Just saw Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra @ Roulette.
About 30 musicians: 5 flutes, 5 clarinets 7 strings 3 trumpets 2 trombones 3 percussion 3 or 4 guitars or bass guitars. Everyone playing from the same sheets which had hand symbols, note maps, some written notation.
What worked: some chaotic textures that would be close to impossible to notate - music for unruly crowds, complex action. Some excellent solos. Some unexpected beauties
What doesn't work - much of the music sounds the same. The psychological increments that create a satisfying story are often short-circuited. Somehow emphatic gestures get lost.
Best moments: Karnatic Violin solo, Steve Gorn on Bansuri, Steve Swell trombone solo. Guy playing the guinean flute. Some of the great choatic landscapes. great spectral harmonics in the strings. Amir on trumpet. great percussion section
Hand signal music can often go for the low hanging fruit too often - like the big orchestral hits.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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