The Red-Nosed Man discourseth
Hablot K. Browne (Phiz) - from "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club"
Texts
Recorded
January 20, 2024
Mazurka in F minor, Op. 63 #2 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
that first note
becomes both pickup beat
and recurring focus
getting anywhere
involves
returning back through the door
a door to many rooms
Her Eyes - Charles Ives - Douglas Dickson, Kenneth Tarver
a backhanded compliment in masquerade
Harp Suite - Lou Harrison - David Tannenbaum
played on guitar?
a gentle morning
garden stroll
occasional
percussion
drawing the trees
rocks in raked sand
flawless
figure dance
refreshingly non dramatic
I Should Care (1988 Remaster) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
in the course of the stanza
the pitch center drifts downward
is
lifted back
to drift again
Kiss Me Quick - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
opens heaven's door
not really aimed at the teens here
more
upscale
heading Vegasward
Still In Town, Still Around - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
laid back
the journalistic notion
of
an artist
re-inventing themself
assumes
that
first impressions
are accurate
and
that
what one does once
is a complete
picture
of a self
Three Airs for Frank O'Hara's Angel - Lukas Foss - Cornell Contemporary Singers, Judith Kellock, Lukas Foss
the parts of the vocal ensemble
in dialog with each other
characters with costumes
spotlights
and blocking
we always know where we are
in relation to the stage
faces forward
theater of ritual
Baby Come Back - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
opening gestures
must be recognizably generic
but
distinctive to the song
for playing name that tune
It Rained a Mist - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
news of the day
boys playing ball
Snow Globe - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from Shared Circle]
imagine if you must
a globe of faery dust
reedsome drones
of
solid tones
a mage's spell
fell
The Ballad of Jackhammer John - Cahalen Morrison [from Roll Columbia]
the watering hole of legend
at The Rising Sun
where anything can
happen
working man
single combat heroes
agitprop
for
worker solidarity
Te Deseo Lo Mejor - Christina Aguilera [from Aguilera]
we are surrounded by Christinas
several in ear
voice
is a
product to be applied liberally
Take a Love Song - Sarah Vaughan [from Feelin' Good]
disconnect
the business as usual accompaniment
to
the
anything-but
of Sarah's performance
she has vowels no one else
does
Two For The Road - Bruce Springsteen [from Tracks]
all sorts of quantities in this text
mostly numbers on one hand
except a thousand
just once
unless I made it up
Sad Beautiful Tragic - Taylor Swift [from Red]
imagine your life
as edited for cinema
dress properly
the
voice is a screen
upon which to imaginate your self
to get a
better look at it
but the screen imparts
its own projection
from the other side
I Hear You - Waxahatchee [from Out In The Storm]
the guitar line is plain
notes arranged to support the vocal line
patterned in the shape of a stanza
Baby Loves That Way - David Bowie [from Toy]
the intro gives the audience a chance to admire the costumes
Best of Me - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
defiance
contrapuntally elaborate heterophony
echo presence
My Mind - Micah B [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
like this
no face book status
The Cure For What Ails You - Swingset Showdown [from Short Bus Ruckus]
the style of keyboard playing
is similar to that of Peter Fedofsky
(but just the style)
Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 63 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Garrick Ohlsson
the (conceptually)
never completed (sans fine)
is that this one?
