Playlist

Live

June 9, 2017
Zach Tries To Not Ruin His Masters Recital
Brechemin Auditorium, School of Music, University of Washington, Seattle
Zachary Buker, tenor
with Ingrid Verhulsdonk, piano; Yoojeong Cho, soprano; Daniel Frizzell, lute; Denna Good-Mojab, soprano; Sarrah Flynn, flute; Alessandra Barrett, viola; Isabella Kodama, cello; Tyler Kim, violin; Judith Kim, violin, (and the comic relief crew)

In Alto Mare; Stornellatrice; Nevicata - Ottorino Respighi
Fussreise; Verborgenheit; Der Tambour - Hugo Wolf
Lamento; Testament; La vie Anterieure - Henri Duparc
Odi l'aura - Beethoven
Ich und du- Peter Cornelius
Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite; If My Complaints Could Passions Move; Can She Excuse My Wrongs? - John Dowland
Wilt Thou Be Gone, Love - Stephen Foster
Torna a Surriento - Ernesto De Curtis
l'Ultima Conzone - Francesco Paolo Tosti
Musica Proibita - Stanislao Gastaldon

We were afraid that a late bus would make us late guests, but we made it just minutes before the start. After an opening Marxist shtick (Harpo, that is, in a broadly Buffo vein, [or Victor B, or Professor PS]) to sweep whatever dustcurdles of pretense might lurk in that storied space, Zach proceeded to inhabit each song utterly. Having rid the event of seriousness, the actual performances stood out in stunning relief. As wonderful as the performances were (and they were) it is this aspect of the evening I keep coming back to - a brilliant idea about how to allow each song to stand proud in its own glory, without drenching it first in concert seriousness.

Other thoughts: How wonderful to hear such a voice in an intimate space! His comrades in song were wonderful (though Karen thought his bombshell partner for the Foster was going to give me a heart attack - I survived, feeling no pain). What wonderful characterizations! And impeccable comic timing to boot. Another random image: during the Wolf, oddly, I kept picturing him as the Jack Haley Tin Woodsman - something about the pitch of the voice, and the shape of the face.

All that and there were random prizes (though no puppies) scattered liberally throughout. We ended up with three lovely little saké cups held together with masking tape. When we got home (thanks for the ride, Melissa and Adena!) I deftly crumpled the tape into a loose mass, presented it to Obb the cat for sniffing, let it fall to the floor, moved it twice with my finger. It kept the cats occupied all night.


Recorded

June 3, 2017
Banned Rehearsal 63 - Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer [January 1986]



Our third live show: Brechemin Auditorium, University of Washington, January 9, 1986. The first part consisted of pretty much what we had done at our second show in the same space the previous July, but rebranded now as Three Compositions No Breaks. The second part was a set of Sudden Songs:

Bickleton Burger [Keyt]
Hey Hey Hey [Eisenbrey]
The Picture On My Wall [Kosály-Meyer]
I Wanna Girl from Venice California [Eisenbrey]
Instrumental [group]
Electric Garbage [Kosály-Meyer]
Tacoman [Eisenbrey]
Quiet Song [Kosály-Meyer]
Ain' No Easy Woman [Eisenbrey]
Wild Thing [a cover]
and a bonus bit after the audience had cleared out:
Aaronsbundler March [Keyt]

Brechemin 1986

We are weaving through the room accumulating the noise of our devices, filtered through the noise of our devices. Clunky and Clumsy. Seamless we are not. We layer thick, and not with clear lacquers but with ill mixed craft paint and dustcrud. We incant to the muses. First part: We know what we are doing but not what what we are doing will make. Second part: We know what we are trying to make our doing do, but not how to do the doing that does that that we are trying to make our doing do. In the midbit between the parts one can hear Neal and I, separately to different audience groups, holding forth on what we are doing. Spreading the gospel. This episode is, neatly, a concretion of the kind of argument Banned Rehearsal is.

We do DIY with a vengeance. After listening to it all over again after these many years all I could think to myself was "What were we thinking!?" And yet, how grand it is. In many ways I am in awe of our youthful recklessness.

June 7, 2017
losing an eye - Infamous Menagerie

A murky slime-infested dive five rooms back of the swamp. But in a really good way.

Banned Rehearsal 422 DAT - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [April 1996]

Attentionfarbenmelodie

June 8, 2017
Banned Rehearsal 610 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Isabel K-M, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer


We discuss the failure of the engineer (me) to record the first part of the session. A mix of extreme delicacy and extreme blattiness. Depth of field.

In Session at the Tintinabulary

June 5, 2017
Banned Rehearsal 936 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Neal Kosály-Meyer