"The Concert Season" and "A small Music Party"
from The Comic Almanack an Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest, Containing Merry Tales, Humorous Poetry, Quips and Oddities, First Series, 1835-1843
Live
August 21, 2025
Leanna Keith: So Long And Thanks For All The Fish
Greg Campbell, Kaley
Lane Eaton, Ray Larsen, Christian Pincock, Bonnie Whiting|
Chapel
Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
Unfortunately Leanna couldn't be with us this evening, but a fine crew soldiered on for the benefit of their moving expenses as they adventure toward a doctorate. We all wish them well and earnestly hope for a speedy return if that is in our cards.
we jump in the pool together
gastromanciful drum buzzer
we are
moving gently
by inertial drift
our surroundings
also
but independently
without conflict or friction
an uprising
hydrothermal event imminence
a memorial sequence
respecters of spotlit solos
temporary hierarchies
(provisional)
(ad hoc)
homing in
target located
dogged pursuit
scrabbling and
clawing
tooling down the road
easy traveling
parallax
hills
mileposts
and bridges
Recorded
 |
| Jasper Mountain Reserve |
Banned Telepath 20 Seattle - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [June 23, 1988]
in celebration of the fourth Bannediversary
some Amontillado
we
are now ready to toast
cheers
hm hm hm
getting even with the louds
who lived next door
by being
quiet
the funmaker glows into life
brightly blaring
full force room
fill
a quiet sequence of piano sounds
fits of energy
occasional
focus
too languid to gel much
we take a tour through the music room
August 18, 2025
Esta Noche Serena - Black Cat Orchestra [from Dante's Inferno Live Score]
I'm guessing this show
is a tour through Hellville
and not a
transformation of the entire book
top to bottom
Banned Rehearsal 506 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [September 5, 1998]
 |
| Jasper Mountain Reserve |
wander among uke and drums
Neal restrings an electric guitar with the volume up
I observe from my organ loft
calmly
keeping it lively
with slow heavy tones
now
can be quite an extensive bubble of awareness
but
when
we turn our attention
to attempt to look directly
at now
it
eludes us
we can't observe it directly
so
it might not
exist
but
there it is
all the time
and
everywhere
that sound cost seventy five cents
a comparison is made
to a sound
that cost a dollar
what is meant
by free
in free improvisation
(without
cost)
there erupted a high scream
there's the banjo
so
I've had it
at least since then
no pickles
no mustard
no sesame seeds
no bacon no
cheese
to a wandering piano chorale
and so
down to the shore
seabirds squawk
in the electric guitar rigging
the feedback spotlight
blares triumphantly
Closing Time - Humidiflyers [from Humidiflyers]
follow the denials
these guys were fabulous musicians
high competence levels
Wake - Aaron Keyt [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, September 4, 2008]
to bells and birds
a ritual morning
for imaginary orchestra
psychedelic impressionism
Fibber opened the closet again
the sky is a delicate hue
lovely
Swift Arrows - Shelby Earl [from Swift Arrows]
songs have histories of their own
their where's and when's of
enactments
Karen and I heard her introduce this song to the public
when we heard
her at The Reverb Festival in 2012
Lamb Day 180505 B - Keith Eisenbrey [May 5, 2018]
sheep bleat with occasional vibrato
hominids honk in syllables
there are maa sheep
and baa sheep
there are chickens
Stately Autumnal Bizarro Bolero - Pete Comley [from Paintronics Vol. 2: Paintronics Electronics]
organization by tools used in its accomplishment
resulting states as
settings change
maps an area of passing awareness
throbbing
lowness
 |
| Jasper Mountain Reserve |
Madrigals, Book VIII: Hor che 'l ciel e la terra - Claudio Monteverdi - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
reading the poem
as a literalized dialog
the literalization
of a poetic image (dialog)
is unnecessary
but that it allows
opportunity
to embody the characters of the voices
in a separate
polyphonic space
flesh them out
distinguish the voices and the
vocalists
(separately parseable)
Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren, BuxWV 214 - Dieterich Buxtehude - Simone Stella
glory poured out
and runnethed over
Premier livre de clavecin: Deuxieme Ordre (fin) : Les Papillons. Tres legerement - François Couperin - Kenneth Gilbert
they flutter a jig among the flowers
 |
| near Walla Walla |
a pleasant land
sculpted as a meaning
wide enough to encompass
best and worst possibilities
mortal terror
comfort borne on
the winds
our proper response in all humility
oh joy! trumpets!
