"'It must be rather a warm pursuit in such a climate,' observed Mr. Pickwick.
'Warm! - red hot - scorching - glowing. Played a match once - single wicket -
friend the Colonel - Sir Thomas Blazo - who should get the greatest number of
runs. - Won the toss - first innings - seven o'clock, A.M. - six natives to
look out - went in; kept in - heat intense - natives all fainted - taken away
- fresh half-dozen ordered - fainted also - Blazo bowling - supported by two
natives - couldn't bowl me out - fainted too - cleared away the Colonel -
wouldn't give in - faithful attendant - Quanko Samba - last man left -
sun so hot, bat in blisters, ball scorched brown - five hundred and seventy
runs - rather exhausted - Quanko mustered up last remaining strength - bowled
me out - had a bath, and went out to dinner.'
'And what became of
what's-his-name, sir?' inquired an old gentleman.
'Blazo?'
'No - the
other gentleman.'
'Quanko Samba?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Poor Quanko -
never recovered it - bowled on, on my account - bowled off, on his own - died,
sir.' here the stranger buried his countenance in a brown jug, but whether to
hide his emotion or imbibe its contents, we cannot distinctly affirm."
Charles Dickens - "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
La Volta, Fvb. 155 - William Byrd - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
opens with a rolled chord
proceeds to explore its extent
Sonata in G minor, Kk. 196 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
an echo in the next register
even inverted
can be simple
but
the next sequence demands explanation
as the segments get smaller they adhere to their fellows
in other
leveled
or larger
segments
Sonata in F-sharp minor, D 571/604/570 - Franz Schubert - Paul Badura Skoda
as though begun by guitar
patterning their several strings
keeps
that intimacy
a song of tender passion
loves to modulate
by switching to minor mode
then using that
harmony
to take long sideways steps
gentle domestic parlor world
a serious task to accomplish
but
feeling perky about it
on the happy stretches
made it!
Caprice in C minor, Op. 10 - Ludwig Schuncke - Tatiana Larianova
Byronic drama and Kreislerian stagecraft
the piece could end
then
there's trouble brewing
Neckbones and Beans - Henry Johnson and His Boys [from Allen Lowe's Really The Blues]
recorded in a big empty room
piano pushed to the back corner
you
can practically hear dirt in the corners
the vocalist is talking to the
band as though we can't hear him
a musician's running commentary
I'll Never Be The Same - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day, The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
beguiled by the sax and piano sobs
one forgets there's a singer
until there she is
gives a reading of the text by singing
removing all ambiguity as to what she means
by saying it in
singing it
Dewey Square - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
Mr. Parker keeps his melody from coming to earth until he's good and ready
Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley [from Elvis' Christmas Album]
the line that could be drawn
between the pitches on blue
and its
rhymes
and the unmistakable sound of 1950s studio backup singers
Do Lord Remember Me - Little Richard [from The King of the Gospel Singers]
the choir remains firmly backgrounded
nice vocal cadenza!
the discord that opens becomes consonant gradually
without anyone
varying from their chosen pitch
consonant here
being a consequence
of the deepening of every enthusiast's listening
an internal
consonance
embedded within
but independent of
the sounding
pitches
there is a corporate sense of the ensemble breathing as an organism
circular breathing but not quite
more
a glow charged with
exhalation and inhalation continually
a mass of breathing being
frictionless
one could say
it was the most consonant
dissonance
or the most dissonant consonance
or
that it was
the most consonantly dissonant consonance
and continue
we hear the sound of what they are hearing
Pick It Up - The Babysitters [from The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie]
cute
Always Crashing In The Same Car - David Bowie [from Low]
standing in the sci fi throb orchestra
It Ain't Me, Babe - Bob Dylan [from Before The Flood]
he emphasizes the emphatic intent of his emphasises
Shakin' Shakin' Shakes - Los Lobos [from By The Light Of The Moon]
two guitars talking to each other across their rhythm
New Waltz - Wayne Horvitz - The New York Composers Orchestra [from First Program in Standard Time]
a rhythm on one and three in three
with the swung impression of a steady
pulse
as though one and three
and three and one
were each a
matching duration
allows fascinating cross-rhythms
Requiem Offertorium - Johannes Ockeghem - Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès
lyrical polyphony leaves imitation behind
or partakes at an angle
or along a weaving curve
the vertical is alive and flows through
the horizontal
August 31, 2022
Gradus 15 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [May 21, 2002]
we ascribe to the performer of those shapes we hear