no
that's a different one
but this could have gone there
Premonitions - Charles Ives - Paul Sperry, Irma Vallecillo
impressionism
as it applies to early 20th Century American music:
music depicts
but not objects or sounds
but rather
depicts
feelings
thought to arise
from the objects or circumstances
it is still depiction
Evidence - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
so
does this music depict anything
if it does
it's not up in
your face about it
if it has a subject matter
it is just what it
happens to be doing
at the moment
not depiction
but being
or
perhaps
sometimes
participation
deep this one
is
Just For Old Time Sake - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
so what's going on here
depiction-wise
the song depicts a singer
singing the song
creates a person
on the fly
success
at this
depends
on the singer's actual abilities
in that
sense
this
is very like what Bowie does
Waltzin' With Sin - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
he's a song bum
but he's our song bum
so I guess we gotta keep
him
so
what was it about Dylan
that allowed so many folks
to
project themselves into his songs
My Sweet Lord/Give Yourself to Jesus - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
cool down
instrumental
first number on the 2nd half
jump
right in
read a psalm
surround it in song
Talk To Me - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
time to come clean dude
Obsession - Sarah Vaughan [from Brazilian Romance]
the orchestra depicts a cartoon image
of a tropical jungle
Sarah's
technique
is flawless and imaginative
Wolves-A-Howling - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from Animal Folk Songs for Children]
the fiddle
might be depictive of the wolves
howling
tongue
tripper lyrics
Death To My Hometown - Bruce Springsteen [from Wrecking Ball]
the backup chorus
is more interesting as a music
than his gritted
teeth
pectoral pushing
machismoid voice
army recruitment song
No Answer (Charlotte Moorman) - Steve Layton [from No Answer]
possible trends
no direct paths
to follow nightmarish
all
the noir
packed in a little box
inside your head
Karma - Taylor Swift [from Midnights]
cultural permission
to be completely self-absorbed
wow
karma and heaven
as commerce understands them
overacted
(but quite well)
(this must be the heaven part)
Grand Coulee Powder Monkey - Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck [from Roll Columbia]
good morning
grand coulee
good morning
little man
job interview
just to show that girl
back in Spokane
I'd a give you the job
but I was buried
way down dead
Can't Help Thinking About Me - David Bowie [from Toy]
escaping the past that pulls
Just A Fool (featuring Blake Shelton) - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
a
just got dumped whisky order
turns into
Siegmund und
Sieglinde embracing vocally
the power belters
A Little More - Waxahatchee [from Out In The Storm]
consumed by shortcomings
Horror Shock - Fit For Hounds [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
dystopian hero movie
faith in utopia
through adventure
we
make these for games
Hulanka, Op 74 #3 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podleś, Garrick Ohlsson
ample opportunity for stein slamming
piano takes the chorus
Chanson de Florian - Charles Ives - Mary Ann Hart, Dennis Helmrich
for a French song
use a French style
no Lederhosen here
Misterioso (1988 Remaster) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
composes like an improvisor
and improvises like a composer
that is
A
with blithe confidence
and
B
as though
working something out
complete with head scratching
Gonna Get Back Home Somehow - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
gone astray
but repeating of it
he says
he's leaving now
but he's still here
Big River - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
practicing his sneer
a travesty
to inflict this arrangement/song
on one of our greatest
voices
Green Lights - Bonnie Raitt [from Green Light]
being in a band
being in a cool convertible
being in
not out
cruising
Rain or Shine - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
me and my Donna gal?
the sad lonely life of the cowboy
driving
dogies to San Antonio
Cold Gauguin - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from PPP]
being within multiple acoustic spaces at once
how many can we
contemplate at once
two
three
twenty?
King of My Heart - Taylor Swift [from Reputation]
a screenplay
completely aside from her musicianship
or of her
actual living self
I'm not sure I like the persona
of the singer
of this
Cuando Me Dé la Gana - Christina Aguilera [from Aguilera]
vigorous
spirited
Organ Introduction (On Our Way)/On Our Way - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
making a rhythm game
out of testimony
to allow
an entry
point
for those
for whom
that point
was made
This Depression - Bruce Springsteen [from Wrecking Ball]
working class resentment
born of anxiety
pies in skies
big on promise
work hard
and it's yours
a statistical falsehood
migrant workers
are us
pretty radical song to write under a gummint contract, Woody
I Dig Everything (Alternative Mix) - David Bowie [from Toy]
hi def analog
dig everything
internally staged character image
dancing in a room
with ironic remove
Blue (featuring Blue Ivy) - Beyoncé [from Beyoncé]
a prayer of devotion
stronger together
No Question (Demo) - Waxahatchee [from Out In The Storm]
each singer/persona
projects an idea of the distance
they expect
you
the listener
to be at
in respect to them
the
singer/persona
it is allowed
for us
to push back
Voices Down Low - Kids and Animals [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
song play
being a caper criminal tough guy
then we introduce the
band
Gdzie lubi, Op. 74 #5 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podleś, Garrick Ohlsson
a triad
its dressing robe
and pipe
stands for the key
The Cage - Charles Ives - Paul Sperry Irma Vallecillo
must have heard some Cowell
Misterioso (Alternate Take) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
the image of serious
our tonal fixation
(Such An) Easy Question - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
(but) loaded
Folsom Prison Blues - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
playacting bad actors
When You Think Of It - Sarah Vaughan [from Feelin' Good]
nobody is given much chance
to really play off each other
One Cold and Frosty Morning - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
it seems
like there might have been
more to it
but
this was all
that came down to us
is David Bowie sneaking up behind of us?
seems not malign
mostly
Fade (Demo) - Waxahatchee [from Out In The Storm]
long spaces of strum
in which to consider the situation
before the
stanzas go on
Sweet Nothing - Taylor Swift [from Midnights]
weight of the world on every gesture
one of Balzac's great Parisian
ladies
that run civilization
Aretha's Introduction/What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
you only get out of it
what you put into it
dial it down
for
the big crescendo to the final
The Wish - Bruce Springsteen [from Tracks]
for Mom
who calls their mom baby?
