Night After Night

Playlist (Uncanny Shapes Above the Ashes).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Tangerine Dream - Live at Philharmony Szczecin-Poland (Eastgate; 2016)

Matthew J. Rolin - The Dreaming Bridge (Feeding Tube; due late Jan. 2021)

Tangerine Dream - Pilots of Purple Twilight: The Virgin Recordings 1980-1983 (Virgin; 1980-83/2020)

Chris Dingman - Embrace (Inner Arts Initiative; 2020)

Scott Clark - This Darkness (Out of Your Head; due Jan. 15, 2021)

Jim O’Rourke - Steamroom 51 (Steamroom; 2020)

Witold Lutosławski - Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 - Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Hannu Lintu (Ondine; 2020)

Oregon Symphony - Aspects of America: Pulitzer Edition (Pentatone; 2020)

Walter Piston - Symphony No. 7; Morton Gould - Stringmusic; Howard Hanson - Symphony No. 4 ("Requiem")

Newton Armstrong - The way to go out - Apartment House (Another Timbre; 2020)

Thread-surface - Plus Minus Ensemble/Mark Knoop; A line alongside itself - Séverine Ballon; The way to go out - Plus Minus Ensemble/Mark Knoop

Charles Ives - Complete Symphonies - Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel (Deutsche Grammophon; 2020)

Aaron Copland - Symphony No. 3 - San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas (SFS Media; 2020)

Eternal Champion - Ravening Iron (No Remorse; 2020)

Randy Gibson - Distant Pillars, Private Pillars (Galtta Media; 2020)

Iceland Symphony Orchestra - Concurrence: ISO Project, Vol. 2 - Vikingur Olafsson, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Daníel Bjarnason (Sono Luminus; 2019)

Anna Thorvaldsdóttir
 - Metacosmos; Haukur Tómasson
 - Piano Concerto No. 2; María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir - Oceans; Páll Ragnar Pálsson
 - Quake

Jacob Sacks - Montreal (Puremagnetik; 2020)

Igor Levit - Encounter (Sony Classical; 2020)

Johann Sebastian Bach/Ferruccio Busoni - 10 Chorale Preludes; 6 Chorale Preludes; Johannes Brahms/Max Reger - Vier ernste Gesänge; Max Reger - Nachtlied; Morton Feldman - Palais de Mari

Myriam Leblanc - Vivaldi: Luce e Ombra - Ensemble Mirabilia (Analekta; 2020)

Antonio Vivaldi - Il Tamerlano (Il Bajazet) - Bruno Taddia, Filippo Mineccia, Delphine Galou, Sophie Rennert, Marina De Liso, Arianna Vendittelli, Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantona (Naïve; 2020)

Kevin Good - slow, silent, singing - Michael Jones (Edition Wandelweiser; due Dec. 28, 2020)

Playlist (Kickstart the Future).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Iceland Symphony Orchestra - Occurrence: The ISO Project, Vol. 3 - Pekka Kuusisto, Iceland Symphony Orchestra/Daníel Bjarnason (Sono Luminus; due Jan. 22, 2021)

Daníel Bjarnason - Violin Concerto; Veronique Vaka - Lendh; Haukur Tómasson - In Seventh Heaven; Þuríður Jónsdóttir - Flutter; Magnús Blöndal Jóhannsson - Adagio

Veronique Vaka - Erlendis (Moderna; 2015)

Corima - Amaterasu (Soleil Zeuhl; 2016)

Steve Roach - Stratus (Steve Roach Exclusive; 2020)

Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi - Fuubutsushi (風物詩) (cachedmedia; 2020)

Maya Verlaak - All English Music Is Greensleeves (Another Timbre; 2020)

Lark - Apartment House; Formation de Sarah - Sarah Saviet, Maya Verlaak; All English Music Is Greensleeves - Apartment House; Formation de Mark - Mark Knoop, Maya Verlaak; Song and Dance - Apartment House

Shiroishi/Tagi - Flock (Fort Evil Fruit; 2020)

