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| The Tatoosh Range - Mt. Rainier National Park |
"I thought as I watched that however Group Variations manifested where my musical being had traveled, its realization violated every principle of my sense of what music represents as an expressive art for humans; and that what playing music meant to me was a totally creative and personally engaging expressive practice - not in any way primarily or even significantly an exercise of sheer skill."
- Benjamin Boretz - "(To Robert Gross)" from "inside in . . . / . . . outside out" Open Space Publications, 2020
Texts
From Recent Arrivals
October 23, 2021
Toccata - Feruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
something about the thorough exploitation of each register
and the
ubiquitous direct figurational repetitions
remind me of Scarlatti
Liszt for sure
but with a harder edge to it
 |
| Mt. Rainier from Pinnacle Saddle - Mt. Rainier National Park |
I Love Our World - Caroline Polachek (Ramona Lisa) [from Arcadia]
patch play
neither veers right
nor left
into songy
territory
an odd sense
of having landed
on a tonic-like platform
right
at the last
Recorded
October 23, 2021
Ory's Creole Trombone - Kid Ory [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
puts the slide
in slide trombone
an arrangement
herein
is
an orchestrational stage show
Don't Let Your Head Hang Down - Leecan & Cooksey [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
harmonica and guitar
followed by kazoo and guitar
they're each
playing a tune
and the harmonica and kazoo
might have the nearly
straight version of it
but the guitar's is equally viable
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| The Tatoosh Range - Mt. Rainier National Park |
Liszt all over
licks littering
every odd corner
Cherokee - Charlie Parker [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
keeping a firm grasp on the handle bars
will help
Exactly Like You - Johnny Guarnieri [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
exquisitely transparent pianism
every twitch
bends the melody
the man surely practiced his scales
Me and the Devil - Rev. Chambers [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
the musical setting
(raucous gospel)
is used
to lift the
preacher
into the word
had a tussle
Groaning the Blues - Otis Rush [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
heavy accents with delicate decoration
broadly expanded beat-moments
(this could also describe
that old album of Korean Court Music
that was floating around in the 80s)
Lord Heygate - The Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey, JoAnne Deacon [April 10, 1962]
short
presumably humorous
text
hard to tell
through
the recording noise
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| The Tatoosh Range - Mt. Rainier National Park |
up a step
for the end verse
finds a choral sound
for the
last
hanging
resonance
alive on each voice
The Merry Rabbi - The Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey, JoAnne Deacon [1972]
part of an earnest attempt
to be inclusive
on a 1972 holiday
concert
kids can be heard in the audience
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel [from The Essential Billy Joel]
an #AllTooSincere greeting card
same old someone
and of course
he turns it around
to make it about him
and there's the
so-called modulation
like turning a dial
up a notch
Intermezzo 2 - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [from Hockets: a Recital November 5, 2005, University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle]
at the time this was composed
I remember Ben opining
that of the
two Intermezzi then out,
this one was "The Piece".
I agree
in principal
but without the first
I never would have gotten
here
(and I still like the first one quite a lot).
I note that,
in a foreshadowy way,
the ambitus of the opening
3-note gesture
is 17 semitones,
an important interval
in
this piece
and in a decade or so
to become a very important
interval
(for me)
indeed.
The notated rhythm
is more extreme
in its long note
short
note
contrasts
than in the first,
and more
(apparently)
specific
as to the proportion.
This aspect can be usefully ignored.
All that really matters
is
"shorter note"
and
"clearly longer note"
actual counting is
pointless.
(don't count
roll a clam shell down a level plain)
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| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
Brilliant Disguise - Bruce Springsteen [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
Dave lists this one
right after a Guess Who song.
very
clever.
On the surface
yet another jealous guy song
poor me
but
there's also
a clear sense
in which
he's addressing this
to himself
something akin
to Shelby Earl's
"I love you,
you love you too",
but suspicious
or jealous
of the
affirmation.
