Francois Bayle, composer, pioneer of electronic music

Just heard a concert of electronic music by Francois Bayle. He was a member of the legendary Groupe de Recherches Musicales, along with Luc Ferrari and Iannis Xenakis. He also founded the Acousmatheque, an archive containing thousands of electronic works.

The concert began with "Tremblement de Terre Tres Dous" ( Soft Earthquake) The sounds were flying around the room like
noumena - concretized abstractions of sensation and feeling.
Composer Daniel Teruggi interviewed Bayle who spoke in French so beautiful and so poetic I could not believe my ears.
M.Bayle said that his compostions were inspired by the great painters of the 20th Century. He wished to create abstractions "the structures of music composed for instruments are located in one place, my sounds are three dimensional!" he called his music, "a procession of...sound pictures...that fly through the space of the concert hall...an arc of harmonic energy...sounds that excite the animal ear...elctronic trajectories of analog heat... shimmering reflections....they open up the auditory perspective of their long corridors with infinite curves..."

I sat next to Joel Chadabe (Electronic Music Foundation). He introduced me to Joan La Barbara and Morton Subotnick.

Do I have a good life or what?

Patrick Zimmerli

My family is in town. I took them to hear the music of composer Patrick Zimmerli, who combines jazz and classical chamber music. Z. always has the finest most ferocious musicians. He was conducting from the Soprano Sax.

I was so glad my niece, nephew and sister could hear this fresh, creative, passionate, inspired new music. The kids were blown away. What a band: Tim Fain is a Byronesque violinist that gets everybody crazy with his intense, emotional playing and beautiful phrasing. The Samplist Harold Bott, Jr who studied with Jacques- Louis Monod was superb. Zimmerli wrote a work featuring super Violist Beth Gutterman - wow - I always loved that ax.

Zimmerli is writing an opera about James Joyce's daughter in installments. It's called Lucia. Interesting libretto by Christine Zorzi.

Don't miss them at Makor 39 W. 67th St. March 26.

When you see Zimmerli say, "Why don't you have Phoebe Legere sing with you?"

Jazz Emergent Part 2

They saved the best for part 2. Nice band - 2 Japanese, 2 aftrican am and 1 whitey
amazing to hear the result of a couple of years of Juilliard ear training
on a super talented young jazz drummer. White Alto player obviously going to school with Bird,
sounded wonderful, excellent trumpet player, good ideas, but the cat who stole the show, a cat who
will have to be tops in his generation - the drummer..This was some of the sweetest,
most creative drumming I have heard - will stop by the jazz dept. Today and get his name.
Stay tuned. Must get him on my next record and I am sure Wynton is thinking the same thing.

Blogging from Paul Hall at Juilliard, Jazz Emergent First Half

http://www.giovannisatriumnyc.com/

Tomorrow, Friday Feb. 3, I start my February residency at Giovanni's Atrium- 6:00 - 9:00.

Don't ask me to sing anything Avant Garde please. This is strictly straight ahead.

Frank, Tony, Italian American Classics, American Songbook

Rigoletto: I worship Anna Netrebko

Under the impassioned baton of Placido Domingo " Rigoletto " came to life last night. A packed house waited breathlessly for the entrance of Anna Netrebko, rumored to be a the greatest soprano of our time. When the Duke of Mantua, tenor Rolando Villazon, sang his "Questa o Quella" I almost lost consciousness. A thrill went through my whole body - it must have been something like my pal Stafford experienced when she had her nipples pierced. Pain, ecstacy, love... I swooned: Villazon is that rarest of commodities - A perfect tenor with a large package.

He sings" Fidelity is slavery, freedom is being a ladies man etc." etc. we've heard this crap before but never like this!
Hunchback Rigoletto always makes me a little uncomforatable.

Act 11 - Oh God the scenery! The costumes! How I love it! Gilda (Anna) is with her maid in her little hovel when daddy Hump appears. The first few notes were a little dark and muddy, after about a minute she warmed, the middle register is stronger than any soprano we've see in years - but that extension on top - PERFECT!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAEEEE!

I love her. I love her.

At the end I expected at least two or three audience members to offer up themselves as a sacrifice so Gilda would not have to die.

Why don't people throw roses to these singing Divinities?

I guess this is the tailend of Russia's communist patronage of musicians coming to fruition.
Juilliard is still something like 95% Chinese and Eastern Europeans. Get hip America. Musicians need to be carefully nurtured from earliest hildhood,..it's a priesthood.

Another question - we have plenty of Opera Gaymen but where are the Opera Dykes?

OK see you at the Opera.
BTW Does anyone want to take me to intermission dinner at the Metropolitan Opera Restuarant? I'll order the cheapest thing on the menu - Clam Chowder - 11 bucks.