the intent to make
those shapes
likewise
we admit a desire in ourselves
to hear
shapes
to ascribe intent
purpose
we hear it
therefore
they must have intended it
we hear what we desire to hear
inflected by the incoming signal
as perceived by our desires
to perceive
listening becomes
to this extent
a
negotiation
between our desire to perceive intent
and the sound
that presumed intents launch
into the shared space
as sound
Mountains and Waters - Jarrad Powell - Jessika Kenney, Jarrad Powell [from Stonehouse Songs]
where does the lexical/syntactical content of the text sit within this song
a series of statements
proceeding steadily like water in a brook
reading themselves calmly in florid script
on fine paper
excellently lit
completely aestheticized
Forever Young - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at the Comet Tavern, Seattle, July 29, 2012]
here the lexical/syntactical content of the text is locked into a framework of
stanzas
poetics up front where you can see them
UFO - Lures [from There's No Pressure]
open with the unaccountable electronical sound
then pile on the rock and
roll
also
adhering to the framework of stanzas as above
but
less effort expended on articulating the words
so
partakes of a
kind of aestheticization
also
the calligraphy of the text is as
important as the words
how they are rather than what they are
Banned Telepath 87 Samish Island High Tide - Jennifer Chung, Aaron Keyt [June 5, 2022]
a beep among the birds and breeze
periodical periodicality at a strange
distance
not quite among the birds
but clearly in the breeze
a dance must be grounded and square
so that the company can count
Clarinet Wobble - Johnny Dodds [from Allen Lowe's Really The Blues]
quivers like jelly would sing
the plucked guitar is exactly where it
wants to be
in exactly the swing it wants to swing
Love In Vain (DAL 402-4) - Robert Johnson [from The Complete Recordings]
schematic troubles told as a tale
with two lights on behind
blue
light was the blues
and the red light was my mind
Time - Mary Ann McCall [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
the man I go for won't relax
because if he does he'll get the axe
sultry
barely
double
entendre
My Ship - Miles Davis [from Miles Ahead]
dockside late at night
the melody drifts into the chords' gentle harbor
swells
Where Is Tomorrow - Sun Ra [from The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra]
just groovin' down the street
in the world of tomorrow
More, More, More, Of Your Love - Bob Brady [a Rescued Record]
all hook and falsetto
kick it up a step just to goose the ending
better quit before anyone realizes that's all we got
the point of a chord in a chart
is to be only different enough to
clarify the stanza structure
if it sticks out
or alarms
you
have screwed it up
Start To Move - Wire [from Pink Flag]
music as a means of clarifying an attitude with salutary brevity
September 1, 2022
Born, Not Asked - Laurie Anderson [from Big Science]
how does this text sit within its music statements
parts of a story
overlaid rather baldly
as though printed without personality
speaker shielded from scrutiny
and certainly from unfolding
inert
Assembly Rechoired 25 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Karie P [May 16, 1987]
the big red bag of fun dumped upon the floor
all our toys to share with
our guest
like kids would
inventory organized by whim and fancy
diffuse
This Can't Be Love - Morgana King [from This Is Always]
because I feel so well
the text (Rogers & Hart)
is a twisted
sentiment that shares the stage
the band swings for real
this is
too sweet to be love
Free Xone - Janet Jackson [from The Velvet Rope]
in the place of specifically personal expression of each member of the band
we have technical prowess of the producer and minions
resource
display
whatever explicit message the text might have
is washed
away in a flood of exuberantly flagrant money
Can't Hold Us Down - Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim [from Stripped]
playing with hockets in the vocal
studio trickery
dropping their
own names
Sputnik Love 01 Mixdown 02 - Keith Eisenbrey [February 20, 2007]
clearly closer to the source signal
recognizable instruments
I may
have divided a Banned Rehearsal into segments and stacked them
St. Andrews Night - Benjamin Boretz, Dorota Czerner [from Open Space 29]
lexical/syntactical content of the text
disappears into the text
witnessed by flutes
percussion sounds
which also disappear
into the text
they're not asleep
they vanish
You Ruined It When You Hugged Me Back - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at The Victory Lounge, Seattle, April 27, 2017]
just voices
on account of that traffic light
pieces - Kaley Lane Eaton - Kaley Lane Eaton, Tom Baker [from Cedar]
an apology
that is
in the old sense
an explanation
of
one's progress
or passage
In Session at The Tintinabulary
August 29, 2022
Banned Rehearsal 1058 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer
gathered once more upon Anarcadia
there was a bat in the sky
acrobatting
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1990
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