Judith Hamann - days collapse (Another Timbre; 2020)

We Bow to No Masters - We Bow to No Masters (Sige; 2020)

Martin Arnold - Stain Ballads - Apartment House (Another Timbre; 2020)

Lutra; Stain Ballad; Trousers; Slip

Clara Iannotta - Earthing - JACK Quartet (Wergo; 2020)

Dead wasps in the jam-jar (iii); You crawl over seas of granite; A Failed Entertainment; Earthing – dead wasps (obituary)

Donald Miller - Transgression!!! (VDSQ; due Feb. 5, 2021)

Black Unity Trio - Al-Fatitah (Salaam/Gotta Groove; 1969/2020)

Steven Wilson - The Future Bites (Caroline International; due Jan. 29. 2021)

Don Cherry - Eternal Rhythm (MPS; 1969)

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - K.G. (Flightless; 2020)

Kelly Jayne Jones - the reed flute is fire (Takuroku; 2020)

Nakul Krishnamurthy - Tesserae (Takuroku; 2020)

Yama Yuki - Panelaço (Takuroku; 2020)

Ian William Craig & Daniel Lentz - FRKWYS Vol. 16: In a Word (RVNGIntl.; 2020)

Ingrid Laubrock - Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (Intakt; 2020)

Joseph C. Phillips Jr. - The Grey Land - Rebecca L. Hargrove, Kenneth Browning, Numinous (New Amsterdam; 2020)

The Warriors of the Wonderful Sound - SoundPath (Clean Feed; 2020)

Matthew Wright - Locked Hybrids (Relative Pitch; 2020)

Tangerine Dream - Pilots of Purple Twilight: The Virgin Recordings 1980-1983 (Virgin; 1980-83/2020)

Salim Washington - Dogon Revisited (Passin' Thru; 2018)

Erica Lindsay Quartet - Yes: Live at the Rosendale Cafe (Artists Recording Collective; 2008)

Sumi Tonooka Trio - Long Ago Today (Artists Recording Collective; 2005)

Samantha Boshnack’s Seismic Belt - Live in Santa Monica (Orenda; 2019)

David Arend - Astral Travels - David Arend, Salim Washington, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra/Petr Vronský, Jiří Petrdlík (Navona; 2015)

Tangerine Dream - Supernormal - The Australian Concerts 2014 (Eastgate; 2015)

Playlist (Buzzing Loudly in My Forehead).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Tigran Mansurian - Con anima - Kim Kashkashian, Movses Pogossian, Varty Manouelian, et al (ECM New Series; 2020)

Agnus Dei; Sonata da Chiesa; Con Anima; String Trio; String Quartet No. 3; Die Tänzerin

"Blue" Gene Tyranny - Just for the Record (Lovely Music; 1979/2008)

Robert Ashley - Sonata; Sonata – I + II + III; Phil Harmonic - Timing; Paul DeMarinis - Great Masters of Melody; John Bischoff - Rendezvous

Tristan Perich - Drift Multiply - ensemble/Doug Perkins (New Amsterdam/Nonesuch; 2020)

Emeralds - Smoke Signals (Wagon/self-released; 2007/2020)

"Blue" Gene Tyranny - The Intermediary (Lovely Music; 1982/2008)

Tangerine Dream - Pilots of Purple Twilight: The Virgin Recordings 1980-1983 (Virgin; 1980-83/2020)

Kevin Drumm - 11 (self-released; 2020)

Adam Rudolph - Focus and Field (Meta; due Dec. 4, 2020)

King Von - Welcome to O’Block (Only the Family; 2020)

Jon Hassell/Brian Eno - Fourth World, Vol. 1 – Possible Musics (Editions E.G./Glitterbeat; 1980/2014)

Patrick Shiroishi - Descension (Thin Wrist; 2020)

AC/DC - Power Up (Columbia; 2020)

Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley - …being astral and all registers – power of two… (Discus Music; 2020)

Speaker Music - a bitter but beautiful struggle (PTP; due Dec. 15, 2020)

