Preface
"Words matter. You influence what is heard by what you say. You influence what gets listened to and what gets bypassed, within and among musics. Politics trumps aesthetics, every time. Does this matter? If music matters (an open question) then this matters. But it should be obvious to everybody by now that the germination of alternatives which has traditionally been the source of aesthetic replenishment took place out of mass-public view, in relatively isolated cultural pockets, small-sized social environments far from the mainstream, such as don't exist anymore - the reach of globalized media is pretty total."
- Benjamin Boretz "notes for a string quartet that straddles a composing lifetime" from "inside in . . . / . . . outside out" Open Space Publications, 2020
Texts
Streaming
Wayward in Limbo
With the Chapel closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wayward Music Series now moves from the concert hall to the living room. In place of our usual ten monthly concerts, Nonsequitur is curating and commissioning ten Seattle artists each month to create a series of streaming audio sessions of exclusive material. Many of these will be essentially “live” performances recorded at home for this occasion. Others may create a mix of pre-recorded material that has not been previously released elsewhere.
- from the Wayward Music Series website at https://www.waywardmusic.org/.
May 8, 2021
Beverly Setzer and Greg Powers
old friends improvising together in a space
various brass and winds
hollow columns organizing waves
in a space
alumni of the 80s UW Contemporary Group Improvisation Ensemble (as am I)
though Beverly and Greg are, here, playing more in that UWCGIE mode of
making music (than I do much anymore)
making music
being
what they are doing
as
intent
playing instruments with which they are familiar
and which
they play
as one playing well would
full of character and
listening
response
I remember the first time I heard free improvisation in an ensemble setting I was struck by how immediately comprehensible it was, as it is here.
May 9, 2021
James Falzone
The Already and the Not Yet
prepped up piano
clarinet
flute (penny whistle)
a sequence
of instrument sounds
a single ear guiding
high chops music
the sequencing heightens the individuality of each segment
especially as
in
comparing the various
solo piano segments
and clarinet
solo segments
with each other
they don't have to make a larger piece of themselves
that is not their
purpose or problem
Red Fable (Rich Hinklin, Dennis Rae, Don Berman)
psychically synchronofied
under-surf
nary what
nary how
nary whathow
nary howwhat
nor with
nor withwhat
nor whatwith
nor withhow
nor nowhow
now with
WITH.HOW.HER!
[Roar Nor!]
NORNOW
Roar
Nowwithhowwarn
Roar
Syn Psyc
syc.pyc.nyc
dig it
wig it
wit dit
git
g.w.i.
i.t.
getWiddit
(get with (it))
vowel shift happens
the withdrawer draws
(with pen)
why wig
how wig
fromwhere wig
H see E
there wig
'ear wig
(UR)
[si]
[is]
WARn
wit'ra'er withroar
roar.
makeout
takeout
laketrout
Recorded
May 9, 2021
Blue Turning Grey Over You - Muggsy Spanier [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
among those in the business
particular songs
such as this one
have a kind of identity
that is considerably more fluid
than
what is acceptable
or common
socially
as is
a
performance of a work
of the western written art literature
the wide variety of acceptable ways to play it
and have it still be
itself
clearly positions the song's
identity
at a remove
from the written notes
if they were
written
or as they would be
Quatre Motets de Noël - Francis Poulenc - Robert Shaw Festival Singers, Robert Shaw
I'll bet these are even lovelier live
in a cathedral space
such as
this sounds like it was recorded in
the recorded trace of it
puts
it at the wrong distance from us
His pitch sets are projected with melodies and harmonies that hint at older uses of cadence.
The 20th Century sure saw a lot of hearkening back music.
grasping back at tradition
fancier than it lets on to be
The Sheik of Araby - The Beatles [from The Beatles Anthology, Volume 1]
this isn't
they're not taking this seriously
just having a good
time making themselves laugh
I Second That Emotion - The Miracles [collected from Dave Marsh's The Heart of Rock & Soul]
stereo!
Six Love Songs - Johannes Brahms - Lake Washington Singers, Betty Eisenbrey, Joanne Deacon [from a private tape, ca. 1963]
sung by just the sort of community ensemble as this ensemble is here
I was 4
I'll bet none of those ladies would have imagined
that the
director's then 4 year old
would be listening to this recording
nearly 60 years later
Pigs on the Wing (Part 1) - Pink Floyd [from Animals]
a man of few necessary words
Book of Windows (Text Only) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded March 2005]
composing with text
the words are place holders for syllables
composing with syllables
which is why this is not minimalistic
I had these page/stanzas laid out in this form
with the time separation
the gap
between each page/stanza
the lengths of those gaps between
only so that I could easily see
where the gap was
on the waveform graphic
produced by the editing software
I used
and yet it works well
good enough is sometimes
perfect because it is relatively neutral
May 10, 2021
Statement of Purpose - The Total Experience Gospel Choir, Pat Wright [from Bits and Pieces]
it was to go to Africa (1987 or thereabouts)
May 11, 2021
Banned Rehearsal 289 - John E, Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [March 1992]
at the Tintinabulary
test for a sound:
can it be recognized
as having been brought from elsewhere?
the instruments: certainly
these sounds and statements: unlikely
arising from within
or imported from without
created or stolen
((use your own dirt))
you can't use your father's sword
if
you're gonna steal it
then mess it up real good
always lively
even if it isn't amounting to much
but then it does
of a sudden
mere notes mere timeline
what have you got in your mouth
John gets a tour with a door in it
the tape ghost warns
Keith's
gonna holler
Bach bust bangs black box
baby boy bangs bloody Bach
black box
banged by baby boy
brandishing bloody Bach bust
blatantly
blissfully
art is short
for Arthur
or Artemis
just your general piece of crud
{from my journal entry of July 19, 1992: The humans advance}
May 12, 2021
White Writing - Mary Lee Roberts [from Open Space 9]
I. bird / II. night foxes
could be a location
several elsewheres
extracted codes of
alternations
scans that pry and cut
readouts
reporting back
from
to
your alien planet home
we are observed on desperate radio webs
Work / Architecture / Unity / And / The (solo demo) - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [January 2002]
an early solo attempt in the Tintinabulary on the Kingsbury
the gaps between are the problem
make them gaps
good long gaps
the problem
is that the gaps overwhelm
the concept
when they were only a solution
an attempted solution
to a problem
(or an attempt at a)
the clumsiness of my piano playing is a plus here
within each particular piece
different corners are turned
than are
turned between the pieces
Have Yourself a Condoleezza Christmas - The Capitol Steps [from O Christmas Bush]
all she wants is to bomb Iran
May 13, 2021
Come Fly Away - Your Mother Should Know [live at Prospect United Church of Christ, February 2012]
heartfelt rock & roll dreamtime
from an early gig at a church
fundraiser
||:dododoDO:||
Dream Butterfly for Julia - Yuji Takahashi - Julia Hsu [from Open Space 43]
a path traced
upon multiply planed space
polymetadimensional
the planes traced
are not
any of them
within any possible
common geometry
Postscripts
::Consult the Oracle
steps approaching the front by the end of
world war two he is permanent at last
he thinks he is mighty and down goes chiang's
Reality Check::
the stone track sits on a wool blanket
two dragons swallow each other
there are no other criteria
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