someone Happy - Stevie Wonder [from With A Song In My Heart]
would a voice like that stand a chance in 2025?
Ten O'Clock - ? and The Mysterians [from The Best of ? and The Mysterians]
Bo Diddley beat
proceeds
from below the midriff
Cracked Actor - David Bowie [from Aladdin Sane]
short story character
Crazy You - Prince [from For You]
composed to be self contained
fully reflective
Hearts and Bones - Paul Simon [from Hearts and Bones]
a tempo of the dry lands
with open skies
July 1, 2025
Banned Rehearsal 137 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer, Marily Meyer, William Meyer [April 3, 1988]
tracing the familial relations
among those assembled
only Aaron
has the same relation
to each of the rest of us
(not directly related
by any known common family of origin)
each
of the rest of us
has various types of relation
with the others
outside of family relations
we seven
can be divided
into
hosts (four of us)
and guests (three of us)
Argentine Tango - Black Cat Orchestra [from Dante's Inferno Live Score]
has more than a hint of decadent cabaret in the nose
cuts off after a few reps
Glory to God (050510D) - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [recorded at Jack Straw Cultural Center, May 10, 20025]
an aborted attempt
The First Noel - Whitney Houston [from One Wish: The Holiday Album]
for a chic modern décor
deconstructed tinsel
Banned Rehearsal 740 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 9, 2008]
we explore below the rocks
of typical audibility
what strange
crabs of sounds we find
scuttling sideways
and en garde
with
claws agape
music
as a social habitat
feedback and playback
back to back
the space
repurposed kitchen bowls
a drum and a mouth harp
on the next porch over
guiro croaks
flute sounds
peace out
we'll play the bells
all these sounds
caught in the act
of
transforming each other
Waiting on the Sunrise - The Swearengens [from
Waiting on the Sunrise]
Bickleton, WA
southwest country
its got all the parts
goes round at least one
time too many
Second Thoughts Gb to Kf - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, May 24, 2018]
each one exactly itself
strict in their numbers
Snohomish Piece I: At the Hoots - S. Eric Scribner - Keith Eisenbrey, Neal Kosály-Meyer, S. Eric Scribner [from Four]
we improvise to sounds premade
find a way
to be with the premade
bits of sounds
from Zither film
have found their way into
this
along with thunder
My Soul Is a Witness - Paramount Jubilee Singers [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
this song has clearly been through a trial
to have come this far
Standin' in the Rain Blues - Bessie Smith [from Empty Bed Blues]
the trumpet fills the space between the lines
um-ba-rella
boots and shoes
St. Louis Stomp - Speckled Red [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
boogie woogie
all loose in its elbows
Four Transcriptions from Emerson (1943): No. 1 (abandoned) - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives Plays Charles Ives]
impatient with his material
Boperation - Fats Navarro [from That Devilin' Tune]
not just the improvisation
but the panache
of the prearranged bits
and the practiced moves
from one to the other
an arrangement
as a pecking order
among the players
Nutty - John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk [from
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane]
Bickleton, WA
after all these years
I may finally be hearing the tune
behind
those long solos
how
there
it
always
was
What Wondrous Love Is This - Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey, Joanne Deacon [recorded live April 16, 1963]
done dramatically serioso
The Continuing Story of Bungalo Bill - The Beatles [from The Beatles (White Album)]
a bit of clever clowning
Anxiety - Billy Cobham [from Spectrum]
that's some impressive sticking
no doubts
Spirit of the Night - Bruce Springsteen [from Bruce Springsteen Live at The Roxy, July 7, 1978]
my heroic gang
filmed
in legend-colored memory
Subterranean Homesick Blues - The PKs [from Live in the Living Room]
I think one of the words may have been "lookin'"
and one of them was
"don't"
but beyond that
I'm at a loss
tape ran out there
People Have The Power - Patti Smith - [from Dream of Live]
bursts of three or four syllables
rocking back and forth
between
left beats
and right beats
 |
| Bickleton, WA |
Morning - Janet Jackson [from Janet]
a brief poem
with soft synth lighting
Never Leave You Again - Aretha Franklin [from A Rose Is Still A Rose]
hinge
in an implied narrative
Slow Blues - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, March 21, 2003]
a tonal sensibility
emerging from shadows
moving between
contemplation and expostulation
I come a clement troubador - Christian Asplund [from Viola]
follow sound into its hive
a crowded box
visit with everybody
Scrap Film 1 - Keith Eisenbrey [September 17, 2013]
putting together some interesting sound files I had lying around
but I'm not entirely certain
I know
where some of those sounds
came from
something I was looping probably
Four - Bad Luck [from Four]
ritualist dance
call the spirits
within this cavernous chamber
a film score
that is its own film
sounds move
like
bodies
and cameras
the roars
of all the beasts
Sinfonia 2 (230601 midi) - Keith Eisenbrey [June 1, 2023]
composes its way nonchalantly
casually bestowing its notes
to left
and right
God's Gonna Set This World On Fire - Kentucky Trio [from Really The Blues]
well that's a verse I didn't know
precedes:
Shout All Over God's
Heaven
Down to the Big Baptising
Drink{?} at th'Communion Table
Meet one's Loving Mother
{check it out! feminine image of the
divine!}
Some of these Days
The Wild Wagoner - Jilson Setters [from Anthology of American Folk Music]
character music
less a piece
than a music
its pieceness
is entirely within how it hangs as a music
Violin Concerto No. 2 - Béla Bartók - London Symphony Orchestra, André
Previn, Itzhak Perlman
yours truly
1
I'm so beautiful
so imperious
a subculture
passed
its heyday
resorts
to commentary
remembering humiliations of
yesteryear
furious scribbling
a battle
turns all corners
to avoid going straight
angled music
distractible
always in a
rush microtonal ornaments
give that note some
neon lights!