Frederic Rzewski - Songs of Insurrection - Thomas Kotcheff (Coviello; 2020)

Julius Hemphill Sextet - Fat Man and the Hard Blues (Black Saint; 1991)

Tim Berne’s Bloodcount - Lowlife: The Paris Concert 1 (JMT/Screwgun; 1995)

Marty Ehrlich Dark Woods Ensemble - Emergency Peace (New World; 1991)

Wendy Eisenberg - Auto (Ba Da Bing; 2020)

Concert review: Irving Stone Memorial Concert, July 5, 2003

I recall writing this review, which predates this blog by just over two years, but I don't remember for what outlet I wrote it. I located it today on a whim – after posting the image you see above on Twitter – on Acoustic Levitation, an online journal edited and published by Steve Koenig, a poet, teacher, and activist based in Brooklyn. A bit of introductory text on that site states "we are transplanting this from our former website," but I don't know what that other website was. I do recall distinctly that this review caused some passing friction between myself and one of the artists cited herein, until I'd clarified what I'd meant by a certain comparison—and that what I'd intended was the absolute highest of praise.

It's difficult for me to read this now, given its endless, seemingly unedited gush. But I'm always glad to find and preserve bits of my past, and the account absolutely does bring back some very, very good memories. I'll always be grateful to Stone… and to Stephanie Stone, his wife, who passed away in 2014, and Steve Dalachinsky, so present herein, who we lost in 2019.

Irving Stone Memorial Concert
Saturday, July 5, 2003
Tonic, New York City

Published previously by Acoustic Levitation
Photographs (below): Peter Gannushkin/downtownmusic.net

What are the odds that a little old man with a big heart, a sharp tongue and a taste for wild music and sweet herb could unite an all-star array of New York avant-jazzers and free improvisers and inspire them to perform all day long on a sweltering Saturday afternoon in July? Irving Stone probably could have given you an exact answer. After all, he'd spent decades employed as a statistician for the New York City Housing Authority. Stone, as he was universally known, was a fixture at pretty much every concert of exploratory jazz and downtown experimentation since Coltrane was blowing the roof off the Vanguard. (I used to use "Ayler" in that sentence, until his wife Stephanie once corrected me: She and Stone never saw Ayler at the Vanguard, though they saw him plenty of other places.)

As has been noted in countless other places, the Stones were treated like royalty among the circles in which they traveled. Yet conversely, they were – and Stephanie remains – among the most generous and welcoming of all souls on that scene. Again, as more than one observer has mentioned, when you saw them at a gig you were attending, you felt like you were visiting family. For at least one generation of downtown musicians, and likely more, the mere presence of the Stones at a gig felt like artistic validation.

All of those points, and many more like them, were brought up during two hours of heartfelt reminiscences of Stone that preceded Saturday's memorial music marathon, which was organized by longtime Stone favorite John Zorn with help from numerous close friends, including poet Steve Dalachinsky, critic Kevin Whitehead and many others. Though we heard tales that we'd all heard before, or perhaps even witnessed firsthand, still, there was more revealed that gave us a better image of who Stone had been before he became the Stone we all knew. "Irving Stone taught Harry Partch how to balance a checkbook," said Mrs. Gosfield, an old family friend whose daughter Annie has become a significant downtown composer in the Zorn orbit. "Irving Stone could sing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in the voice of Louis Armstrong."

And on it went, as local luminaries traded tales with longtime friends. Barely able to catch his breath in a headlong rush of emotion, step-grandson Jesse lamented that he wished he'd known his step-grandfather nearly as well as the sizeable audience assembled in the room. Steve Dalachinsky (who said he was unable to complete a serious poem about Stone because he knew the dedicatee would not approve) instead read a well-known poem by another late friend of his, Ted Joans, adapting certain phrases to better capture Stone's preferences.