the duet toward the end is jawdroppingly twisted
must be tricky to sing
Sonata in D Major for Organ, Kk. 288 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
the size of these organ tones is overlarge
takes a Scarlatti to make
their dancing sparkle
Prelude in D minor, Op. 28 #24 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
the hands have cut loose from each other
tear the place apart
Album für die Jugend: Kleine Studie, Op. 68 #14 - Robert Schumann - Éric Le Sage
weightless dance
en pointe
Prelude in B-flat minor, Op. 37 #1 - Alexander Scriabin - Dmitri Alexeev
a quiver of an eyelid
the earth holds still
its named key is just where it ended
 |
| Walla Walla |
trash talking
them no good
spouses
Practice Makes Perfect (take 3) - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
works with the dynamic of each phoneme
and their rhythms
Sonatas and Interludes: Sonata IX - John Cage - Boris Berman
so
each preparation-in-common set
has its associated figure set
everything in its box
even if it only once appears
it is
already in its box
apparently
or
are they
the colors
gaudying up the
surface of the boxes
perhaps they're all empty
what then
nullity within nullity
Tenderly - Bill Evans [from Everybody Digs Bill Evans]
ways to slide a wedge rhythm
into the collective flow
so that it
glides across its floor
like Fred Astair's toes
Till There Was You - The Beatles [from With The Beatles]
a technical exercise
walk the pop walk
 |
| Walla Walla |
as pop
it centers the star
exclusively
Too Young - Michael Jackson [from Music & Me]
they are laid out
as upon a platter
made uncanny
must have been quite the stage
big high note
ending blaze of glory
We Three - Patti Smith Group [from Easter]
acoustic
signifies memory
cinematically
Patti not Pop
because
the band doesn't fade into professionalism
it holds her in place
actively
the matter of the words
matters less
than their mattering
to
the voice of the song
 |
| Walla Walla |
an otherly sourced dub
than the one heard last week
some ghosting artifacts
provide a temporal glow
having a thought
that is about
what it floats on
to increase
its intensity
but
one does not always follow the greater imposed
flow
but
that flow
that is imposed upon
convergence
in a new sound world
the frogs of night are heard from the yard
no interior
can escape
their song
Up Town - Roy Orbison [from For The Lonely]
location location location
aspiration in love with the address
That's The Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson [from Janet]
the voice has become a ghost in its own song
a set of tracks
to be
overlain
and filtered
and layered
and echoed
The Wind - PJ Harvey [from Is This Desire?]
simulacrum of a dialog between voices
lining up tracks from separate
times
 |
| Jasper Mountain Reserve |
Song of Solomon 3:1-4 050517 A - Keith Eisenbrey - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey [recorded May 17, 2005 at Jack Straw Cultural Center]
more 5/8 troubles
take cut off after fumble
Made of Stone - Dolly Parton [from Backwoods Barbie]
it isn't often we hear an older voice in the commercial music of this culture
Mitchell 131114 A - Keith Eisenbrey [November 14, 2013]
Mitchell was a guitar I bought from a neighbor
an acoustic with
pickup
I was trying out
how to record directly to a device
through the
pickup
but
the battery in the guitar was dead
and the result
was this
Track 1 - Free Improvisation Quartets Project - a quartet from among: Amelia Love Clearheart, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Bruce Greeley, Ha-Yang Kim, Aaron Keyt, Jim Knodle, Carol Levin, Neal Kosály-Meyer, S. Eric Scribner [September 30, 2018]
the applause has been getting together
in small groups
to make
music
improvisationally
any group of people
has a sensibility
as a unique grouping
improvisation
as practiced herein
might be an embodiment
into common experience
of that sensibility
as an intimate
social form
Old Hundred - Keith Eisenbrey [July 16, 2023]
after having finally noted and understood
the weird key signatures used
in the shape note book
and transposed it to its printed key
my added parts
support the tune
in spite of themselves
Alley Rat - Jimmy Blythe [from Really The Blues]
insinuating bass line
between the cracks tones
ripple up the bod
toes to twinkles
Alcotts - Charles Ives - Charles Ives [from Charles Ives Plays Charles Ives]
more care taken for this one
it would be an interesting speculative
period-instrument experiment
to perform this
on a little square
piano
such as may easily have been
in many a parlor
at the
time of this composition
if
that isn't
what's going on here
it may just be the recording
but that piano
(though quite nice)
is not a grand
or so I would guess
 |
| Walla Walla |
Try Your Wings - Blossom Dearie [from Give Him the Ooh-La-La]
partitions the poem with wit
cocktail bar tempo
Something You Got - Chris Kenner [from Land of 1000 Dances]
I like the sound of this recording
the sounds sound like they're in the
same room
they mesh
Old Friends (Bookends Theme) - Simon & Garfunkel [from Bookends]
at the end of side one of the album
on vinyl
a side
could be
a structured set
so
the intelligentsia
could find an easy
sophistication
goes all symphonic and all
Leave Your Hat On - Etta James [from Etta James]
objectification as flattery
Where Pathways Meet (alternate mix) - Sun Ra [from Languidity]
a monkey bar framework
supports the antics of the swinging agents
by bending with them
spring assist
framework of dance
Ricochet - David Bowie [from Let's Dance]
his words are posed
for maximum cool
fashion edge
music to
wear
punctuation break
Banned Rehearsal 142 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [June 30, 1988]
 |
| Walla Walla |
nightclub for dissolute composers
no namby pamby movie songs for us
we roll our own
ever shifting metaphors
not mixed
but
on the move
MovieTone!
