Frisson of the New at Mass MoCA

August 5, 2009 — Mike

The Boston Musical Intelligencer reviews Mass MocA.

Just who cares about new music these days? Classical music is so busy dying, hardly anyone checks in on its red-headed stepchild. I mean, I guess I care. I follow the news, learn the new names, listen to recordings. But I’m a connoisseur, and we’re horses of a different color. And at the marathon concert held at the Bang on a Can summer festival at MassMoCA in North Adams on August 1, my species was not the only one in attendance.

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Sonomu Reviews

August 5, 2009 — Mike

From Sonomu:

Bjerga/Iversen, (Go with the Flow) Like a Twig on the Shoulders of a Mighty Stream (TibProd)
“[T]he nicest and most pleasant noise-band in the world,” Jan-M. Iversen characterizes his duo Bjerga/Iversen. Issuing a kind of greatest hits collection after only four years of actitivity may seem a tad presumptuous, like an eighteen-year-old runway model publishing her autobiography, but seeing… [read]
Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 10:14, 05 Aug 2009

Mico Nonet, The Marmalade Balloon (Mico Nonet Records)
Something seldom encountered – a self-proclaimed “ambient chamber group”, anchored by Joshua Lee Kramer and featuring four additional players from symphony orchestras in Berlin and Philadelphia. This debut features a track halfway through entitled “The Woolgatherer”. Now a woolgatherer is of… [read]
Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 04:11, 03 Aug 2009

Tamaru, Figure (Trumn)
Tamaru states rather categorically that this kind of music is not made to earn a living, nor can it be performed at the drop of a hat. For him, its fountainhead lies deep within and is as private as a personal spiritual ritual. Armed with only a bass guitar, volume pedal, sound processor and,… [read]
Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 04:47, 02 Aug 2009

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Coming to the ISSUE Project Room

August 5, 2009 — Mike

From New York’s ISSUE Project Room:

08/05 @ 8pm – Franck Vigroux (electronics, guitar) Matthew Bourne (piano, synth) featuring Ellery Eskelin (saxophone) Lambic Jones
Following the release of their highly acclaimed duo album ‘me madame (good news from wonderland)’ on D’Autres Cordes (d’ac 5002) earlier this year, Franck Vigroux (France) and Matthew Bourne (UK) make their debut appearance here in New York. A passion for intense counterpoint, analog synthesizers and extremes of texture ensure that this concert will be [...]

08/06 @ 8pm – Gleason’s Twins Michael Beharie
Gleason’s Twins is an ensemble obsessed with the blur between speech and music, word and sound. The duo performs a kind of modern art song in which the group sets its own poems, infusing pre-composition with improvisation. With an unusual and spare instrumentation, voice and trumpet, they seek to expand the sonic ranges of their [...]

08/07 @ 8pm – Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra William Hooker w/David Soldier Sabir Mateen Braithwaite
Brooklyn, NY, July 6th, 2009 —-When composer and musician Ben Miller takes the stage at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn on Friday August 7th, he will trade his guitar for a conductor’s baton, and lead his 15-piece saxophone ensemble, the Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra (SSO), through a rousing evening of musical [...]

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Jay Derderian, Hanna Benn and Jeff Aaron Bryant in Portland

August 5, 2009 — Mike

From Portland Eye and Ear Control:

Sunday, August 16th
8pm, $5 suggested donation (no one turned away)
@ Enterbeing
1603 NE Alberta

Hanna Benn & Jeff Aaron Bryant (Seattle) Composer(s) and visual artist collaboration
Jay Derderian: Portland State Composition Graduate shares recent Chamber Music featuring Scott Brazieal on piano and more.

Hanna Benn is a performer and composer from Seattle. She writes vocal music for ensembles as well as performing in groups such as Pollens.

Jeff Aaron Bryant is a sound and video artist from Seattle. He Pollinates as well.

Jay Derderian is a recent Graduate of Portland State University’s music composition program. He writes music for all you all.

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All About Jazz Reviews

August 5, 2009 — Mike

From All About Jazz:

03-Aug-09 In The Country
Whiteout (Rune Grammofon)
Reviewed by John Kelman

03-Aug-09 Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark: Collected Fiction (Improvised Bass & Reed Duos) & Fire Room: Broken Music
Reviewed by Marc Medwin

03-Aug-09 Warren Smith
Old News Borrowed Blues (Engine Studios)
Reviewed by Lyn Horton

02-Aug-09 Tony Malaby
Tony Malaby: Paloma Recio & Ancient and Future Airs
Reviewed by David Adler

02-Aug-09 Jim Black
Jim Black: One Great Night…Live; Houseplant & Kyrill
Reviewed by Wilbur MacKenzie

02-Aug-09 Multiple Artists
Oh Canada: Francois Carrier/Michel Lambert/Jean-Jacques Avenel; Gordon Grdina & NOW Orchestra
Reviewed by Kurt Gottschalk

02-Aug-09 Tim Daisy
Tim Daisy: Tea Music, The Disappointment of Parsley & Staying in the Game
Reviewed by Kurt Gottschalk

30-Jul-09 National Health
National Health: National Health / Of Queues and Cures
Reviewed by John Kelman

29-Jul-09 John Surman
Brewster’s Rooster (ECM Records)
Reviewed by John Kelman

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