Intro/No Es Que Te Extrañe - Christina Aguilera [from Aguilera]
high production value
for the music video
The London Boys (Alternate Version) - David Bowie [from Toy]
lots of hoisted modulating
Up On and Out - Young Pacific [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
whoever ran the sound of this recording
did an excellent job
Precz z moich oczu! - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podleś, Op. 74 #6, Garrick Ohlsson
first measure is at odds with itself
an image within its tonality
The Light That Is Felt - Charles Ives - William Sharp , Steven Blier
a quintessentially impressionist concept
bent toward piety
Epistrophy - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
an urgent tempo vamp pattern
holds thought close to the objects in play
Steppin' Out of Line - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
the apostrophe
in steppin'
is a signifier
for low speech
and low speech
of a particular regional provenance
Bells of Rhymney - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
in the form of a folk song
which it may be
some politics thing
from across the North Atlantic
Wholy Holy - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
speaking from within the word being spoken
Wanting More - Sarah Vaughan [from Brazilian Romance]
a smaller ensemble suits her
for this song
plus strings
unless that's a keyboard
doodle back in the ground
scoop the ground
digging dirt
rhyme
The Lucky One - Taylor Swift [from Red]
here you are
where you presumably aimed at
but
the fame of
stardom
exists entirely in the peculiar bubble
of its face
as presented
by industry
Die Tiefe Jahre - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from Further Journey]
machines that agitate
matter that settles
slowly
fold by
fold
wave by wave
mote by mote
Silly Boy Blue (Tibet Version) - David Bowie [from Toy]
singing the song
is part of the performance
not the whole of it
the song
as presented
is a staged spectacular
right
here in my living room
The Honeymooners - Bruce Springsteen [from Tracks]
marriage
as a weary defeat
in a weary life
Light Up The Sky - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
we are allowed to hear her breathing
as part of her singing
then
we're not
Commune - Electricity and it's Double [from Live from Sound Off 2012]
a rhythm scrubber
projecting authority of a kind
stubborn
independence
he doesn't outline his material
coyly
gallantly
he dumps it
in your lap
every chord a key
who opined
that the Mazurkas are Chopin's most intellectual pieces?
surely these songs should be added to that list
Her Gown Was of Vermilion Silk - Charles Ives - Douglas Dickson, Michael Cavalieri
steering a narrow path
between depiction and impression
perhaps
a conflict between voice and training
with her peacock fan
satirical ala Mussorgsky
I Mean You - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
who is that vibraphone player
golly
third hand
I'm Yours - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
early segregated tracks
wild organ sound
(unknown) - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
things going wrong all over
sounds too drunk to sing
stray word
things
poke through
broken heart
Climbing Higher Mountains - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
seduction by overwhelm-ment
and amazement
and amusement
and
underscoring
By 'm Bye - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
a different version shows up in the Christmas album
no spacy autoharp
strum there though
that's here
Wrecking Ball - Bruce Springsteen [from Wrecking Ball]
playing the old man
rough and tough
coach
manly
manful man
passing on the wisdom
to the younger man
tough
big show finale number
name of album
name of
tour
big noise
composed
so as
to be
the above
Der Blaue Reiter - Steve Layton [from No Answer]
their leitmotiv
dance mix
12"
45 rpm
of the 80s
parody
Mastermind - Taylor Swift [from Midnights]
Balzac all over
his great French ladies
masters of the world
getting what she needs
from a man
totally cheesy production
such a pity
to not honor a voice like
that
with our best
Empty Words - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
after John Cage?
possibly not
I'm not listening
I'm done
Let Me Sleep Beside You - David Bowie [from Toy]
a low voice
in a higher sound world
secret message
creepy
sub tinge
of incest
Śliczny chłopiec, Op. 74 #8 - Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podleś, Garrick Ohlsson
hint of modulation
as an inflection
between stanzas
we turn
the page
with a little pirouette
otherwise
we plod reedingly
along
Grantchester - Charles Ives - Mary Ann Hart, Dennis Helmrich
accretions on a former purity
resplendent in a later impression
Four In One (1988 Remaster) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
playful head construction
scribble here
scribble there
Something Blue - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
wedding porn
wedding weird
Next Time on the Highway - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
everybody plays all the time
to make a din
a song can be sung for
awhile
God Will Take Care of You - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
each segment of the text
is treated as an individual
and given its
proper dues
over in the sanctified church
they join together in a
little praise
Jim Along Josie - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
activity game
for post-toddlers
with their parents
The Stakeout - Steve Layton & Improv Friday [from PPP]
a quiet rumble from a distant hollow chamber
reeds snore gently back to
sleep
movement in the hallways
distant
this sound
is
what is behind something
which exists
only
as the image
projected by this sound
as I perceive it
Dancing With Our Hands Tied - Taylor Swift [from Reputation]
oh my!
