"'Rum creeters is women,' said the dirty-faced man, after a pause.
'Ah,
no mistake about that,' said a very red-faced man, behind a cigar.
After
this little bit of philosophy, there was another pause.
'There's rummer
things than women in this world, though, mind you,' said the man with the
black eye, slowly filling a large Dutch pipe, with a most capacious bowl.
'Are
you married?' inquired the dirty-faced man.
'Can't say I am.'
'I
thought not.' Here the dirty-faced man fell into ecstasies of mirth at his
own retort, in which he was joined by a man of bland voice and placid
countenance, who always made it a point to agree with everybody.
'Women,
after all, gentlemen,' said the enthusiastic Mr. Snodgrass, 'are the great
props and comforts of our existance.'
'So they are,' said the placid
gentleman.
'When they're in a good humour,' interposed the dirty-faced
man.
'And that's very true, said the placid one.
'I repudiate that
qualification,' said Mr. Snodgrass, whose thoughts were fast reverting to
Emily Wardle. 'I repudiate it with disdain - with indignation. Show me the man
who says anything against women, as women, and I boldly declare he is not a
man.' And Mr. Snodgrass took his cigar from his mouth, and struck the table
violently with his clenched fist.
'That's a good sound argument,' said
the placid man.
'Containing a position which I deny,' interrupted he of
the dirty countenance.
'And there's certainly a very great deal of truth
in what you observe too, sir,' said the placid gentleman."
Charles Dickens - The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
Texts
Recorded
December 4, 2022
Ma maistresse - Johannes Ockeghem - Blue Heron, Scott Metcalfe
interdependence
of each
to each
to each
for
maximal individuation of voice
His Rest. Galiard, Fvb 195 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
imitative entrances lock the ear into little boxes of apparent coherence
Sonata in G Major, Kk. 210 - Domenico Scarlatti - Pieter-Jan Belder
head rhyme generated moment extensions
Impromptu in E-flat Major, Op. 90 #2 - Franz Schubert - Alfred Brendel
the contour shape of a sung phrase
imitated in running triplet figures
contrasting movements conjoined
Twelfth Street Rag - Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven [from Hot Fives and Sevens]
playing off of an inexplicit background
transformation of an unstated model
but
evoking that model as the center
of its expression
of rhythmic
configurations
blown about
wandering night
blown about wandering night
giocoso
lamentation
contrast
Havin' a Ball - Billy Kyle [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
enters twice for twice the fun
they all dance
You Go To My Head - Billie Holiday [from Lady Day: the Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia]
a song includes its mood lighting and mixology
Crazeology - Charlie Parker [from The Complete Savoy and Dial Master Takes]
here the model is explicit
or at least a stand-in for that model is presented
at the outset
and any aspect of it can be commented upon
by the standing
committee
December 1952 - Earle Brown - David Tudor
played upon an accessorized piano
firing projectiles at targets
70 years ago
Speak Low - Bill Evans [from New Jazz Conceptions]
with the left hand
sinisterious figure
gruff goat
turning Charlie Parker
corners up there
beatnik hot
'Till there Was You - The Beatles [from First Live Recordings, Volume 1]
the later commercial version
doesn't include John sassing Paul
at every
opportunity
Bonnie Ship (the Diamond) - Bob Dylan [from A Tree With Roots]
sings songs he's been listening to
in his voice
transformative encyclopedia
whale shanty
Flower in the Sun - Janis Joplin [from In Concert]
rhythm as a force
drives directly through her
it's mesmerizing
A New Career in a New Town - David Bowie [from Low]
the sizes of things count themselves
in twos and fours
Atom Tan - The Clash [from Combat Rock]
playing with his backup singers
Entos 4 - Anna K, Neal Kosály-Meyer, David M, Marcia Z [July 25, 1987]
accumulation by excruciating increments
backtracking at all points required
resulting in:
an improvised choral arrangement
in four voices
of the opening
verses of John
the music will stop you
what is it in the music that makes
completion
what gives you that sense of completion
nobody agrees
calendar
coordination
Soul Brother #1 - Pete Rock & C. L. Smith [from Mecca and the Soul Brother]
