Modfest Previewed

From Chronogram Magazine:

On January 23, Joe McPhee and Friends (Richard Teitelbaum on keyboards and Thurman Barker on drums and percussion ) will perform. McPhee is a multi-instrumentalist (and Poughkeepsie resident) who solos on tenor, alto and soprano saxophone, trumpet, pocket trumpet, trombone, clarinet, cornet, didgeridoo, and flugelhorn. He also sometimes sings. Though McPhee, at 70, is a major figure in avant-garde jazz, his music is not hysterical or ear-splitting. His playing is gracious and considered. I asked McPhee what he calls his genre. “I call it ‘Po music,’” he replied. “’Po’ is a language indicator to show that provocation is being used to move from a fixed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones. It refers also to words like possible, poetic, positive, etc.”

Electronic music pioneer Milton Babbitt, who is 93, will engage in a public conversation with Vassar music professor Richard Wilson, followed by a performance of Babbitt’s work by the Argento Ensemble (January 24).

Related articles by Zemanta

• Earshot: Hans Koch + Paul Kikuchi’s Portable Sanctuary (waywardmusic.blogspot.com)
• Anouar Brahem: The Astounding Eyes of Rita | CD review (guardian.co.uk)