Banned Rehearsal 298 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [July 24, 1992]
John says "DOGGY"
we spell PO TA TO
presumably
at the time
of Dan Quail
a bit giddy
SPUDDE
the presence of a 17 month
old
in the room
tends to plunge us
into puerility
Is anything recoverable?
perhaps not
but perhaps
we'll tire
of it
 |
| from my journal entry of January 30, 1995 |
fact is
the time is not conducive
to concentration
focus
or engagement
perhaps
it is
that
in the presence
of the always total engagement
and mercurial attention
of a toddler
in the room
our own pretense
is discovered
and we are embarrassed to try
we take J to the nursery
for a fussy change
Aaron plays piano
from the other end of the house
we return after a few minutes
we are surprised
to find ourselves
making some rather fine
scrapy metal sounds
orbital
it passes
sustained focus
being often a casualty
of the decade of chaos
After Hours - Moe Tucker [from I Feel So Far Away: Anthology 1974 - 1998]
cyclic considerations
a bit of
a to be or not to be song
door closed
or door open
round and round
Work / Architecture / Unity / And / The - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded February 17, 2021 at the Tintinabulary, Seattle]
a clear pause between bits,
this goes pretty well
a connection to
Seeds
and to some aspects of KCBOL
carefully
composed gestural figures
in your face delivery
bald and naked
IF: an homage - Elaine Barkin [from Open Space 46]
single statements of things
sounds linger
but not long
3
minutes
in a world
not your own
Gradus 208 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [March 19, 2012]
multiple instances of
||
multiple examples of
\
pitch class point of view
||
pitch point of view
A (nat)
elevation of an acoustic accident
of the mathematics
of a vibrating system
to
the lofty status
of a musical
given
(A is A is A is A)
upon which
we hang
our
cultural
gut-level
understanding
of how pitch makes music
but need it be so?
let us stipulate
that
we want
some basis
of some class
of equivalence class
among pitches
it needn't necessarily be
the 2:1 ratio
(12 semitones)
it could be anything
(before All A is after All)
(after All A is before All)
can an A abdicate
the A that is an instance
is not the same A
as the A that is an
example
this A is not that A
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| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
Letters to a Friend - Theresa Wong - Splinter Reeds [from Hypothetical Islands]
typing type rhythms
sip some tea
here's wishing
for a more
abstract title
something less evocative
of an image
that a
journalist
could hang their hat on
why make it easy
I would
rather
an image come unbidden
by a title
In Nomine, Fvb 50 - William Blitheman - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
the foreground regularity
is a path,
the garden includes the path
Symphoniae Sacrae II, Op. 10 #26 "Von Gott will ich nicht lassen" - Heinrich Schütz - Capella Augustana
seamless
woven at once
a musical world
prior
to the
concept
of immortal greatness
October 26, 2021
Die Wohltemperierte Clavier, Prelude and Fugue in A minor - Johann Sebastian Bach - Sviatoslav Richter
image of worth:
busy, solid, fleissig, intricate
Sonata in D minor, Kk. 138 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
first segment
has a false ending
(or second segment
has a
false first segment ending?)
motor rhythms
as image
of the nascent industrial age?
Sonata in E Major, Wq. 52/5 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Miklos Spanyi
1
another motor
but delicate
mouse powered
life is
continuous
2
life is halting
uncertain
blind
a refined plaint
3
moral rectitude
harbors secret doubts
argues against
itself
 |
| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
the first theme hangs
on that first high E-natural
like as might a
Chopin Nocturne
subsequent themes
expand their tonal elbow room
Rondos are a permission
to explore
to stray
Symphony in B-flat Major (#98) - Franz Joseph Haydn - - Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, Ádám Fischer
the slow intro
argues
on behalf of several keys
but leans
toward the favorite
there is some serious shit going down
in the second movement
surprise
drama
a violin trio
sneaks in
to join the fun
it refuses to end
Sonata in F Major, Op. 10 #2 - Ludwig van Beethoven - HJ Lim
impatient
urgent
parts are parts
we are not spoonfed
the whole
the thorns
are charged
rather a reckless
tempo
for the finale
but pretty darned fun
Etude in E-flat Major, Op. 10 #11 - Frédéric Chopin - Alfred Cortot [1942]
uses the keyboard registers
to evoke a singer
modifying their
production
to evoke the singer
in body
as well
as
voice
Elegies - Feruccio Busoni - Wolf Harden
if the 19th Century
consisted largely
of composers
grasping
at the last bits
of tonality
left breathing
after
Beethoven
had beat it
to a pulp,
then Busoni stands
as
one of the last
to be washed
to sea
clinging
heroically
to its coffin
preaching Liszt
at the top of his
lungs
rending his garments
with both fists
flying
 |
| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
a new sound
feeling its oats
it's not having any of that
falutin'
high
or mid
or low
Montmartre Rag - Mitchells' Jazz Kings [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
into the heart
of the fashionably modern
the extent to which
any of these rags
has to do with
tonality
as it had
been
or as it had become
is peripheral
at most
Finnegans Wake, Chapter 6 (start) - James Joyce - Neal Kosály-Meyer [October 17, 2021]
So.
