...is this the headquarters for something?

.... I've finally finished Woolf's To The Lighthouse. Recommended book. I'd say a 4 out of 5. Next work of fiction I plan to read is Beckett's Endgame, probably followed by some Huxley, or maybe Cortazar's Hopscotch. I'm not sure.

Listening of the past few days has been more leisurely than intensive, once again. I did manage to read an article by Helmut Lachenmann on his second string quartet though, which, with some selective listening, was ear-opening. Provided much food for thought, and added some further avenues of exploration to a new piece I'm working on for two voices, called "Ungeschehengemacht" for two voices.

Today, however, I have done some better listening, although I've been busy while listening all the same. A new cd arrived today featuring five pieces by the Scottish 'new complexity' composer, James Dillon. I bought the album for the final work on the disc, "The Soadie Waste" (a piece for piano quintet, commissioned by Oberlin Conservatory in 2003), but have so far only listened to the first three works on the CD. The first a short piece for solo piano, the second a lengthier piece for solo violin, and the third a suite of 11 movements for violin and piano. The latter being my favourite so far. After only one listen its difficult to talk in much depth about the music, but it is all strikingly original stuff. Dillon's writing for violin is very distinctive, and the general feel of each of the pieces is rather dense and complicated. In several of the movements of Traumwerk Book III for violin and piano there were a number of incredible moments where, amidst the chaotic complexity and jagged violin lines, moments of serene beauty emerged and became sustained above the turbulent structures of the music. More on this at a later date, most definitely.

Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet's The Breadwinner received further spins today as well, for the first time in just over a month. I wish I had more time to spend with this music. I will have to make that time in the coming weeks. Listening is going to become a busier activity over that time span, however, as I've just taken advantage of the Jazz Loft's incredible Hathut sale, and ordered 10 Hathut releases for only $35. A selection of Morton Feldman, James Tenney, Polweschel and Jo Kondo, amongst others, will be on its way to me soon. There are also a series of Erstwhile and erstdist albums that are piling up in my 'to experience' list, so I will undoubtedly be dropping more money than I can really afford to drop there in the near future. Anxious to hear the Keith Rowe/Toshimaru Nakamura collaborations on the label, as well as the recent Toshimaru Nakamura/Ami Yoshida release.

A short while ago (March 28th to be exact) I went into NYC to see a solo Cecil Taylor concert at Merkin Concert Hall/Lincoln Centre. Now that I think about it, it may well have been the intensity of that live performance that has resulted in my more relaxed listening since then... Anyway, the performance was in two halves, the first half, an hour or so of Cecil reciting his poetry; the second half, an hour or so of Cecil playing the piano. This was the third time I've seen Cecil improvising. The first time at the Lincoln Centre with his AHA Trio featuring Henry Grimes and Pheeroan AkLaff (and opened for by Zorn's Masada Quartet) was the most exhilarating music experience of my life so far. The second time was at the Village Vanguard where he spent a week performing every night with British improviser Tony Oxley. This was also an incredible experience, I was sat right at the front, about 5 feet from Cecil himself. I have been a fan of Cecil Taylor's piano playing for a few years now, however this concert was my first experience with his poetry. The concert programme included a quote from Cecil Taylor, talking about the conceptual continuity of living, and this concert emphasised the reality and accuracy of his statements:

"Practice, to be studious at the instrument, as well as looking at a bridge, or dancing, or writing a poem, or reading, or attempting to make your home more beautiful. What goes into an improvisation is what goes into one's preparation, then allowing the prepared senses to execute at the highest level devoid of psychological or logical interference. You ask, without logic, where does the form come from? It seems something that may be forgotten is that as we begin our day and proceed through it there is a form in existence that we create out of, that the day and night itself is for. And what we choose to vary in the daily routine provides in itself the fresh building blocks to construct a living form which is easily translated into a specific act of making a musical composition."

If the two halves of the performance were to be analysed in terms of material, form and structure, the only significant difference is in form. The structure manifested through the concepts, aesthetics and perspectives, redefined the idea of material. It all flowed, quite organically, from the same natural source. The mark of a truly experienced artist with a deep understanding of himself as himself, and himself as he relates to the world he is a part of.

From my own perspective (and musically speaking) I found his poetry much more aesthetically pleasing. The sound of Cecil's voice, the spaces and silences it permits as well as the earthy nature of his tones and textural spectrums held my interest and concentration with much more vigour and excitement than his piano playing did (not that his piano playing wasn't spectacular). This also perhaps the reason for increased listening to Captain Beefheart and Phil Minton (see below) this past week or two.

The same ideas apply.

A shapeless nurturer, distilled...
Australopithecus, pebble culture...
A convergence and continuum...
Emerging lunar-tidal-circles...
Primal waters of pure consciousness...
Oblivious to a centimeter squared...
CYMA, CYMA, C-Y-M-A- Cecil Taylor

The kinetic energy of molecular motion...
Way beyond causation...
Denizens of apocrypha...
The quasi-parallelogram becomes a true parallelogram with opposite sides equal to pi...- Cecil Taylor