CONCERT PREVIEW: Silent Movie Mondays “Silent Treasures Series” featuring “Ben Hur: A Tale of The Christ (1925)” + Q&A with Stewart Copeland

Posted on February 26, 2016 by maestrobeats

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What is so delicate that even saying its name will break it? Silence. And on February 29th the silence will be obliterated by Seattle Rock Orchestra’s performance of a new score to an old classic. Wave your lighters in the air and thank Stewart Copeland for bringing the noise.

Kim Roy conducts SRO. Photo credit: Holly Kerchner, http://wildideal.com/

A former drummer for The Police, Copeland pivoted his musical career in 1982 when he began composing for film. In addition to the numerous film scores he’s now got under his belt, he has also composed for videogames, ballets, and operas and even took on film editing. He’s further honed those editing chops by condensing the very old, very damaged reel of Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ from 143 minutes to a family-friendly 90 minutes. He was then able to score the film and take it on tour. The chariot awaits you on the big-screen as Seattle Rock Orchestra performs the score live with Copeland himself keeping the beat on drums.

SRO Cello section. Photo credit: Holly Kerchner, http://wildideal.com/

Ben-Hur is the most expensive silent film ever made and the iconic chariot race scene has inspired numerous copy-cats, including the pod race in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. It’s the story of Ben-Hur, who is the childhood friend of a powerful Tribune who later betrays him and his family. As a slave, he meets a certain carpenter’s son (Hi, Jesus!) who offers him kindness and… well, I can’t give away the ending.

Ben-Hur will be closing out the Silent Movie Mondays “Silent Treasure Series” at The Paramount Theatre on Monday, February 29th at 7pm. Tickets are $25. There will be a post-movie VIP Q&A with Copeland at the theatre.

Rachele Hales: I understand that you got to enter the Warner Brothers cold-storage vault to fish out a very damaged “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ.” Can you describe what it was like being inside that vault?

Stewart Copeland: Well I never actually went into the vault. We just had to wait for over a week for it to defrost. I now regret not personally attending the telecine either. It would have been spiritually uplifting to handle the actual celluloid.

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RH: Can you talk about some of the unique challenges with the “Ben-Hur” project?

SC: The opportunities outweighed the challenges by far. The silence allowed complete freedom to drive it all with music. No dialogue or sound effects to dodge! The operatic acting style and the enormous scale of the images gave license to set the orchestra to full rage. Figuring out how to tell the tale in ninety minutes did take some careful consideration and cleaning up the dust and scratches, repairing damaged frames, sorting out the varying frames per second (which depended on who was cranking the camera that day) and refining the color (technically b&w but they used color washes) all could be described as work but it sure was fun!

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RH: You jumped into solo film scoring while still with The Police. Was it a nice break from the thrill of being in a rock band or was it a different kind of thrill for you? What was the impetus for the new musical focus?

SC: It was a nice break from the miseries that we inflicted upon one another in the band! Although the humble film composer is a mere craftsman in the service of the director’s art it was liberating to only answer to a non-musician. It meant that I could be the non-negotiating god of music in the studio and be judged at the end rather than during the process.

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RH: You’ve collaborated with many other musicians, including Tom Waits, Snoop Dogg, and Adam Ant. What have you learned from those artists and have those collaborations influenced your solo work at all?

SC: Oh yes, I try to learn from everyone and everything. From Tom Waits how to look in a different direction from the obvious, from Snoop how to give everything a try, and from Adam, um, I never did quite get his knack for coolness.

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RH: What would the soundtrack of your own life include?

SC: Jimi Hendrix, Stravinsky and Ravel would cover most of it although you might need some Wagner in some spots and Donald Duck in others.

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RH: You’ve composed operas, ballets, film and television scores and, of course, been a mega rock idol. What is next for you?

SC: Stay tuned. I’ve got a whole ‘nuther deal coming up…(hint)…if the network buys it.

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LIVE BROADCAST: Thursday, February 25 at 7:30pm: ‘we do it to one another’ by Joshua Roman

Posted on February 24, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Join us for a special LIVE broadcast this Thursday, February 25 at 7:30pm (PT) from Town Hall, Seattle. This program features Joshua Roman’s commissioned song cycle, we do it to one another set to Tracy K. Smith’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of Poetry, Life on Mars (conducted by Joshua Roman and featuring Soprano soloist Jessica Rivera), readings by Smith, and a conversation between the artists on the creative process, music, and poetry.