artful disorder
went nudiboots
scattered notes
for
later reference
business pleasure etc.
repeat in crab
list
of factuous attributes
dearth devoured
blimb blump
looks
like Ice Land's ear
his feet are bally clay
a rude word
October 27, 2021
When You Got a Good Friend (SA 2584-1) - Robert Johnson [from The Complete Recordings]
so,
his vocal rhythm
presses ahead
of the guitar's
or
moves
as to a faster push
the guitar takes its time
has
things it needs to do
as an experiment:
listened to this next
pitched down a whole step
(duration not preserved)
first:
the guitar sounds better
second:
so does he
more natural
less like an alien on
speed
the whole sounds more like a 1937 recording
than like
someone
fobbing off an old-fashioned novelty
as authentic
no
decision
just interesting
 |
| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
even though
you're not as great as you say
I'll still be here
a backhanded
show of support
A Survivor from Warsaw - Arnold Schoenberg - Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Chorus (Josef Veselka), Vaclav Neumann, Richard Baker
an odd detail that sticks:
the particular wrongness
of the rhythm
of the speaking voice
not song
not acting
not poetic
recital
not declaimed
as unmistakable
as the last chord
of the Manfred Overture
Fine Looking Woman - B.B. King [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
recorded in a gymnasium?
strident
as in RJ
the vocal is laid
out quick
up top the guitar
long accents
on selected
syllables
Let 'em Roll - The Midnighters (Hank Ballard) [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
lazy sleaze
hung out
love the back up group
Green Onions - Booker T. and the MGs [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
instrumentals
in the pop canon
are odd folks out
a chance
for the guys to strut
has a female group ever done one
that hit
the big time
such big time
as ever was
filler
Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground [from The Velvet Underground & Niko]
Lou comes across
as a Warhol print Lou
| Moe Tucker's version
later
is a whole other thing entirely
| discomfortably discertain
The Wayward - The Letter - Harry Partch [from The Harry Partch Collection, Volume 2]
The VU counts
in pop culture
for what Partch actually was
for serious
 |
| Pinnacle Saddle Trail - Mt. Rainier National Park |
Iron Man - Woody Shaw, Anthony Braxton, Cecil McBee, Arthur Blythe, Muhal Richard Abrams, Joe Chambers, Victor Lewis [from The Iron Men]
fire hose pressure
must not relax
hits the plains and fades away
Untitled - Daniel Warner, Doug Henderson, Mat Rosenblum
spacy
careful sounds
scoping each other out
inhabiting
warily
squeezy extrusion
Gradus 6 San Diego Series - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [January 16, 1987]
activator:
playing with an ear to the decay,
composing with all
the processes that can be applied
to that decay
with both pedaling
and
(pro)(super)(supra)sequent
and
subsequent notes
creating,
for instance,
a field
of resonating
decay envelopes
tied
with varying degrees of confidence
to
their respective
initial attacks
(incipiants? incidences?
excitements? excitings?)
and of course
the everpresent element
of the disciplinary ordeal
as imprint of most worship
Dream in Blue - Los Lobos [from Kiko]
what is a song as a poem
it is clearly measured language
since
music is measuring it
quite precisely
or
to what extent
is a poem
a sung song
what and where
is the music
of the sung song
in all of this?
