There is something incredibly gratifying about wreaking havoc on a finely tuned keyboard instrument. After three hundred years of evolution, from plinky-plonk through dull-thwack to elegant grand, I - neanderthal-like flute player - roll up my sleeves, grab a heavy rope and fling it at the strings. Satisfying.
Tomorrow night at 7.30pm, eighth blackbird will play a concert (part of its residency at University of Richmond, VA) at the 3p (ie. Third Practice) Electroacoustic Festival. In addition to the evocative, imaginative but often violent sounds of Ashley Fure’s Sussurus (in which I unleash my piano-abuse desires) I will play Steve Reich’s funky Vermont Counterpoint for live me and ten pre-recorded versions of me. You can hear a live recording of this piece played by the work’s dedicatee, Ransom Wilson, at the Whitney Museum’s website.
eighth blackbird will also premiere a new sextet by Ohio-based composer Michael Barnhardt. Called Blue Mess, the composer’s inspiration was the impact of Hurricane Katrina. After two ’straight-up’ jazz numbers, played without any electronic intervention, the third to fifth movements chart a course through destruction and tragic aftermath by electronically distorting short acoustic fragments.
Also on the program are works by University of Richmond electronic music guru Ben Broening (a lyrical work for clarinet and ‘mirroring’ pre-recorded clarinet) and Ira Mowitz (the appropriately named Shimmerings).
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