February 5, 2017
Der Kunst der Fuge Contrapunctus V - J. S. Bach - Zoltan Kocsis
Strenuous clarification: like ripping out brush.
Menuet I & II in C Wq. 116/15 - C.P.E. Bach - Miklos Spanyi
Exact.
Symphony in D Hob I:96 - Haydn - Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields, Neville Marriner
How very like a concerto this is, playing orchestral configurations off each other, punctuated by big tuttis that wipe the slate clean. Or: as asides, the tuttis act as interlinear translations of what is more politely said in the smaller ensembles. Or: How very like a machine of men Haydn's orchestra is!
February 7, 2017
Grosse Fuge in B-flat Op. 133 - Beethoven - Quartetto Italiano
Cramming the entire universe into a fugal frameworkspace, but the second subjects will have none of it. Dissonance flickers throughout like old movie aperture instability. Has anything ever sounded so busted up?
Brother Low Down - Bert Williams [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
Occupying a middle ground between comedy act and musical act. Certainly leaning toward the music, but just as certainly not letting go of the shtick.
The Bible's True - Uncle Dave Macon [from Goodbye Babylon]
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| Bunny Berigan |
Elbow room between voice and guitar. Unhurried whooping.
Wild Man Stomp - State Street Ramblers [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
The tune ascends stepwise just only so far before whumping back in line.
Mama Don't Allow - Bunny Berigan [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
Such a soft touch!
The Star Spangled Banner - arr. Stravinsky - CBC Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Fesitival Singers, Stravinsky [from The Original Jacket Collection]
Square shouldered and muscular. Clean lines and sturdy feet.
Something to Remember You By - Benny Carter [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
The figuration is subservient to following the melody whither-so-ever it goes, breathed seamlessly from player to player.
February 9, 2017
Ezz-Thetic - Miles Davis, Lee Konitz [from Alan Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
Independently tethered to the same anchor. An arbitrary aesthetic completely worked out, the ultimate 'screw you'.
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| Jesse Belvin |
Fancier than it lets on to be, the voice is as controlled as Billie Stewart, but doesn't whip out the flash. Jesse is on top of the song's every twitch.
What'd I Say - Jerry Lee Lewis [from Sun Records Definitive Hits]
I love the authoritative sound of the piano at the opening. Sitting tightly wadded at torso's end. Nothing gets out.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg - The Temptations [collected from Dave Marsh's Heart of Rock & Soul]
Spacious enough to imagine that it goes on much longer than it does, as though it were merely a sample or advertisement for an experience we might have.
Fearless (Interpolating You'll Never Walk Alone) - Pink Floyd [from Meddle]
Sprawling, relaxed, whole.
An Alice Symphony - David Del Tredici - Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, Oliver Knussen, Phyllis Bryn-Julson
(the orchestra tunes) (the singer says words) (the orchestra blats scenes) (we hear of cruelties) || the argument duly announced and duly made present. A hint of Peter and the Wolf in its film-cue characterizations. What is salutary: instruments playing their notes never transcend their actualities - until they do - and until they evaporate back into (the orchestra tunes) (we understand absurdity as a form of cruelty) (we witness integrity violated).
In Session at the Tintinabulary
February 6, 2017
Gradus 306 170206 - Neal Kosály-Meyer
Stars blink on as though night appeared as dawn. Some constellations are habitations, distant or near. || the flooding waves ripple closer || dikes and levees permeate the ripples || reflexive co-infusion
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