LaMonte Young and his Masterpiece
New music composer LaMonte Young, routinely named in the company of Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Terry Riley as one of the fathers of American minimalism, may have outdone them all in terms of sheer scope, demand for concentration, and potential for profound revelation in his six-hour plus masterpiece The Well Tuned Piano. Tom Service offers this encouraging and helpful guide to what he calls “one of the great achievements of 20th-century music.” (Also, read about how the paths of Young and Eric Dolphy crossed.)
-Nick Moy
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In the room with the Mary Halvorson Quintet
I was glad to see this NPR Tiny Desk Concert featuring Mary Halvorson’s Quintet. Her strong group occupies an intriguing region, observing hard bop configuration and presentation, but her compositions transport the music to open and unfettered textural and harmonic spaces that are entirely her own. She’s an original, and a welcome voice.
-Nick Moy
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The Latest on Matthew Shipp
Here’s an update on what the prolific Matthew Shipp has going on. This encounter with Chris Rich for All About Jazz comes after the passing of longtime collaborator Davis S. Ware, and Shipp provides a revelatory retrospective of Ware’s recordings. Also, inside looks at Shipp’s collaborations in poetry and visual arts.
-Nick Moy
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Not Just any Conductor: Butch Morris RIP
Conductor Butch Morris died on January 29. Yet Butch Morris was not just any conductor; he practiced conduction: conducting as an improvisational art. In this NPR interview, he clearly, concisely and patiently explains his art form of conduction. As you would expect, Butch Morris’s charismatic personality informed his singular art. Will conduction as a practicing art form go into eclipse with his departure? We hope not.
-Nick Moy
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Carla Bley: Present at the New Music’s Creation
Carla Bley is an incredibly accomplished composer, pianist, band leader and entrepreneur, who was there at the beginning of the new music with then husband Paul Bley and Ornette Coleman. She was co-founder of the Jazz Composers Orchestra, the Watt label and a string of wonderful ensembles over the years. This Piano Jazz show with partner bassist Steve Swallow was recorded in 1995.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Read MoreRemembering David S. Ware
Nate Chinen, music critic at the New York Times, did his job especially well: his account of the recent memorial for saxophonist David S. Ware, with many new music luminaries in attendance, made me regret that I hadn’t been there. And it compelled me to watch this video, shown in part at the memorial and just posted the week of the Ware memorial. This documentary supports my hunch that the world of new music will be much the poorer in David S. Ware’s absence.
-Nick Moy
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