Both / And

SSC1352 2013-07-16

Track List

Meteorology - 10:39
Dawn - 06:02
Tiger, Tiger - 07:11
Kathryn's Song - 07:56
Dystopian Uprising - 13:12
Charango Dream - 06:34
Monk-y Business Revisited: Intro and Main Themes - 05:26
Monk-y Business Revisited: Into The Funk - 06:20
Monk-y Business Revisited: Waltzing To Memories - 03:17
Monk-y Business Revisited: Piano Segue - 02:30
Monk-y Business Revisited: Audio Kaleidoscope And Finale - 04:59

Musicians

Denny Zeitlin - keyboards

A note from Denny Zeitlin:
Back in the late sixties, after having recorded a series of acoustic piano trio albums for Columbia, and restless with the timbral limitations of the acoustic piano, I began a decade of exploring the possibilities of integrating acoustic and electronic instruments in a music that would draw on my experiences in jazz, classical, funk, and the avant- garde. Expansion and Syzygy documented this journey, culminating in the electronic-acoustic-symphonic score for the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1978. I then returned to a focus on acoustic music for the eighties and nineties. Since the millennium, there have been amazing technological advances that have exponentially increased the potential of electro-acoustic music, and I have been re-exploring this dimension, side by side with acoustic solo and trio concerts and recordings. I have upgraded my studio, which feels more and more like a magical musical sandbox where I can ""be"" an orchestra.
I enjoyed the challenge of being the sole composer and performer on this album, while imparting the impression of a number of players spontaneously interacting. Improvisation is at the heart of this music, and much of what you hear was recorded in real time. The only live-recorded acoustic instrument is a Steinway grand piano. All the other sounds are from the digital world and are triggered from keyboards: sampled instruments and sound sources, or sounds and instruments created by various forms of synthesis. All these sources are frequently further processed digitally.
There are those who feel that acoustic and electronic music do not mix. All my life I have resisted the concept of ""Either/Or,"" being drawn to integration rather than separation; hence the title of this project: ""Both/And.""
Some Comments on the Compositions:
Meteorology: This piece emerged one day when I was sitting at the multi-keyboard rig in my studio, immersed in memories of that great fusion group, Weather Report.
Dawn: A duet at daybreak between electric bass and symphonic strings.
Tiger,Tiger: A lurching 15/8 underlying pattern propels this piece through the jungle, inspired by William Blake's Poem:
Tiger,Tiger, burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?...
Kathryn's Song was composed and performed as a birthday gift to a dear friend, and attempts to give the feel of a modern mainstream acoustic quintet interacting.
Dystopian Uprising utilizes the varieties of string timbre and articulation, juxtaposed within the string section and the acoustic piano. Heavily influenced by the 20th century classical music tradition, this work could be subtitled ""Music for Piano and String Orchestra.""
Charango Dream: A spontaneous meeting of bass, flute, ""chime vibraphone,"" and South American charango played on its armadillo soundbox for percussion.
Monk-Y Business Revisited: This extended piece was begun in 2003 at Pat Gleeson's studio in Los Angeles, tabled for awhile, and completed at my studio in Kentfield in 2012. Utilizing the timbres of a full symphonic orchestra and many of an other-wordly nature, this work greatly expands upon the trio version recorded in 1989 on the CD In The Moment. Although the piece plays continuously, it is divided into sections to facilitate airplay: Intro and Main Themes; Into The Funk; Waltzing To Memories; Piano Segue; Audio Kaleidoscope and Finale.
"