The Seattle premiere of this piece is an unprecedented partnership between Town Hall and local literary organization Seattle Arts & Lectures, bringing together all the elements we love about events here–community, collaboration, and creation of new work. Truly history in the making.

If you’re in Seattle, we’d love to see you there! Tickets are available here. Say hi to Seth Tompkins at the Second Inversion broadcast table and grab a Second Inversion magnet!

Download our app or click here to listen to the broadcast, streaming live on Thursday evening at 7:30pm!

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Tracy K. Smith. Photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths.

Joshua Roman. Photo by Hayley Young.

NEW VIDEO: Steve Reich’s Violin Phase

Posted on February 23, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Violin Phase is the final installment in our Steve Reich Counterpoint/Phase video trio, joining New York Counterpoint and Cello Counterpoint, available on our video page. All three pieces, plus Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas, were presented on a concert at On the Boards on February 2, 2016 organized by James Holt and Erin Jorgensen.

This version of Violin Phase is performed by Luke Fitzpatrick (violin solo) using a custom live electronics looping system developed by Marcin Pączkowski. The traditional performance of this piece involves either four violin players, or one player who prepares a pre-recorded tape loop in the studio. In this version, the tape loop is substituted with the live electronics system, which uses no pre-recorded material. The sound of the violin is captured and “looped” in real time, during the performance of the piece. The looping process involves a precise time-stretching algorithm used to align not only whole loops, but also each beat within each loop. Multiple measures are subject to looping, increasing the diversity of the repeating sound. In order to ensure rhythmic precision, live electronics performer is supervising the semi-automated beat-detection mechanism, making adjustments on-the-fly if necessary. He is also responsible for triggering recording and playback in the appropriate sections of the piece.

Pretty awesome, don’t you think?

ALBUM REVIEW: Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee by Matana Roberts

Posted on February 22, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

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In the world of music, the saxophone represents many things. It is classical and jazz, it is woodwinds and brass, it is melody and military—it is sexuality and it is soul. And given its multifaceted role in American musical traditions, it is also a fascinating lens through which to explore America’s complex political history.

Composer, saxophonist, and sound experimentalist Matana Roberts does just this in chapter three of her massive, 12-part “Coin Coin” series. Gigantic in scope, the series is a visceral musical exploration into the sounds, the stories, the history, and the legacy of the American slave trade—a panoramic sound quilt piecing together the diverse trajectories of the African diaspora.

Each album in the series features a different configuration of instruments and sound textures—the first featured a 16-piece ensemble, the second a sextet, and the third? Just a single performer: Roberts herself.

“Coin Coin Chapter Three: river run thee” weaves a rich musical tapestry of saxophones, songs, field recordings, loop and effects pedals, and spoken word recitations—all composed, performed, and carefully layered by Roberts.

So what does it sound like? Well, it’s sort of like a surreal sonic dream—a musical merging of ritual and spectacle. Roberts’ influences are a melting pot of jazz, improvisation, classical, and the avant-garde, and her album is a vivid wash of colors and sounds, wailing saxophones and spoken word, field recordings and folk music.

But aside from the idiosyncratic sax solos, one of the most striking elements musically is Roberts’ voice. She flows just as easily from mournful singing to spoken texts, folk song fragments to vocal improvisations. If “river run thee” is a one-woman opera, then Roberts is the star, viscerally experiencing each twist, turn, and tragedy.

Her voice brims with a gritty, earthy, urgent soulfulness, echoed by saxophone moans and static swells. Oscillating tones, ghostly whispers, and eerie electronics providing a foreboding accompaniment—and each track bleeds into the next as she paints a vivid and unflinching narrative, a tragic history of civil rights issues in the U.S.

“I have a particular fascination with history as narrative and how narrative constantly gets cut up and changed and completely taken out of context, or put in context and taken out again,” Roberts said in an interview with Bomb Magazine. “To me history is not linear; it’s on this constant, cyclical repeat.”

Roberts recorded the album in the same Montreal studio she used to mix the first two albums in the “Coin Coin” series. For this third installment, she played the “river run thee” tape back over and over again, responding to what she’d already recorded and adding new musical layers in real-time from start to finish—thus injecting the energy and spontaneity of improvisation directly into the album.

