Kristoff K.Roll : French sound duo

Kristoff K.Roll is a sound art duo born in Paris (France) in 1990 as part of the turntable septet Arènes du vinyle. These two noise musicians — Carole Rieussec and J-Kristoff Camps — are building “a sonic maze with multiple entrances.” Together he/she move from acousmatics to electroacoustic improvisation and sound theatre, also delving in … Continue reading Kristoff K.Roll : French sound duo

Primo Levi : no suicide – his newly published Complete Works

When Primo Levi died in 1987 at age 67, after falling down the stairwell of his apartment building in Turin, Italy, his fellow writer and survivor Elie Wiesel delivered an epigrammatic coroner’s report: “Primo Levi died at Auschwitz forty years later.” The long-delayed suicide of the Holocaust survivor is a story whose outlines we know … Continue reading Primo Levi : no suicide – his newly published Complete Works

Laura Karpman’s “Ask Your Mama” : a grand multitude of American voices

Laura Anne Karpman (born March 1, 1959, in Los Angeles) is an American composer, whose work has included scoring for film, television, video games, theater, and concert.  She has won four Emmy Awards for her work.  Karpman was trained at The Juilliard School, where she played jazz, and honed her skills scatting in bars. Karpman … Continue reading Laura Karpman’s “Ask Your Mama” : a grand multitude of American voices

Robert Normandeau’s cinema for the ear

Ater a BMus in Composition (Electroacoustics) from the Université Laval (Québec City, 1984) Robert Normandeau moved to Montréal and completed an MMus in Composition (1988) and the first PhDMus in Electroacoustic Composition (1992), under Marcelle Deschênes and Francis Dhomont. He is a founding member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC, 1987). From 1986 to ’93, he … Continue reading Robert Normandeau’s cinema for the ear

Jeff Myers : Requiem Aeternam

The music of Jeff Myers (b.1977) has been called “Striking…and harmonically rich” by the New York Times and “…brilliant and powerful…” by The Classical Voice of New England. Many of his works incorporate themes from Asian folk genres (kulintang and gamelan music), visual art (Escher), literature (Poe, Baudelaire, Rimbaud) and acoustic phenomena (overtone harmony and … Continue reading Jeff Myers : Requiem Aeternam

Arve Henriksen : The Nature of Connections

Arve Henriksen is a classically trained musician whose ethereal, Japanese-influenced trumpet playing has placed him in a league of his own. He was born in Stranda, Norway, and educated at the Trondheim Conservatory. It was during his time at the conservatory that a friend gave him a tape recording of the shakuhachi flute. Henriksen was … Continue reading Arve Henriksen : The Nature of Connections

Bruno Martino’s “Estate” : Summer

Estate (Summer) is an Italian song written in 1960 by Bruno Martino (music) and Bruno Brighetti (lyrics).  It was a minor hit in Italy when released, but it eventually became a worldwide jazz standard, recorded by dozens of singers and jazz instrumentalists.  I first heard the song on the João Gilberto album Amoroso.  Amoroso, released in 1976, is an … Continue reading Bruno Martino’s “Estate” : Summer

Bernat Vivancos : a search for a spirituality

The musical personality of Bernat Vivancos (Barcelona, ​​1973) is marked by the impressions received during his school years at the Monastery of Montserrat, by some reckonings the oldest existing music conservatory in the Western world.  Singing, indispensable for all good musicians, has been of great importance in his career. Returning to Barcelona, Vivancos studied piano … Continue reading Bernat Vivancos : a search for a spirituality

Responsio : Peter-Anthony Togni meets Machaut

I posted an overview recently in this blog on Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame - but this recording/work reflects, comments, refutes, challenges and embellishes the medieval voice of Guillaume de Machaut and his medieval masterpiece. RESPONSIO  by Peter-Anthony Togni A contemporary response to Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame Jeff Reilly – bass clarinet Suzie Leblanc … Continue reading Responsio : Peter-Anthony Togni meets Machaut

Edison Denisov : won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home (#OnThisDay)

Edison Denisov, a composer whose avant-garde works won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home, died on November 24, 1996 in a hospital in Paris. He was 67.  Mr. Denisov never recovered his health after a car accident near Moscow nearly two years previous. ''Denisov not only had a generous talent, but he … Continue reading Edison Denisov : won world acclaim while he was denounced by Soviet authorities at home (#OnThisDay)