Empty Cage Quartet tour and CD recording (supported by a CMA FACE grant) in France, May-June, 2008 | Extensive photo-blogging here and here…
Ele(jg)y
Ele(jg)y was written on April 25, 2008 as a memorial to the great clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Jimmy Giuffre, who died the previous day. It is based on a single, dirge-like descending melody which is broken apart into 11 additive fragments: A, AB, ABC, ABCD, ABCDE etc. When played by multiple instruments, the effect is of a unison pitch that is continuously falling apart and being returned to.
Ele(jg)y was premiered on April 26, 2008 by myself along with Vinny Golia (clarinet) and Nathan Hubbard (percussion) at the Lira Concert Series at Los Angeles Harbor College Recital Hall:
The composition was also recorded in June, 2008 by the Empty Cage Quartet with guests Aurelien Besnard (clarinet) and Patrice Soletti (guitar) in Montpellier, France. That recording will be released in November, 2009 on the Rude Awakening Présente label.
Recourse to Unison
Tin/Bag Quartet performs in New York City, January, 2007
Recourse to Unison was written in February, 2006 and later recorded by the Tin/Bag Quartet (Kris Tiner-trumpet, Mike Baggetta-guitar, Brian Walsh-clarinet, Harris Eisenstadt-percussion) in Los Angeles, CA. Premiere performances took place in Los Angeles in July, 2006, and in New York City in January, 2007. It was released on the CD And Begin Again (Evander Music Em 044) in April, 2007.
The composition utilizes an open-clef expandable staff which may be played by any number of unspecified instruments; the recorded version was arranged specifically for trumpet/clarinet/guitar/percussion.
Download PDF: Recourse to Unison (score + composition notes)
Excerpt – Recourse to Unison (opening)
Recourse to Unison by kristiner
Don’t Hesitate to Change Your Mind
Kikuchi's percussion/electronics setup for the Stratostrophic session
Don’t Hesitate to Change Your Mind was written for the Empty Cage Quartet in 2006. It was premiered and recorded in Los Angeles in July, 2006 and released in 2007 on the CD Stratostrophic (Clean Feed Records CF103) – that recording is embedded below. A three-part video from the premiere performance at Cafe Metropol in Los Angeles is posted on YouTube: part 1, part 2, part 3.
Originally the composition was designed to feature the acoustic quartet plus two overdubbed tracks of electronics: one to process the percussion and another for the horns. Once the music began in the studio, however, it became clear that drummer Paul Kikuchi’s immensely gorgeous sound palette of drums, gongs, metal bowls, and amplified hand-made percussion instruments with applied electronic effects (ring modulator, delay, etc) were enough to supply all of the “extra” sound that was needed to make the composition work. There are at least two channels (panned L-R) of Paul’s electronics in the final mix (in addition to his acoustic percussion); in some parts a third channel of electronics (panned center) was added to create a more dense sonic field.
The parts for the acoustic instruments are based on several permutations of phrases inspired (rather indirectly) by Woody Guthrie songs. Periodic thematic sections for the full ensemble give way to several instances of structured improvisation for different instrumental configurations within the quartet.
Download PDF: Don’t Hesitate to Change Your Mind (score + composition notes)
Excerpt – Don’t Hesitate to Change Your Mind
Don’t Hesitate to Change Your Mind by kristiner