Stephanie Stone, no doubt overwhelmed, addressed the audience from a seat in the front row. Normally a gregarious figure, she was clearly affected by the outpouring. The next, and last voice, belonged to Stone himself. No one in the room was spared a tear at the voice, nor a laugh as, in a pre-recorded interview, he recalled a conversation with Mark Feldman. The violinist had asked Stone if he'd noticed any difference in the way he sounded that evening, when he had used an expensive new bow for the first time. Stone politely replied that he hadn't.

"What? You mean you can't tell the difference between when I use a $2,000 bow and when I use a $500 bow?" Feldman had asked, incredulous.

"No, but I can tell the difference between when you're playing for real and when you're just fucking around," was the sincere reply. ("Fuck," we were told more than a few times, was a potent component in Stone's vocabulary.)

Further reminiscences detailed whimsical close encounters with Kenny Dorham, Salvador Dali and Charlie Chaplin—all of which served notice that Stone was a man who lived life to the fullest, and shared everything that he had. For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, many of the artists who Stone nurtured over the years came forward to pay tribute on behalf of everyone assembled, in the manner that Stone had loved best.

Playlist (The Spirits Come Visiting).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Federico Mompou - Música Callada; James Rushford - See the Welter - James Rushford (Unseen Worlds; 2020)

Ivo Perelman Trio - Garden of Jewels (Tao Forms; due Jan. 22, 2021)

Red Desert - CHOROCHRONOS (Infrequent Seams; due Dec. 18, 2020)

André Cormier - Sommeil; Devin Maxwell - Bonneville Park 3; Lucie Vítková - Choral No. 13; Michael Pisaro - Turning

Franz Liszt - Symphonic Poems, Volume 1 - BBC Philharmonic/Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos; 2005)

Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne; Tasso: Lamento e Trionfo; Les Preludes; Orpheus

Joe McPhee - Nation Time (CjR/Corbett & Dempsey; 1971/2019)

John Coltrane - Om (Impulse!; 1965)

Sarah Davachi Baker's Dozen playlist on The Quietus (published Nov. 4, 2020):

Ash Ra Tempel - Starring Rosi (Kosmische Musik Ohr; 1973)

David Munrow - Instruments of the Middle Ages & Renaissance - The Early Music Consort of London (Angel; 1976)

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (Virgin; 1973/2009)

Alvin Curran - Songs and Views of the Magnetic Garden (Ananda/New World; 1975/2010)

Butthole Surfers - Hairway to Steven (Touch & Go/Latino Bugger Veil; 1988/1999)

Phil Manzanera - Diamond Head (Island; 1975)

Genesis - Trespass (Charisma; 1970)

Éliane Radigue - L'île Re-Sonante (Shiiin; 2005)

Yusef Lateef - The Gentle Giant (Atlantic; 1972)

Arco Iris - Arco Iris (RCA Vik; 1970)

G.I. Gurdjieff - Improvisations (Mississippi/Change; 1949/2012)

Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy (Harvest; 1969/2003)

U2 - Achtung Baby (Island; 1991)

Tangerine Dream - Pilots of Purple Twilight: The Virgin Recordings 1980-1983 (Virgin; 1980-83/2020)

Olivia Block - Wuther (Touch: Displacing subscriber exclusive; 2020)

counter)induction - Against Method (New Focus; 2020)

Douglas Boyce - The Hunt by Night; Kyle Bartlett- Before; Alvin Singleton- Ein Kleines Volkslied; Jessica Meyer - Forgiveness; Ryan Streber - Piano Quartet; Diego Tedesco - Scherzo

Jessica Ackerley/Patrick Shiroishi - Extremities (Notice Recordings; 2020)

Sarah Hennies - Live Fleas, April 19, 2019 (Fire Over Heaven; 2020)

Roland Kayn - November Music (Reiger-records-reeks; 2003/2020)

Colin Marston - Symphony (self-released; 2020)

MV/EE - Cap Trips (C.O.M.; 2020)

Günter Schlienz - Orphée aux Enfers (Moon Glyph; 2020)

Derek Bailey/Mototeru Takagi - Live at FarOut, Atsugi 1987 (NoBusiness; 2020)