the mix is a neighborhood crowded with sounds
Interlude: Sad / Special - Janet Jackson [from The Velvet Rope]
talking to oneself
aspirational self care
the song stops
then another song
starts
no showboating from the hired crew allowed
Long House Welcome Song (Samish) - Johnny Moses [from When The Humans Thought They Were People]
accompanied by frame drum
but starts with just the voice
long sung tones begin each phrase
which accumulates articulation
and internal cyclic structures
as
they ripen
Intermezzo 3 - Keith Eisenbrey - Keith Eisenbrey [recorded live at University Temple United Methodist Church, Seattle, March 17, 2007]
a series of dyads each of 11 or 13 semitones
shaped into a quasi contrapuntal
exploration
of an incrementally expanding pitch space region
I think I wrote
most of this one in Malabar, FL, in early 1983 while visiting a friend and
fellow student
The Universe Hates Me - Broken By Clouds
this band rehearsed at the same facility as Your Mother Should Know
tempo of suburban streets
Gradus 313 - Neal Kosály-Meyer [June 12, 2017]
locations
in temporally local arrays
have array shapes
composing with array
shapes
do we take in these shapes
as objects
to be compared amongst
themselves
or
as a single object
that morphs continually?
Yes I think both
in
the same instantly synthesized manner
we take in song
as
both singular and
multiple
a synthesis
of a synthesis with a primitive
that is itself
both
synthesis and primitive
no wonder we're so confused
music is a confusion
||
on
a time scale that includes both rungs
the entirety of the location collection
shifts
but does that change the analysis at all as far as my experience?:
only
I think
to the extent of my prior knowledge of the plan
otherwise
it comes
across as simply an accelerated morph
but also
gradually
as a permanent
transformation
no going back
the greater the number of locations in play
the
greater the number and variety of array shapes
to try on
and the greater the
possibility of division
The Surrogate - Tom Swafford [from Rough Spaces]
scrubby arm figures
vigorously applied
His Humour, Fvb 196 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
is occasionally twisted in puzzlement
Oedipus Rex - Igor Stravinksy - London Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti, Peter Pears, Kerstin Meyer, Donald McIntyre, Stafford Dean, Ryland Davies, Benjamin Luxon, Alex McCowen, John Alldis Choir, John Alldis
the opening chorus turns itself inside out
constantly churning stone
we don't
get the whole story
in either text narrated
nor in the music sung nor played
we don't need it
Oedipus didn't have the whole scoop either
a self-tightening
knot
it all pulls inside
Moten Swing - Carolina Cotton Pickers [from Allen Lowe's Turn Me Loose White Man]
for listening on your feet
floor dance with showboaters
Mingus Fingers - Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
rhythm lesson
It Never Entered My Mind - Peggy Lee [from Dream Street]
as much as the phrases are made disjunct in her breath scheme
she both carries
the thought to the end
and leaves each pause open as to where she might be
going
through each oddly rolling rhyme
Tapestry from an Asteroid - Sun Ra [from The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra]
slow dance
(I Love You, I Love You, I Love You) Sweetheart of My Dreams - Thelonius Monk [from Standards]
weight contour of the key-strikes
is unerringly vocal
singable
only the
notes he needs
bends time
Stand Behind Me - Carole King [from Rhymes & Reasons]
strand of autobiography
we are put in the place of readers
intimates
her bland
piano playing
a feature of the handwriting of her singing
shapes of
letters
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads [from Talking Heads: 77]
text from a selection of narrators
severely segregated
Open All Night - Bruce Springsteen [from Nebraska]
trucker road house rhythm
anywhere that's nowhere USA
popping bennies
Resonance 1987 - Ann McLellan
a low rolling tune
pressure or pokes applied
tones added
but join the common
throb
the sound on this end of time and transfers is gloriously cruddy
time is
taken for tones to sink in
some fall through out the bottom end
off the map
ends
bump
without fuss or finesse
love it
Meeting the Free Drummer - Mara Helmuth [from Open Space 16]
multiple flailing fists on multiple wandering pianos
now we replace fists with
