Preface
"Go tell it on the mountain can also mean no one's listening here below,
attention!
Slide down your own pole to address the fire that calls you
out."
George Quasha - from "Not Even Rabbits Go Down This Hole"
Texts
Live
March 2, 2023
Subvector Colloquy
Tom Baker, Keith Eisenbrey, Leanna Keith, Jim Knodle
Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle
I am deeply grateful to my fellow wizards, Tom, Leanna, and Jim, for joining me in this evening of collective improvisatory spells and incantations. In my fluster I believe I completely messed up Daniel Husser's name when I thanked him for the spectacular graphic. Please accept my apologies - and thank you for muppetizing us so ably! I also forgot to thank Steve Peters and The Wayward Music Series for the use of the venue - so: Thank you!
 |
| graphic by Daniel J. Husser |
In listening to what we did after the fact, which I have done now a couple of times, I did my best to step aside from my habitual manner of self-criticism (self-condemnation) by limiting and focusing my thoughts to precise issues. Positively, the greater part of this was wonderful - especially the quartet and my duet with Leanna. I think that there is a technical issue with combining piano with electric guitar that has less to do with "how well we played" than with the contrast of presence between the sound of a piano's sound board and the sound of an amplifier. A solvable problem, but one that would require some experimentation both in engineering the recording and probably with my approach to the keyboard. I like a lot of what I was doing in the duet with Jim, but my playing could have been more sharply focused in spots. Tom, Leanna, and Jim, all, in my ever so humble opinion, played as fabulously as I knew they would. The audience was a great bunch to play for. Their attention was awesome and greatly appreciated by us all.
Recorded
February 25, 2023
Fantasia, Fvb. 234 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
a figure can be imitated
in part
starting anywhere
Sonata in A Major, Kk. 222 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
stuttered cadence
push it through
String Quartet in D Major, Op. 50 #6 - Franz Joseph Haydn - Tatrai Quartet
1
there is no development section in this movement
smaller than
the whole
the activity of all moments
is all
of the same
kind
and all moments
relate with similar close attention to their
surroundings
2
phrases divided by distinct tonal colors
the melodic contour of
the first theme
lives in its ability to take on so many harmonic colors
and precurses the dire Allegretto from Beethoven's A Major Symphony
3
a game with deceptive cadences
bluffing at cards
4
a tossing game
with blindfolds
Mazurka in B-flat Major, Op. 7 #1 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
character dances
the dancers live
and breathe
and coquette
Lonesome Ghost Blues - Lonnie Johnson [from Really the Blues]
the blues have a companion or daemon
that is a necessary other
to
measure the time between the lines
Found a Wonderful Saviour - Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet [from Goodbye, Babylon]
a string quartet for voices
Dark Shadows - Erroll Garner [from Erroll Garner on Dial]
he may be still in love with her
but the song persona comes across as
too cocksure of himself to be trusted completely
I Believe - Elvis Presley [from Elvis' Christmas Album]
in crooner mode
each chorus a new adventure in vocal control
not
always successful but fun
W.R.U. - Ornette Coleman [from Ornette!]
the double bass line is fabulous
you could lose yourself in it
impersonation
puppetry
everybody gets ample time to really work
with all the others
drums pass the baton
to bass
who worries
it something fierce
I Don't Want To Discuss It - Little Richard [from The Explosive Little Richard]
ownership of women
disguised as devotion
enough song for the
sentiment to be clear:
you're mine
you can't leave
end of
discussion
April Fools - Aretha Franklin [from Young, Gifted and Black]
playing with texture increments
oodles of fun
Subterraneans - David Bowie [from Low]
experimental
in the sense
of not being in song form
of not
being shaped like a pop song
of not being formed of pop song parts
but
what is it positively?
a wallow
an immersion
a bath
Inoculated City - The Clash [from Combat Rock]
the words are placed along a string of notes
not sure the toilet cleaner
inset works well for the song
a bit too much like
7 O'Clock News - Silent Night
the song itself is strong
the
inset weakens it
Banned Rehearsal 121 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt [October 31, 1987]
back home at the Greenwood Big House
we sing a glad to see you again
song
now as duet with drums violin and shaker
to help along
in a celebratory mood
a steady pulse can be fine
if it expects nothing of us
including
our patience
kick drum sounds great
a de-regimented drum circle
sudden breaking through
into observing
from a distance
shaker and vocal
a smaller time in a smaller room
we move again to
tapping
village life
a parade
a display of wealth and power
story time
begin the story time drone tone
our singing has a tendency to relate itself to the underlying harmony
existing in the space at the time of that singing
we sing in
key
magnifique
ceremonial shaker
ceremoniously late in the
evening
where the booms live
the booms bang-out
where booms
abide
in their abode
news flash
then the beer commercial
"I lie here on my back staring up at the light
thanking the good Lord I
share not the cockroach's plight"
(one of Aaron's gems)
trombone comes on like a carnival barker
morphing to stage spectacular
master of ceremonies
Explanation of a Long House Song - Johnny Moses [from When the Humans Thought They Were People]
but not the song
Lids Film Layer 1 - Keith Eisenbrey [June 24, 2007]
all spread out
protected from each other by impenetrable nothing
compositionally
working with system noise
this is a very
early level take
but it completely aces the fog I was going for in
Work / Architecture / Unity / And / The
(could combine?)
