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Showing posts from September, 2020

Benedictus Teaser

The new single Benedictus is being released this Friday, October 2. The incredible LIGAMENT duo are performing this a powerful mash-up of the latin text and Charles Baudelaire's poem L'examen de Minuit (Midnight Examination), from Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil). [audio not available]

Llull Premiere

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Llull , for tuba solo, is a virtuosic homage to philosopher Ramon Llull . Among other achievements, Llull drew one of the first heuristic maps, composed what he called worthless songs and poems, and has been rightfully accused of anticipatory plagiarism by the Oulipo writers. In this tuba solo, the performer weaves a complex web of expressions, techniques, and reminiscences that presents the tradition of tuba playing in a kind of retrograde inversion. I wrote this composition for fantastic tuba player David Mercedes. Score is available at New Flore Music . Online Premiere The premiere of Llull will be streamed on Sunday, September 27 from the Streaming page at the University of Iowa School of Music .

From Ayler to Sclavis

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Steve Grismore is an exceptional guitar player: he can play anything and is always ready for a new adventure (like when we created the piece Guitar School with the Laptop Orchestra at the University of Iowa ). He recently released Better Times (Are A Comin') , a new trio album dedicated to the music of Ornette Coleman. Steve invited me to present this Friday at the Jazz Seminar. I decided to talk about Maurice Merle , the Workshop de Lyon, and in a way, the links between Albert Ayler and Louis Sclavis . I'm so glad: I just received today in the mail the 50th anniversary album of the Workshop de Lyon. The CDs I'm going to play at the seminar: We're also going to play live, along with Jim Dreier (drums) and Will Yager (bass): Chant Bien Fatal will be the tune (of course?)

Jean-Francois Charles & Gozo Yoshimasu

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In April 2017, I was invited along with the Laptop Orchestra at the University of Iowa to take part in a performance with living legend Gōzō Yoshimasu . The organizers at the International Writing Program were wonderful, and trusted us completely for this concert mixing live performance, poetry readings, and music. I'm glad to share here selected excerpts where I perform on clarinet (I also played live electronics at some points in the show). The laptop orchestra sounded great this evening. Musicians were: Nima Hamidi, setar & live electronics Joseph Norman, electric guitar & live electronics Kris Peysen, electric guitar & live electronics Jacob Simmons, guitar & live electronics Carlos Toro-Tobon, Buchla analog Synthesizer & live electronics Special guest: Patricia Hartland, electric bass The Medium is the Messenger A show designed and inspired by Gozo Yoshimasu Readings and translations by Forrest Gander, Sawako Nakayasu, and