such dire piano chords
(over-reverberated)
every
event is legendary
perhaps it makes more sense on the music video
In the Heat of the Morning (Alternative Mix) - David Bowie [from Toy]
like a little soldier catching butterflies
two characters sing this
they alternate
verse chorus verse chorus
Lucky Man - Bruce Springsteen [from Tracks]
singing in a concrete walled chamber
underground parking
hollow
garage
but scrubbed clean
no grease
Shut Up - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
four sheep blat pitches
count themselves
through the verse
take the chorus off
but are right there
like pros
for
the next verse
skips the bridge too
emerges slightly less blatty
keep on
through the last chorus
Melodya, Op. 74 #9 -Frédéric Chopin - Ewa Podleś, Garrick Ohlsson
this one
has an earnest conversation with its key
discussed from
many angles
thoroughly
this voice
is the singer persona
stage actoring
My Native Land - Charles Ives - Mary Ann Hart, Dennis Helmrich
this one also nearly cinematic
Four In One (Alternate Take) - Thelonious Monk [from The Complete Blue Note Recordings]
playful
the directions some inner voices are leading
are not
aligned
with the contrapuntal plane of the others
Suspicion - Elvis Presley [from Pot Luck]
abandoning rock&roll for pop
which is
escaping a narrow
sub-genre
the point is
to sell more records
period
Tupelo - Bob Dylan [from A Tree with Roots]
playacting old timer
big flood
Old Landmark - Aretha Franklin [from Amazing Grace]
aerobics
There Was a Man and He Was Mad - Mike, Peggy, and Penny Seeger [from American Folk Songs for Children]
porch party game
blew him up to Jeremiah
Everything Has Changed (featuring Ed Sheeran) - Taylor Swift [from Red]
butterfly romance
quick cut transitions
but they don't transit
Perfect Suburban Lawn - Steve Layton & Sound-In [from Further Journey]
and the perfect suburban bug life forms
that make their home there
such a quiet life
to be a lawn
vegging there
in the
sunshine and rain
Conversation Piece - David Bowie [from Toy]
reading along
an internal monolog character
forms
around the
singing voice
You've Got It - Bruce Springsteen [from Wrecking Ball]
all the compliments
followed by a demand
title gets ample airtime
Your Body (Martin Garix Remix) - Christina Aguilera [from Lotus]
a loud club
cash day
thurs day
In Session at The Tintinabulary
January 21, 2024
Golan - Keith Eisenbrey
January 22, 2024
Gradus 390 - Neal Kosály-Meyer
and then
one might imagine a figure
reanimated at each note
wherein
doth such a figure cohere?
as sound
it can't
there is no coherence
in the nature of sound
we
are
the connective tissue of music
ladies and gentleman
we have achieved triadic homophony
a gestural
stability
a plain with vegetation
and local terrain
modulation by common interval type
dragging a chorale behind it
on a sledge
predicable
after the fact
we can trace a
coherence within it
that we impute to the performer
the modes of
culture
that can be verbalized
may not be music's only available
modes
rhetorical plausibility
reliance placed upon the shapeliness
of thought
ala Ginsberg and Kerouac
January 23, 2024
Gelobt sei Gott im höchsten Thron - Aaron Keyt
January 26, 2024
O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig am Stamm - Aaron Keyt
Postscripts
Drops
Keith Eisenbrey 11: 2007 - Music as Film (part 1)
My "Music as Film" project involved building complex sound textures from tiny fragments of sound outward, and was inspired by aspects of some of Stan Brakhage's film making techniques - especially the kind of individual care taken with each frame of such films as "Mothlight". The source sounds for Consider the Birds and Sputnik Love were portions of recent Banned Rehearsal sessions that happened to be on my computer. For Lids Film I recorded myself playing bells and potlids, and used that.
Volumes 1 through 10 are available at keitheisenbrey.bandcamp.com
All are free for download.
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
listening journal doodles from 2018 and 2019