Robert Ashley - Foreign Experiences - Sam Ashley, Thomas Buckner, Marghreta Cordero, Tom Hamilton, Jacqueline Humbert, Joan La Barbara, Amy X Neuburg, Robert Ashley, Tom Hamilton (Lovely Music; 1995/2020)

Hans-Joachim Roedelius/Thorsten Quaeschning/Hoshiko Yamane/Paul Frick - Klangtraube (Edgar Froese Memorial Day 2019) (Eastgate; 2020)

Mara Winter - Rise, follow - Mara Winter, Johanna Bartz (Discreet Editions; 2020)

Tangerine Dream - The Sessions VI (Eastgate; 2020)

Xian Zhang: A Conductor Becomes a Virtual-Concert Jet-Setter.

Xian Zhang conducting the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
Photograph: Dan Graziano

A Conductor Becomes a Virtual-Concert Jet-Setter
The New York Times
Nov. 4, 2020

Following impressive outings with the Seattle Symphony and Houston Symphony, conductor Xian Zhang is headed to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for important concerts featuring premieres by Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Tyshawn Sorey this Thursday and Friday, ahead of a new New Jersey Symphony Orchestra virtual season opening on Nov. 19 with music by Daniel Bernard Roumain and Michael Abels.

My newest for The New York Times is live now, with sustained gratitude to classical-music editor Zachary Woolfe. (I reckon most all of us could use some straightforward good news today.)

Below, photos I snapped at NJPAC during my visit on Oct. 22 for the final rehearsal and filming of the first virtual concert, some of which I posted on Instagram that day.

Playlist (Uncertain Times).

A weekly tally of noteworthy things that got stuck in my ears…

Warren Sampson - Traveller (Big Road Music/Love All Day; 1987/2018)

Steve Roach - Timeroom Livestream 10-24-2020: The Day After Tomorrow (Bandcamp subscriber exclusive; 2020)

Frederic Rzewski - Songs of Insurrection - Thomas Kotcheff (Coviello Classics; due Nov. 13, 2020)

Convulse - Deathstar (Transcending; 2020)

Paola Prestini & Magos Herrera - Con Alma (National Sawdust Tracks; due Dec. 4, 2020)

Jakko M. Jakszyk - Secrets & Lies (Inside Out; 2020)

The Residents - Cube-E Box: The History of American Music in 3 E-Z Pieces (Torso/Cherry Red; 1989-90/2020)

Zosha di Castri - Tachitipo (New Focus; 2019)

The Animal After Whom Other Animals Are Named - Ekmeles; Cortège - Talea Ensemble/Lorraine Vaillancourt; Quartet No. 1 - JACK Quartet; Dux - Julia Den Boer; La forma dello spazio - International Contemporary Ensemble/Lorraine Vaillancourt; Tachitipo - Yarn/Wire, Zosha di Castri

Rebecca Saunders - Musica Viva, Vol. 35 (BR-Klassik; 2020)

Still - Carolin Widmann, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Ilan Volkov; Aether - Carl Rosman, Richard Haynes; Alba - Marcos Blaauw, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Peter Eötvös

Enno Poppe - Musica Viva, Vol. 36 (BR-Klassik; 2020)

Fett - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki; Ich kann mich an nichts erinnern - Bernhard Haas, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Matthias Pintscher

Laraaji - Through Luminous Eyes (All Saints; 2020)

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphony No. 5 in D; Scenes adapted from Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress - Emily Portman, Kitty Whately, Marcus Farnsworth, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins (Hyperion; 2020)

Carcass - Despicable (Nuclear Blast; 2020)

Mark Kelly - Mark Kelly's Marathon (earMUSIC; due Nov. 27, 2020)

Steve Rothery - The Ghosts of Pripyat (Inside Out; 2015)

Steve Hogarth - Friends, Romans – H Natural with RanestRane (Poison Apple; 2017)

Linda Catlin Smith - Meadow - Mia Cooper, Joachim Rower, William Butt (Louth Contemporary Music Society; due Dec. 11 2020)