Think of this as a sketch. We’re not going to get into a complete report on the doings of Wadada Leo Smith here, his more than fifty recordings, his dozens of collaborations with luminaries from all over the globe, his long engagement with creative music. No, we’re merely orbiting the beautiful planet that is hisContinue reading “Wadada Leo Smith and the Possibilities of Dreaming”
Genre Archives
Linda Catlin Smith Lets In the Light
It’s 2004. I am taking my first composition course at Mount Allison University. I have recently become enamoured of new music and am catching up on a long list of listening in the basement of the Alfred Whitehead Memorial Music Library. I come across Memory Forms (2001), a serene-looking disc with a still-life pear standingContinue reading “Linda Catlin Smith Lets In the Light”
Samuel Andreyev’s Sonic Organisms
There’s a strange duality about the music of Strasbourg-based Canadian composer Samuel Andreyev. His official bio states that his compositional process is “marked by a rigorous perfectionism,” which might immediately provoke the lazy cynic to slap it with the ultimate new-music pejorative: academic. His nimble ideas are, without fail, framed in tight, tidy structures andContinue reading “Samuel Andreyev’s Sonic Organisms”
Bekah Simms. Impurity Chains.
Gilded from the depths of the underworld of the Internet age, Toronto-based Bekah Simms’ corrosive debut album Impurity Chains is an eclectic collection of her chamber works, many of which involve deeply intertwined electronics. Performed by various artists, Simms’ works here are clearly influenced by the idea of overlapping influences (from doom metal to NewfoundlandContinue reading “Bekah Simms. Impurity Chains.”
Jessica Moss. Entanglement.
It is entirely possible to lose yourself, along with your stress and your awareness of time and place, as you sink into the depths of this Entanglement. The second solo album by Montreal-based violinist Jessica Moss, best known for her long association with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Entanglement was reportedly inspired by particleContinue reading “Jessica Moss. Entanglement.”
Christopher Fox. Topophony.
Ilan Volkov is responsible for some remarkable mergers of composed and improvised music, having conducted some of Roscoe Mitchell’s first Conversations with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in 2016, combining transcribed improvisations with live ones. In the previous year, Volkov commissioned and conducted Christopher Fox’s Topophony, a rare symphonic setting for improviser(s), debuting the piece withContinue reading “Christopher Fox. Topophony.”
Clarence Barlow. Musica Algorithmica.
For a significant number of listeners, the idea of music being driven by an algorithm or other such organizational scheme can be a source of trepidation. And perhaps that’s justified. When the rigour of the formal features feels stronger than the material itself, the deficiencies of the latter tend to be magnified. If this excellentContinue reading “Clarence Barlow. Musica Algorithmica.”
Raven Chacon’s Harmonious Language
“I loved the Beatles so much that I totally exhausted listening to their music. I wanted more.” For Raven Chacon, the answer was easy. “I recorded all of their albums on cassette, then took the tape out of the shell and flipped it so I could have all the albums in reverse. So I hadContinue reading “Raven Chacon’s Harmonious Language”
Luke Nickel Transmits a Living Score
Luke Nickel has written me a piece. No, wait. That’s not quite right. Luke Nickel has left me a series of sometimes vague, sometimes specific instructions via audio recordings of his voice, which I am only allowed to listen to once, so that I might create a piece. Confused? Let me explain. Over the courseContinue reading “Luke Nickel Transmits a Living Score”
28th Winnipeg New Music Festival.
The twenty-eighth edition of the Winnipeg New Music Festival (WNMF) opened by continuing a tradition of bringing listeners out to unusual, wonderful venues, but this year broadened its scope asking both performers and audience to one evening risk the potential extremes outside in Winnipeg’s notoriously frigid winter elements. Norwegian artist Terje Isunset arrived in town earlyContinue reading “28th Winnipeg New Music Festival.”