I had a dream–that Roger Treece, the mad genius of modern choral music would join up with Israel’s amazing virtuoso singer Achinoam Nini (Noa) and with my 40-voice vocal orchestra Vocalocity, to make a kind of music that’s never been made before.
Incredibly enough, sometimes dreams come true.
Song Of the week
223: Ibrahim Maalouf, ‘Conspiracy Generation’
Flowers and pastels and hazy blonde girls tralalaing through a meadow of daisies. Pearl Moskowitz smiling at me in algebra.
I’m in love.
019: Johnny Dyani, ‘Track #1′ (Shvarim Tru’ah)
An obscure South African free-jazz bassist recreating Ye Olde Ram’s Trumpet on that hard-bop classic, ‘Shvarim Tru’ah’.
It must prove something. But I’m not quite sure what.
G’mar chatima tova.
010: Charles Mingus, ‘Remember Rockefeller at Attica’
Opening cuts–those songs that look the room’s silence right in the eye and say, ‘Stand back man, watch this!’ Beethoven’s Fifth. George’s ‘Hard Day’s Night’. This Mingus gem.
Continue reading...030: The Bulgarian State Radio and Television Women’s Choir (Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares) – ‘Pilentze Pee’
Bulgarian folk music predates our European tradition!! It wasn’t affected by early polyphony; it remained duophonic long after the Europeans Renaissanced. The singers use throat resonance to hold a steady pitch for 5 minutes. It’s full of modal scales, dissonant harmonies (abundant second, seventh, and ninth intervals). And if you’ll give it a chance, you just might find that it really is quite enchanting.
Continue reading...212: Bon Iver (Justin Vernon), ‘Towers’
Justin Vernon sure knows how to impale an earworm on a melodic hook. Let’s hope he gets engaged enough to catch the big one.
Continue reading...206: Lake Street Dive (Rachael Price), ‘I Want You Back’
I tripped over this clip several weeks ago and am still floored. It’s the best music I’ve seen seen/heard in a month of Sundays. And vocalist Rachael Price is a wonder of nature.
Continue reading...020: Esperanza Spalding, ‘I Know You Know’
I had the very good fortune to see Esperanza Spalding perform last week. Even though her hair was bandana’d, she was a knockout. Here’s a piece I wrote a while back about her, her music, sexuality in female performers, and a quirky taxonomy of people who make music with their voices.
Continue reading...