Search - Alex De Grassi, G.E. Stinson :: Shortwave Postcard

De Grassi plays John Cage

John Lasseter | Fairfield, CT | 07/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whether I like this recording isn't useful for anyone reading this review. Besides, I'm still giving it time to grow on me. So rather than try a useless value judgement, I'll just tell you that if you are a fan of de Grassi's music (as I am), this recording is unlike anything else he's recorded.



The disc is a collection of avant garde improvisations, mostly without tonal, harmonic, or rhythmic center. Although interesting, it is not easy music. I cannot imagine experiencing this recording as either the background music you ignore (as represented on all de Grassi's ensemble recordings) or as the sublime beauty experienced by listening closely to his solo guitar work.



It puts me more in mind of Cage's later piano works, after he'd shifted from being a composer to an observer of passing sounds. Slightly more structured and approachable, but not by much. It also reminds me of some of the collaborative work between Marc Ribot and John Zorn, although it lacks the in-your-face grating character of Ribot & Zorn's work."