(nah)
the I made you jump aspect is too obvious perhaps
but
it's a good kind of crass
each burst of noise carries its bell envelopes
Slow Spring - Steve Layton, Peter Thörn, Jérôme Porier, Roger Sundström, Paul Miller [from Shared Circle]
a slow build
nearing very large
view from near orbit
Now I See You Now I Don't - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at Victory Lounge, Seattle, July 15, 2017]
I don't remember this song at all
it has a nice bite to it
Fine - Star Anna [from Live at Rimbert Illustration]
committed song singing
all the self shows up
Walter Erle's Pavan - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
our voices amble together
along separate paths
swapping
figurations
Section Gang Blues - Texas Alexander, Lonnie Johnson [from Really The Blues]
lifted poem
lines
but no bars
The Goo - Boots and His Buddies [from That Devilin' Tune]
poking fun at the dance craze trope
with word play
Steeplechase - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
drum breaks
structural signposts
even the little ones
You For Me - Blossom Dearie [from Blossom Dearie]
nightclub sophistication
rhyme play
Hully Gully - The Beatles [from First Live Recordings, Volume 1]
the kids were weary of sophistication
Down On Me - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
a sketch
Let The Wind Carry Me - Joni Mitchell [from For The Roses]
chords help keep the lines of the stanzas organized
inventing personae
for identifying with
Mannequin - Wire [from Pink Flag]
nondescript bland and blank
Yellow Coat - Screamin' Jay Hawkins [from Frenzy]
variety show
comic delivery
with dance chorus
embracing the technology of production
thoughts scattered into a dance
rhythm
I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me - Morgana King [from This Is Always]
the song is written
so that a listener won't get lost
the singer
composes just within that certainty
the chord cycle helps
Gradus 33 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [December 10, 2002]
what are we listening for and why are we listening for that?
I am
listening for insight
into how musical thinking happens
in order
to broaden and deepen my understanding
of others' and of my own musical
thinking
three notes are in play
but three-ness isn't at issue in this
grouping yes
acoustic residue yes
duration yes
shaping
yes
reiteration yes
digging in
quantity
count
part of grouping
taxonomy of materials
Heaven's Waiting - Curtains For You [from Heaven's Waiting]
cabaret boom-chick stage band
Ask Your Question - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at Sound Effects Café, Seattle, October 26, 2012]
forgot to sing into the microphone
becomes an awful lot of strumming
Mistletoe Fancy - Three Fingers [from Stocking Stuffers]
for those one and onlies at holiday time
Rounds for Aaron - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at The Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, November 17, 2022]
a sequence of systematic 17-tone shuffles
among two M-transforms
and their registers
spread then
then
to mix them back
then
tight
re-spread
re-pack
Fantasia, Fvb. 237 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
we accept a figure
and another voice reiterates
but with new
results
we are expected to follow everything
even the wiggles
I Love My Mountain Home - Carolina Tarheels [from Turn Me Loose White Man]
banjo
mouth harp
two voices
mouth harp providing color
commentary
voices provide sentiment
banjo provides constancy
practiced porch music
Diminuendo in Blue - Duke Ellington [from That Devilin' Tune]
inventing a new orchestration model
similarities to concerto
orchestration
the instruments and groups talk to each other across the
music
composed out studio fade
Budo - Miles Davis [from 'Round About Midnight]
up tempo cooking
New Home - The Staple Singers [from Hammer and Nails]
slow blues
switches roles between lead voice and commentary voice
a song caught in mid-insurrection
Pat of Mullingar - The Irish Rovers [from The Unicorn]
happy hero of the IRA
lots of percussive effects in the bright registers
gives the band some
fun to chew on
Down The Road - Vaughn Eller, Lawrence Eller [from The Art of Field Recording Volume 1]
jaw harp
mouth shape modulation
stands in for chord cycle
Stir The Church, O God Our Father - Christopher Parkening [from Simple Gifts]
just the hymn with some appropriate chords
CCSPSP Group - Arlene, Anna K, JoAnn, Neal Kosály-Meyer, Shaunna [November 16, 1987]
toy piano
tongue drum
guitar
some wood blocks
near
immediate resolution to a tempo
indifferently maintained
flute or
ocarina
tempo dissolved
a piano
guitar
mind control
but the bunch is unruly
and haywire it goes
thanking
goodness
suddenly everybody stops
is quiet but not still
steady beats lock themselves in place
pile on the crescendo
back off the release
Neal must have had his cornet with him to
keep things lively
a noise to join
and a didgeridoo
whistling in the last ten minutes is pretty nice
getting with a beat
deflects attention away from the sound one is making
and its effect within the sound in general
toward
how well
one is behaving
a low hum throbs
My Beautiful Reward - Bruce Springsteen [from Lucky Town]
this is a pretty nice country song
not overblown as many
In Bush We Rust - Dubious Duo [from Children of Siberia]
a drilling tool
brittle surface
point of contact
exact
pressure
Lid Film Bits - Keith Eisenbrey [June 24, 2007]
memory does not serve
but this may simply be the raw take cut into a
bunch of (33 of) individual sound bits
this bell and that bell
I
maybe reordered them
must have
not sure what criteria I used
the last several seem to be the interstitial sounds of me moving around
the room
Pipa - Camarones Orquestra Guitarristica [from Live in Natal]
speed
action
heart pump
drive
I'll Shed A Tear Every Day - Your Mother Should Know [recorded live at The Victory Lounge, Seattle, July 15, 2017]
Bow of Everyone - Michael Bisio, Matthew Shipp [from Flow of Everything]
really gnawing at a tough bone
evening hearth fire
chasing
thoughts
In Session at the Tintinabulary
February 27, 2023
Banned Telepath 97 South - Steve Kennedy
Banned Telepath 97 Tintinabulary - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
Banned Rehearsal 1071 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt
I play with my new toy - an electric rubber-band box
February 28, 2023
Sinfonia 1 - Keith Eisenbrey
I had finished a version of this piece in 2021, revised it considerably last year, and then again this year. Most of my revisions have been cutting measure and notes out and re-composing some of the segments to be more clear and playful with the development of the figuration.
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1993
No comments:
Post a Comment