Banned Rehearsal 454 - Isaac E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
the drum
and the stability of instrumentation
holds it together
otherwise
a bunch of loose sounds
throwing their weights
around
electric guitar and piano
discuss things
sax joins in
a bit of a wailfest
loosed of academic restraints
without
consideration of commerce
barely social
nearing the end
of
our time
of cassette-tape-duration extents
cornet takes over
from piano
sax and guitar
and loud drums
overshouting
each other
it doesn't overpress long
though big splash to finish
{from my journal entry of January 17, 2005}:
guitar, piano, vocals, drums
- quite an energetic opening
reverb
in the room
sounds poke in
a squeezed
taut energy
has
open warfare erupted
are these jibes vituperative
all squozed into
a wonderful
pinched
high
sax tone
from which
and we relax??
really a fabulous example of hocket
BR style
relax into more
playful
but like kitten play
where we can't decide
whether
we're trying to kill each other
or bathe
it's a bathle
somebody musicy
got aholt of the piano
we become the innergear
sounds
of the music box tune
stoffe
plunked out on the piano
then we are donkeys
and geese
as loud as possible
BLAST SESSION EVACUATE
(get louder!)
on the battlefield
it sputter rains
toward the end
there are some wonderful
moments
the springy thing is (was)
in fine form.
Long Bones - Dubious Duo (Mike Marlin and Eric Dahlman) [from Children of Siberia]
in the
let's improvise song-like things mode
of improv behavior
but not so much
in the hyper-energetic virtuoso school
nor
in the new sounds
at all costs school
more
in the push
record
and see what happens
camp
 |
| Longmire - Mt. Rainier National Park |
critters emerge shyly
Music as Film project:
born of bits of sound
that would arise
while editing digital tracks
I wondered
if one could take
those fractionals of seconds of sound
and
recombine them
into a new thing
entirely
this was the second
attempt
the first that got into production
using those fractional
seconds
of sound
as one might
a frame of film
composing each frame
like Brakhage does.
MashAllah - Krishnakumar Kunnath (K.K.), Palak Muchhal, Shreva Ghoshal, Wajid Ali, Bilawal Baloch, Sukhwinder Singh, Mohit Chauhan, Tarannum Malik [from Bollygood Volume 2]
the foreignness of this culture,
to me,
is not just the specifics
of the instrumentation,
nor the language,
it's mostly the relation
of those things
to what is familiar to me
- the 4 4 steady
beat
the industrial production value
I am simply at a loss
as to how they fit together
on its own terms
October 29, 2021
Gradus 307 - Neal Kosály-Meyer - Neal Kosály-Meyer [February 20, 2017]
here now
we have four pitch classes
:
(A, c-sharp, E, G)
(1,4,7,9)
in normal form
I know that
because he says
so
few enough
that each simultaneity
is a revisiting
of similar
places
spoiler
there will be no cadence
to D
for many
times yet
it is perpetually on the edge
of just having completed a
modulation
though perhaps
it's really one of those
chromatic
approaches to the dominant
mis-spelled
a long pause
30 minutes in
after which
we are much thinner
just a few
quiet
lightly scattered
dyads
here
and again
now and there
without that sense
of pending
modulatory
consummation
In Session at the Tintinabulary
October 20, 2021
2 Two-Part Inventions (from 19 Two-Part Inventions) - Gavin Borchert - Keith Eisenbrey
Gavin's Two-Part Inventions were composed with piano in mind, and to my ear they come most alive in the great care that must be taken to get the exact weight and articulatory quality of each note just so. Certainly the piano is a good choice, but I thought that the clavichord would be a natural alternative, especially given their neo-baroque stylistic slant. I had to adjust some octave placements in the A Major Invention in order to pull the range into the 5-octave limit, but I think the result was well worth it. I share these recordings with Gavin's kind permission. Thank you!!
October 25, 2021
Banned Rehearsal 1037 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer
Once again we pull Anna and Neal in by phone from Outpost Lake City, while Karen and I hold our own here at the Tintinabulary.
Special Mention
Much of my musical energy during the first year of the Pandemic went into producing this virtual recital of recent solo piano music by my long-time collaborator, Aaron Keyt, and by me. There are 9 reels total in the playlist, ranging from 10 to 20 minutes or so each, the whole stretching for just under 2 hours. I am quite pleased with the results, especially with how well I manage to illuminate the extraordinary "in-your-presence-alone" intimacy of Aaron's compositional voice.
Postscripts
::Consult the Oracle
house is two so much the it should be in
spite of their being sick or the spirit
and holy eucharist for God works them
Reality Check::
an edge more or less complicated
by the motions of the whole distance between
the oak leaf jumps from road to puddle
