Pittsburgh New Music Net

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Must see TeeVee! Jess Hohman videotaped an extensive interview with Roger Zahab at Pitt’s Music building, in anticipation of entelechron’s all-Cage concert at The Andy Warhol Museum on March 5. The interview happened over two days, and on the first, the fire alarms went off and everyone had to clear out of the building. But it was an unusually nice day, so Jess and Roger continued the interview outside while the rest of us milled around wondering what to do next. Jess worked some of the outdoor sounds in throughout the video, and I suspect Cage would have enjoyed this very much.

Alia Musica Pittsburgh returns January 30th with their annual Winter Chamber Concert; featuring the best of this summer’s recital series, including pieces by composers near and far, such as Burkhardt Reiter, Steven Stucky, Francis Poulenc, and many others.  Come join us at James Laughlin Hall on the Chatham University campus (music building) at 7:00 PM.  Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 in advance (through the website www.alia-musica.org, or from an Alia Musica Pittsburgh member).

Pianist Donna Amato, new music champion on the faculty of both CMU and Pitt, performed Geir Tveitt’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Northern Lights, with Musica Nova in Scottsdale on October 17. Musica Nova produced a very nice video of the performance as well. Check it aht.

Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Free

Robert Frankenberry and Roger Zahab will perform a diverse program of contemporary music for violin and piano.

Program:

Paula M. Kimper: Suite from: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Gilda Lyons: Between Dog and Wolf

Roger Zahab: radiant

Eric Moe: Blue Air

Judith Weir: Michael’s Strathspey

Eric Moe: Legend of the Sad Triad (Ballade for piano)

Judith Weir: Music for 247 Strings

Roger Zahab: Enfolding Studies

Two great jazz & improv concerts are coming up in the next couple weeks.

First, Toronto avant-garde jazz trumpeter Lina Allemano comes to town with her quartet on Tuesday, October 12 at the Thunderbird Cafe (8 pm doors, $8 adv/$10 door) with Ben Opie opening the night. Allemano appears on over 30 recordings, including her own critically acclaimed CDs that feature her original compositions with the Lina Allemano Four: the new Jargon (2010), as well as Gridjam (2008), Pinkeye (2006), and Concentric (2003). Her recent career highlights include performing at the Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York City and a feature as one of the top innovative trumpeters in Downbeat Magazine. For more information on the artist go to her website at http://www.linaallemano.com and to purchase advance tickets go to http://www.thunderbirdcafe.net/showdetails.php?eventID=173

Next, a duo of German free improvisors visits Garfield Artworks on Saturday, October 16 (8 pm, $7 at the door). The lineup includes guitarist Hans Tammen and violinist Christoph Irmer, who released a CD in 2006 called Oxide on the Portuguese label Creative Sources, with opening groups Johnsen, Wellins & Boyle and Ed Tarzia & Bob Wenzel. Hans Tammen creates music that has been described as an alien world of bizarre textures, producing rapid-fire juxtapositions of radically contrastive and fascinating sounds, with micropolyphonic timbres and textures, aggressive sonic eruptions, but also quiet pulses and barely audible noises – through means of his “endangered guitar” and interactive software programming, by working with his “…fingers stuck in a high voltage outlet”. Signal To Noise called his works “…a killer tour de force of post-everything guitar damage”, All Music Guide recommended him: “…clearly one of the best experimental guitarists to come forward during the 1990s.” Christoph Irmer has been a member of the London Improvisors Orchestra, Ort Ensemble Wuppertal (with the now-deceased Peter Kowald), Statements Quintet (with Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen and Ursel Schlicht), Canaries on the Pole (with Georg Wessel and Jacques Foschia), and a trio with British saxophonist John Butcher. For information on Hans Tammen go to http://www.tammen.org and for Christoph Irmer go to http://www.myspace.com/christophirmer

Way back in March of 2009 I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Imani Winds bassoonist and Pittsburgh native Monica Ellis. I was particularly interested in hearing about Imani’s Legacy Commissioning Project launched in 2007 to commemorate the ensemble’s 10^th Anniversary. Through the LCP, Imani has commissioned ten composers of color to create new works for wind quintet. Imani have been premiering the new works as they’ve been completed and, with the release of Terra Incognita, we can all begin to share in the fruit of this ambitious project.

Terra Incognita includes LCP commission Cane, a work by critically acclaimed jazz pianist Jason Moran. Cane traces the journey of Moran’s ancestors, brought as slaves from Togo to what is now Louisiana, and focuses in particular on the life of Marie Therese Coin Coin. Coin Coin’s master gave her her freedom after she had given birth to several of his children. A remarkably forward-thinking woman, Coin Coin was eventually able to establish her own plantation and purchase her children’s freedom as well.

Cane is infused with clave-like rhythms that locate the music within Coin Coin’s African roots. The rhythms are layered together and often create asymmetries that constantly push the music forward, and to my ears, portray Coin Coin’s irrepressible drive to make a better life for herself and her family.