loaded with events
and sweeping vistas
never
stops to chat
2
ah
the domestic scene
some heart is poured out
fully
operatic
so Mozartean in this
(not in its logic though,
nor
timing)
PERIL!
whew
playtime
variations like a game of charades
3
time for some heroics
meanwhile
mysteries are conjured
swords and clubs
a terrible struggle
(aside: Mother!)
a domestic setback
renewed courage
says their prayers
into
battle we press
glory waits
The Fuller Bop Man - James Moody's Modernists [from That Devilin' Tune]
his clothes fit
so he can move
but boy
do they
fit!
A Song Not For Now - Norman Monath [from Songs of The Pogo]
Washington Arboretum, Seattle
mastered to be clearly heard on playback
with little dynamic range
everything up front
When Jesus Christ Our Lord - Academy of St. Martin in The Fields [from The Life Treasury of Christmas Music]
as a gentle dance
in a frosty village square
Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix [from Electric Ladyland]
this music/song speaks to us
through its many mouths
channel of an
ecstatic spirit
Rocket Number Nine - Sun Ra [from Space Is The Place]
a groove made of crowd noise
the come and go
and bunch and flow
of urban movement
Go Mental - Ramones [from Road to Ruin]
anti aspiration
I've Never Been In Love - The PKs [from Live in the Living Room]
with claves and electric guitar solo
Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A. [from Straight Outta Compton]
persona presentation
resumé
Dreamlover - Mariah Carey [from Music Box]
a dusting of flutter flitter glitter stars
music in a clean room
Cure For Love - Bonnie Raitt [from Fundamental]
sultry blues time
Gradus 47 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 30, 2003]
false start?
decay patterns betray the physical nature
of the
object
that makes the sound
 |
| Bickleton, WA |
Raga Yaman - Hgaptal/Mambo In Ten - Anjuman [from Rumba Meets Raga]
soaring through a gentle grid
a path taken by some
seek out
and become proficient
at a music
of another culture
Sing A New Song - Keith Eisenbrey [November 3 and 8, 2013]
not my strongest effort
I found the text cumbersome and wordy
and
made the music
so that those aspects of the text
were in your face
Track 1 [from Unlabeled Christmas Concert {from my Mom's collection}]
pablum
acoustic guitar
synth wash
soprano
and soprano
chorus
in some language
with softly enunciated consonants
Sinfonia 2 (230616 clavichord) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [June 16, 2023]
clockwork tick tock
Guitar Rag - Sylvester Weaver [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
a base tonality
established by cyclic insistence
and traditional
chord changes
to articulate its stanzas
Lip-Stick - Lou Calabrese and His Hot Sketches [from That Devilin' Tune]
sneaks in through the side door
greets all the tables and booths
a sociable music
for a sociable establishment
fun fun fun
for banjo
pow!
Seventh Avenue Express - Count Basie [from That Devilin' Tune]
Bickleton, WA
splashy marquee over the door
hopping inside
riding the postwar euphoria hotness high
The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise - Stan Freberg [from The Very Best of Stan Freberg]
the banjo is smoking
run for your lives
Sleigh Ride - The Ronettes [from A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector]
famous for the wall of sound
but
was it ever a good idea?
sidelines the song
for a sheen
In Session at The Tintinabulary
July 29, 2025
St. Martin's - Keith Eisenbrey
I've been at this discipline for two years now, one each week, this is number 104
July 30, 2025
Banned Rehearsal 1128 - Jennifer Chung, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
we had a crowd to celebrate our 41st Bannediversary
golly
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 25: Figure Studies 2009-2010
These begin a series of solo piano improvisations I indulged in for several years. The first was made on December 7, 2009, and the second on January 11, 2010.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
