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CB0002 Michael
Byron: Music of Nights without Moon or Pearl
Music
of Nights without Moon or Pearl (8:36)
Invisible
"Seeds" for James Tenney (15:35) CalArts
New Century Players Mark
Menzies, violin Cindy
Moussas, violin Ray
Tischer, viola Guenevere
Measham, cello Barry
Newton, contrabass Bryan
Pezzone, piano Vicki
Ray, piano Brent
Crayon, synthesizer David
Rosenboom, conductor Recorded
and mixed by Clay Chaplin, Dizzy Gillespie Recording Studio, California
Institute of the Arts, 2000. Recording
assistant: Willow Williamson.
Entrances
(20:53) David
Rosenboom, realization and pianos (4) Recorded
by Robert Shumaker, 1750 Arch Studios, 1982. Mixed
by Robert Shumaker and David Rosenboom. August
14, 2000
Dear
Michael,
I
just put on your Music of Nights without Moon or Pearl, and
it's already lifting my spirits. It's a wonder that music can have
such power to (en)lighten the soul and that you have the gift to so
empower us. It's surely a rare one that should be cherished.
Hearing
this piece tonight takes me back to the orange groves of Piru, when
we were all young and dreamy. Or to some beach near Oxnard, waves
"flopping" in, like in One-Eyed Jacks. And to those
soft, slow improvs we used to do with Peter Garland and others in the
big, empty, unfinished concert hall at CalArts. Or drinking Mai Tais
at Tip's with Harold Budd and Jim Tenney.
A
lot of water has flowed since those halcyon days, and you've produced
an extraordinary body of beautiful and original work.
One
of the most striking things about this CD is the range or variety of
emotion, tension, and activity among the three pieces. While still
drifting idyllically in Nights, the unexpected arrival of
Invisible "Seeds"is a bit of a shock, pulling me
abruptly out of that California paradise. Seeds wakes me to a harder
kind of reality, and its oddly placed "bops" jump-start
speculative modes of thought, making me wonder about the nature of
their rhythmic process before I settle in to listen and contemplate
the inevitable existence of tension and pain in the universe.
Entrances
is yet another story of human behavior: a creature of extraordinary
dexterity and intelligence engaged in some brilliantly mad, wildly
inscrutable activity. Man battling his human limitations of physical
ability and expressive intensity, struggling to become like a machine
or a superman and, in the beauty of the struggle, transcending them
both.
It's
wonderful that you've created a score that promotes such obvious
pleasure in its realization. David's joyful exuberance comes through
so clearly in the physicality of his performance.
Well,
Michael, it's a delight to listen to your music. I thank you for
carrying me to three such different, intense, and totally absorbing
spheres--of no-Minded peace, thoughtful tension, and physical joy.
Hope
to have more such pleasures from you soon. Please send me your new
scores. I hope you get more of your music recorded soon. The world
needs to hear it!
Love,
Richard
Teitelbaum
CD
produced by Michael Byron, David Rosenboom, and Jim Fox. Mastered
by Andre Knecht, ARK Digital, Pasadena, CA. Design
by Tom Recchion. Cover
photograph: Kusakabe Kimbel Other
photographs: anonymous.
Special
thanks to Mary Byron, to whom this recording is dedicated.
Michael
Byron's scores are available from Frog Peak Music (www.frogpeak.org). ©
and p 2000 Cold Blue Music. All rights reserved. Cold
Blue Music, P.O. Box 2938, Venice, CA 90294-2938
www.coldbluemusic.com
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