Joshua Kosman likes the latest Eighth Blackbird CD of music of Frederic Rzewski except for one performance:
The disappointment comes at the end, with "Coming Together," Rzewski's turbulent, provocative setting of a letter from Attica inmate Sam Melville. This is one of the great pieces of political art in the new-music repetoire, and the group's placid, adenoidal rendition turns it into a self-help mantra.
robert gable:
aworks rzewski consciousness revolution era. del.icio.us: rzewski. wikipedia: rzewski 1971. other minds: rzewski. newmusicbox: video interview misc. clips.
The eighth blackbird version is indeed misguided. (This group consistently fails to record as well as they perform live; too heavily edited perhaps?) The best Coming Together I've heard on CD is by the stalwart Talujon Percussion Quartet — a clip may be found here: http://www.talujon.org/sound.shtml.
Posted by: dowth | August 01, 2005 at 10:16 PM
I have to say: I'm not so into what I heard of this record. The Les Mouton verison is so cringingly genteel! I mean, this is Fred in his non-hierarchical, Marxist, countercultural prime. There should be some vim and vigor, and 8bb plays it all "chamber music-y". I've played the with a 10-piece brass band, and, barring the inevitable embouchure-resting dropping out, it was as raucous, ugly, and exhilirating as M. Rzewski intended. To make a version that sounds preprogrammed rather than approaching it with the spontaneity and abberance inherent to the instructions is just boring and misses the point completely. And the Coming Together.............
Posted by: CJM | May 23, 2006 at 12:56 AM