As impressive an achievement as Cane is, it has plenty of good company on an album that also features legendary jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s title track composition Terra Incognita and Paquito D’Rivera’s Kites. Clarinetist D’Rivera and pianist Alex Brown join the quintet for Kites and contribute some of the album’s most direct forays into jazz. But what’s amazing about Terra Incognita as a whole is not how jazzy it is, but how these three outstanding composers explore the wind quintet as a creative medium. The results are refreshingly difficult to pin down in terms of generic influences and in this regard the album lives up to its name.

As I’ve said many times, Pittsburgh New Music Net isn’t about criticism (dangerous work that should be left safely in the hands of trained professionals), it’s about new music advocacy, and as such, I’m happy to tell you why I think a composer, performer, or composition are significant. Imani Winds have described the goals of the Legacy Commissioning Project as follows:

1. To introduce to audiences of all ages instruments that they may not have seen or heard before; and to show by example to African-America and Latino communities that there is a place in the Classical music world for them.
2. To champion the works of composers of under-represented cultures through diverse programming.
3. To expand the language and sonority of Classical contemporary music, so that it includes styles and techniques that are non-traditional to the genre

Those are important goals, and Terra Incognita is a significant and impressive step toward achieving those goals. While it’s appropriate to celebrate the recording of Cane as a milestone in the LCP, the album as whole embodies LCP goals. Most importantly, the success of the project can be seen in the extent to which the music regularly defies expectations, and in that regard, Terra Incognita is a place I think you’ll enjoy getting to know.

Terra Incognita drops on August 24. Here’s a video preview of the album.

Editor’s note: Many thanks to Patrick Burke and Missy Mazzoli for participating in our first ever (successfully recorded) video chat. We’ve been trying to work this feature into the blog  for a while now  and I can’t think of a better way to introduce it than the conversation that follows. Enjoy!

Missy Mazzoli, a New York composer, comes to Pittsburgh with her group Victoire for their first performance outside of NYC.  I interviewed her via Skype to talk about the group, the music, genre, and women in music, among other things.

Listen to Victoire’s A Door into the Dark

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Check out Matt Marks’s video I Don’t Have Any Fun here.

L-R: Kevin Noe, Lindsey J. Goodman, Nathalie Shaw, Norbert Lewandowski, Conor Hanick

On July 14 I had the very enjoyable opportunity to talk with several outstanding musicians of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. We covered a lot of ground, including their vision for the venerable Pittsburgh ensemble, the challenges of the summer schedule, harsh financial realities the organization faces, the nature of multimedia performance, and the occasional bits of fun they are able to squeeze in during their few available breaks. It probably comes as no surprise that these artists, so obviously thoughtful and energetic when it comes to their performance, are just as thoughtful and energetic when it comes to discussing their art.

I’ve split the video up into two segments to appease the YouTube gods. A small caveat that during the first few minutes of Part I there were some unwanted bleeps and bloops from the second camera as we were adjusting settings, so apologies. It goes away pretty quickly and the content was too good for me to cut it out. I’d attribute the problems to blogging on a shoestring budget, but that would imply the existence of a budget, so, ya know… In any case, I’m sure you will enjoy hearing what your PNME musicians have to say about the amazing music they bring to our city.

PNME’s summer season continues through the end of July, so check it out. And remember that “first limers” get in free!

Part I: Musical Challenges, A Typical Day, Hopes for the Future

Part II: Financial Challenges, Multimedia, Having Fun

On Friday, July 16, 2010, On Fillmore will bring their unique style of music to the Warhol Museum.  I’m not exactly sure what to call it: extremely slow jazz, soundtrack music, haunting music.  Since I’m hardly a writer, I won’t need to worry about inventing a term for what they do.  But it would be wise for you to check it out.

The duo of percussionist Glenn Kotche (Wilco, Loose Fur) and bassist Darin Gray (Grand Ulena, Jim O’Rourke) have concocted an incredible sound world on their latest record, Extended Vacation, which is full of creeping vibraphone and bass lines, homemade percussion, and man-made bird calls.  While on the record marching bands and dirty percussion blast against the somber vibe/bass lines, the duo will strip it down to pitched and unpitched percussion and upright bass.  Pieces from all three of their records will be performed.

On Fillmore @ The Warhol Museum
July 16, 2010 8pm-10pm
Tickets $12, call 412.237.8300 for more information

I had the pleasure to interview Darin Gray and the audio artifact is below.

On the compositional process, juxtaposed rhythms, and the live set up

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On guest Dede Sampaio and his bird calls

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On homemade instruments and implements

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On soundtracks and recent musical interests

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Watch the video for “Master Moon” from the lp Extended Vacation: “Master Moon” by On Fillmore on Vimeo.

For more information: www.onfillmore.com

For more information on the show at The Warhol: http://www.warhol.org/calendar/events_detail.php?eventID=1934&dateYear=2010&dateMonth=7&dateDate=16