It’s the most wonderful time of the month where we showcase the newest music to have reached our earholes. There's new music from Iranian-Swedish composer Shida Shahabi; a trans-global collaboration from a band called Flamenkora, and a new take on old Kurdish music from Danûk. Plus, a remembrance of bassist, new music champion, and educator Robert Black, and more.
There’s new music from Stockholm-based composer Shida Shahabi, which involves stretching the sounds of the piano and cello and augmenting with cavernous drones. It’s from her latest albnum, Living Circle, which uses more ambient textures and somewhat less recognizable sounds of piano and cello, in frameworks that might seem vague, and of a rather extended duration. Also, listen to electroacoustic music from American composer, sound artist, and multi-instrumentalist Lea Bertucci and Australian composer and artist, Lawrence English. It’s from their forthcoming, a long-distance collaboration “driven by musings on geological scale, movements – tectonic or otherwise – of the Earth, and subterranean density and pressure,” (Bandcamp.)
Then listen to the trans-global collaboration from German-born, New York-based trumpeter Volker Goetze, Senegalese-born, Paris-based kora master and vocalist Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko, and the rising Madrid flamenco guitar sensation, Alejandro Moreno – called FlamenKora. Plus, a new take on old Kurdish music from Danûk, a group of Turkish-based Syrian exiles who remix Kurdish folklore and wedding songs.
And, listen to music performed by the late bass player, educator, new music champion, and founding member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Robert Black. We also remember Finnish composer Kaija Saariho and the humpback whale recordings of Roger Payne. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4767, New Releases, June 2023
ARTIST: Shida Shahabi
WORK: Living Circle [2:00]
RECORDING: Living Circle
SOURCE: 130701 / FatCat
INFO: 130701.com/release/living-circle
ARTIST: Robert Black
WORK: Tom Johnson: Failing, a very difficult piece for solo string bass [8:34]
RECORDING: Around New York, 1992
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work is available on CRI 628, which is out of print | discogs.com/release/22914395-Bang-On-A-Can-Live-Volume-1
ARTIST: Paul Halley & Paul Winter
WORK: Ocean Dream ft. Leonard Nimoy [6:20]
RECORDING: Whales Alive
SOURCE: Living Music
INFO: paulwinter.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Garth Knox
WORK: Kaija Saariajo: Vent nocturne: II. Soupirs de l'obscur [5:32]
RECORDING: Saltarello
SOURCE: ECM 2157
INFO: ecmrecords.com
ARTIST: Shida Shahabi
WORK: Living Circle [9:16]
RECORDING: Living Circle
SOURCE: 130701 / FatCat
INFO: 130701.com/release/living-circle
ARTIST: Lea Bertucci & Lawrence English
WORK: Geology Of Fire [5:11]
RECORDING: Chthonic
SOURCE: American Dreams Records, due out July 28
INFO: lawrenceenglishleabertucci.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Goetze, Cissoko, Moreno
WORK: Sadier [4:44]
RECORDING: Flamenkora
SOURCE: Motema
INFO: motema.com
ARTIST: Danûk
WORK: Axir Zemana [3:54]
RECORDING: Morîk
SOURCE: Omni Sound
INFO:omnisoundlabel.bandcamp.com
