Search - Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, Fred Sherry (cello); Steven Mackey (guitar); Ray Dillard (drums) :: Banana.Dump Truck

Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, Fred Sherry (cello); Steven Mackey (guitar); Ray Dillard (drums)
Banana.Dump Truck
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (4) - Disc #1
1. Fusion Tune
2. Deal
3. Banana/Dump Truck
4. San Francisco

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CD Details

All Artists: Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, Fred Sherry (cello); Steven Mackey (guitar); Ray Dillard (drums)
Title: Banana.Dump Truck
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Albany Records
Original Release Date: 4/1/2005
Release Date: 4/1/2005
Genre: Classical
Styles: Chamber Music, Forms & Genres, Concertos, Instruments, Electronic, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 034061073529

Synopsis

Product Description

Steven Mackey has established himself as one of the most gifted and original American composers to emerge in recent years. Born in 1956, in Frankfurt, Germany to American parents, he was raised and educated in the United States. His early training in performance was as a classical and electric guitarist and Baroque lutenist. In 1977, he toured Europe as a lutenist under the auspices of the University of California; he graduated summa cum laude from that Institution. His studies culminated in a Ph.D. in composition from Brandeis University. Mackey is now Professor of Music at Princeton University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1985. Mackey?s idiom, a multi-layered world of rhythm and sonority, draws its expanded harmonic palette from western art music, its wit and vivacity from the imaginative transformation of popular music elements. His chamber music sometimes features re-tuned instruments and microtones. His orchestral works display consummate skill in their handling of instrumental color and texture. Tilt, commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, received its premiere in 1992 under the direction of Dennis Russell Davies. Of that performance, Tim Page of Newsday wrote: ?One was reminded of a radio caught between frequencies: timbres bang and shimmer, there are arpeggios and teasing references to musical clichés, and despite some occasional violent fortissimos, the mood throughout is lithe, subtle and more than a little playful. Anything can happen ? and most of it does.? His concertos offer a fresh look at the medium. In his first concerto, Banana/Dump Truck from 1994, the ensemble plays a jazzy vamp as the cello soloist emerges from the wings, like a variety show guest.

CD Reviews

Banana / Dump Truck CD review

BobH | Boston, MA | 06/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although we are beyond calling this experimental music, the compositions here combine approaches of rock and classical genres. The CD is categorized in the classical music section because it is delivered by classically trained musicians. This is `concert' music, but, don't expect your typical classical music or modern classical music. As noted in the product description it is full of popular music elements. On this CD you will find some instruments and techniques prominently used in the jazz and rock worlds and played in a manner often used in jazz-rock fusion interplay. It contains some 4 pieces (or "cuts" might be a more appropriate word) with some unique titles.

"Fusion Tune", the first track, shows the guitar in a prominent role. It is an inter-play between the cello and the guitar. Interesting in tone, sonority and color, often presented in soundscapes.

"Deal", the second track, is over 31 minutes. It contains sound effects (dog barking) and goes through various phases and emotional shifts. It is a full lengthen piece and fully exhausts the introduced ideas. The guitar leads and often overwhelms the other instruments.

In some sections it is a jazz session, while in others, it is a collision of rock jam session attributes and modern concert music.

"Banana / Dump Truck", the title track, is also 31 minutes in length. This work contains some musical theatrics and a variety of techniques. It is intense, with a variety of soundscapes and very dependant on the "down stroke" in the instrumental playing. It can be sharp, fragmented and some times jagged. It is full of dramatics, often with a sense of moving forward. At points the piece can linger and explore the sounds of a single idea.

"San Francisco", the final track, is more structured group of sounds and motives, often with heavy embellishments. It is a guitar and cello painting. At just over 6 minutes it is far shorter than the other two long pieces on this CD, but, gets to the point and finalizes its ideas more succinctly!

The CD is more than modern concert music, it is a place for improvisation and musical expansion that we don't often hear in modern classical concert music. This is one of my favorite recordings on which BMOP is performing.

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