fingers
a bodily gestural shift
the pianos wander further afield
an
architectural gestural shift
flange filter intrudes
a technological gestural
shift
the editing becomes more blatant
a procedural gestural shift
we lose
track of piano altogether
an originary gestural shift
Banned Rehearsal 640 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Anna K, Aaron Keyt, Isabel K, Neal Kosály-Meyer [July 19, 2002]
the 18th Bannediversary celebrated
bells bells bells
taps too
but mostly
bells
a rattle
golly we've had that frame drum for over 20 years now
winnowed down to a small drum
the kora
a cymbal
we reawaken
to thin out
glock and a
rubbed surface
next to nothing
the door opens and closes
the bell on the knob
jingles
an ocarina hoots
distracted and timorous
but sounds return
guitar
toy
steel drum
cases are unlatched
a tambourine is shaken
tub bass
another
venerable personality
we stick with it long enough for a cowbell clang
electric guitar
autoharp
Neben - An Auf [from An Auf]
filtered piano scribbles
space to fade or bubble out
December 8, 2022
Banned Rehearsal 819 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Steve Kennedy, Aaron Keyt, Neal Kosály-Meyer [August 13, 2012]
a drumming off in a corner
we begin properly
the tribe gathers early in our
porch sitting days
not yet finding the best way to mic it
finger thrums and
wristy shakes
our sound is spread more thinly than we were on the ground
why
might that matter
it makes it harder to hear the collective groove
proximity
effect is particularly forward
difficult to attend to what everyone is doing
collective construction sounds
small parts
no power tools used
gloom heavy
all they can do to lift it a full five tones up
falls right back
Banned Telepath 91 Tucson - Steve Kennedy [July 31, 2022]
breeze rumble birds and intermittent footsteps on gravelly surface
birds or
bugs
raspy chatters
if it's a bird sound
and not Steve with a noisemaker
then
it is not a bird I'm familiar with
several of the song birds
are new to my ear
as well
a traffic goes by
good morning nice weather today
the chatter must be
a critter
because its rhythm is echoed at distance
do I hear a coyote yipping
out there
or some sort of gull or owl
the rhythm seems more avian that
canid
Steve returns for his device
but pauses
off
December 9, 2022
Fayne Would I Wedd, Fvb 197 - Giles Farnaby - Claudio Columbo [from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book]
provisional terms:
tonality (of a moment)
a society of tones as it emerges in
experience
key (of a moment)
a global construct by which tonalities might be
regimented
tonalities might emerge in manners mutually opaque
to the manners
in which they emerge in other musics
::
quasi-linguistic
Southern Shout - Dixieland Jug Blowers [from Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune]
opens with an orchestration of a blues guitar
door opening measure
to the
extent there are cadences every few bars
they serve to give space to a
smorgasbord of pop up punch lines
Boo-Hoo - Count Basie [from The First Recordings He Ever Made]
cuts off in the middle of the verse
must have run out of vinyl
concerning an unclaimed body pulled from a river
the news item and a comment
upon it
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard [from Here's Little Richard]
the band is notable for a paucity of guitars
perhaps a hint of a rhythm guitar
behind the piano
perhaps not
Session No. 112 - Stevie Wonder [from The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie]
Stevie is adept and charismatic
but the cut is not particularly interesting
otherwise
Come In - The Irish Rovers [from The Unicorn]
Irish hospitality theme song
yee haw
Tom Joad - Country Joe McDonald [from The Greatest Songs of Woody Guthrie]
another abandoned body
become an abandoned family
of an abandoned class
(agit-prop)
become a working class hero
Canons - Conlon Nancarrow, Charles Amirkhanian [from Conlon Nancarrow Speaks with Charles Amirkhanian]
interested in this temporal thing
canons make it easier to follow the temporal
relationship
Home Sweet Home - Walt Wagner [from The Evening Muse]
hymn time
hammer it home in the bass
In Session at the Tintinabulary
December 5, 2022
Banned Rehearsal 1065 - Karen Eisenbrey, Keith Eisenbrey, Aaron Keyt
digging into the big red bag of fun
Postscripts
Skaldmud's Doodle Gallery
some listening journal doodles from 1991