Metaphors On The Move!
maudlin as all get out
Weepy Clown
begging the skies
proceed to collapse
do not pass go
do not collect two hundred
dollars
shake the bars
silver screen narrative
music holding a thread in
your face
immediate repetition
a gambit for awareness
bubble
extension
I don't remember this session at all
I wonder why I was feeling such
grandiose gestures?
angry at work perhaps
that would be about when
I'd had enough
of being an abstractor
we take a break
to start over
differently configured
among
the instruments
such dramatic psalmody
another long pause
into a strange land
of tape wobbles
and
shimmery cymbals
I have no idea how we made that sound
it may have involved the reel to
reel
in our play time
and now
the piano is back
with a lullaby
being poked by the
sprite
a drum machine
has been birthed
without intent
the piano plays in tenths
0 4 7 9
root with added sixth
a session of episodes
Hero - Mariah Carey [from Music Box]
cinematic
is the new symphonic
triumphalist life advice
Banned Rehearsal 507 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [September 12, 1998]
we wash colors into the space
to hear it shining
bells on the vast
walls
142 ended with me on drums (pretty sure)
and ten years later
there
I am
on drums again (pretty sure)
as to piano and organ
I am at a loss
and I'm only guessing
Neal on guitar
we press toward loudness assertion
apparent personnel
may have
changed instruments
in the melee
it isn't always pretty
we scrabble
and march forward
come
what may
we work the canvas vigorously
we ring the bell
to mark our leaving
of this space
Lauries Porch - Steve Kennedy [from State's Exhibit]
morning coffee by the river in the woods
roar of crowd surf
 |
| Jasper Mountain Reserve |
Chapel Event - Sheri Brown, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer, Lin Lucas [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, September 4, 2008]
audients take their seats individually
the camera is still
the
stage is only partially visible
our viewpoint is behind and to the right
we were noticeably younger back then
pre-eventual pacing and seating adjustments
each audient
is there for their own reasons
as are each of the
performers
I am pacing
the doors are shut
(sound)
the
lights dim
Wake begins
the audients are dematerialized into fuzzy specters
the camcorder struggles with the dimness
struggles to find a focus
which throbs irregularly from near to far
Sheri
a bright splotch
indifferently defined
priestlike
I hurl the ping pong balls
from the red bucket
and retire
anyone's eventual perception
is limited
partial
Sheri has a long pole
from behind the pillar
holds it aloft
then balanced upon their skull
Lin appears
I begin to recite
garbed ceremonial
poles are crossed
I lecture myself
the stage
is peopled
gas masks
in honor of the
anthem
Neal fortissimos
in octaves of As
As
in fortissimos of
octaves
octaves
in As of fortissimos
a bright hand emerges
through the spaces
between the heads
of audients
a dancer
is a body
that draws attention
a bodily avatar
of
our sense of body
occluded
by our own
and
others
bodies
retains focus
by
its own disciplined focus
ghostlike forms appear
and dis-
gnomic spirits
enraptured
knight of a pale order
the unsettled focus
moves the figures of the audients
the space
itself
is quivered
the sound of the camcorder's focus mechanism
a quiet tick
tick
forms are guesswork
and then
Neal alone with his A
focus narrowed
near to vanishing
hallucinatory figures
wraiths
materialized
transcession
to center stage
light returns
as As fade
gestures are mimed
ite missa est
immolation by applause
to clear the focus
thank you for coming
the ping pong balls
are collected
collectively
the
camcorder
is put out
In Session at The Tintinabulary
August 17, 2025
Chard - Keith Eisenbrey
 |
| Walla Walla |
Gradus 419 - Neal Kosály-Meyer
we will hear a plethoric value of pitches
we specialize here
in
sonorities
that call intonation into question
thought threads
spun upon commonalities
among moments
and
discommonalities
among the same figures
play
upon the variable values
of the durations
of now
as
they pass through the figures
a figure
differs from a filter
in that
a figure
particularizes
and a filter
departicularizes
figures deepen abstraction
filters sand it smooth
commonalities assist us
in keeping our place
or
in mapping
our position
reassurance
desperate measures
the pages are loosely rumpled
an alternative compositional approach
might be
to maximize discommonalities
in the immediate
awareness bubble
that
any latent properties of the rung's
combinations
would make themselves apparent
as though
from
raw data
threading through commonalities
is a mode of compositional thinking
but not the only such mode
the written score*
is a geography to be explored
*Neal
when necessitated by the plethora of pitches involved
produces written out scores
(graphically structured
representations
of the rung's pitches in pitch space)
which
he then explores
by searching paths
within that specific
geography
(perhaps geomorphology)
(or pitch space morphology)
(better terms?)
locations
(pitch sets)
cross-referenced
by their constituent pitches
and/or
pitch classes
Postscripts
Drops
Music of Benjamin Boretz
Keith Eisenbrey, piano
The music of Benjamin Boretz, which I first encountered as an undergraduate, has played a central role in my own sense of musical possibility and depth ever since. I was deeply fortunate to study with him for a few years in the early 80s, and have been blessed with his ongoing friendship and conversation since that time. It is my distinct pleasure to share these recordings with you now.
recordings of my compositions (and more!) can be found at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com - free to download or stream
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