But for all the intensity and intimacy of this one-woman album, “river run thee” is actually an entire symphony of sounds and stories. Roberts took her source material from across generations and geographies, amassing historical and documentary information through interviews, site visits, field recordings, and travels—and for that reason, the album is so much more than just a personal reflection on the state of race relations in America. It is critical musical analysis of our nation’s art and politics: past, present, and future.

“One thing I love about history in the making is that it has shown time and time again that there is resolution,” she said. “It won’t be a permanent resolution, because this country still hasn’t fully acknowledged that it is built on denial. I sense that this is not going to change soon; therefore it’s important for American artists to make work that reminds us of our responsibility for progression. The choices that I make as an artist have a lot to do with that.”

CONCERT PREVIEW: Q&A with Jamie Jordan

Posted on February 18, 2016 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

We hear it all the time in the classical music world: the “Three B’s”—Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. But this season the North Corner Chamber Orchestra (NOCCO) is putting a little twist on this old adage.

Their concert this weekend features three bold “B’s” with a little more bite: Bartók, Barber, and Beethoven. And while the program is grounded in the traditional classical canon (ahem, Beethoven), the lineup bends the “B’s” into the 20^th century.

NOCCO will be performing Beethoven’s classic First Symphony and Bartók’s neoclassic crowd-favorite, Divertimento for String Orchestra—but the centerpiece of the show is Barber’s 1947 masterwork Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a lush, richly textured work for soprano and orchestra.

The 15-minute lyric rhapsody takes its text from a 1938 short prose piece by author James Agee. Barber’s interpretation of the text paints an idyllic and poignant picture of Agee’s native Knoxville, Tennessee, blurring the lines between dreamy reminiscence and reality.

And to bring the nostalgic dreamland to life, NOCCO has enlisted the talents of New York-based soprano Jamie Jordan, a specialist in contemporary classical music with a strong background in jazz, classical, opera, improvisation, and more.

Second Inversion sat down with Jamie to ask her five questions about Knoxville, contemporary classical, and NOCCO’s upcoming concert.

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Second Inversion: What do you think is most unique or inspiring about Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915?

Jamie Jordan: Knoxville is so tremendously moving for me because Barber chose a wonderfully touching, poignant text (by James Agee), and set it to music with utmost sensitivity and great imagination. Barber paints the text through his orchestration, and creates very vivid imagery.

SI: You specialize in contemporary classical music but also have lots of experience with jazz, opera, improvisation, and more. What do you find to be some of the unique challenges and rewards of performing contemporary classical works?

JJ: For me, repertoire written since 1905 is usually most fulfilling. Every piece is an adventure. Understanding the structure, intent and also the great fun of learning pitches and rhythms brings me joy. Collaborating with a composer and bringing their work to life is also extremely meaningful; I have premiered dozens of works so far.

SI: Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations? What composers, artists, or styles of music most influence you?

JJ: My late mentor, Judith Kellock, was a truly great inspiration, beautiful artist and consummate pedagogue. Judy was a student of Jan DeGaetani, who is also someone who I deeply admire, along with her contemporary Cathy Berberian.

There isn’t enough ink or space on the web for me to list all the artists I respect and love. The 1960s were to me one of the greatest decades in music. George Crumb, Berio, Boulez, Copland, Druckman, Feldman, Messiaen, Pousseur, Shostakovich, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, and Xennakis are just a few of the incredible composers that were creating their art. In jazz many of my favorite artists—Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Sarah Vaughan…plus Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, and many other great bands…It was an unbelievable era. I’ll stop myself.

SI: What are you most looking forward to with this NOCCO performance?

JJ: The opportunity to work with exquisite musicians on this masterwork. Most of the music I perform is chamber music for only a handful of instruments. This piece is very ‘classical’ for me, and it has resonated with me for many years. It is thrilling to sing with a fine chamber orchestra- not something I do very often at this point.

SI: What do you hope audiences will take away from your performance of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915?

JJ: I hope the audience loves Knoxville: Summer of 1915, and that listeners are transported and touched by this stunning piece.

Performances of NOCCO’s “Three B’s with a Twist” are this Saturday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. at University Christian Church in the University District and Sunday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Room in Columbia City. For additional information and tickets, visit NOCCO.org.