Search - John Cage, Paul Dresher, Orlando Garcia :: State of the Bass

A Sampling of Contemporary Bass Music

Jeremy Baguyos | Alexandria, VA United States | 03/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the double bass continues to break away from its exclusive role as an accompanying instrument to that of a solo instrument, several strains of solo/chamber bass playing continue to emerge, evolve, and entrench themselves into mainstream musical consciousness: solo classical, jazz bass, crossover Bluegrass, early music, and contemporary classical. Though most bassists try to avoid the category trap, Robert Black has established himself in the category of contemporary art music. Part of his success in this specialized niche carved out initially by Bertram Turetzky and others, has been his use of electronics. State of the Bass showcases this type of electro acoustic work "Two in the Hand" lives up to Black's reputation through the marriage of double bass improvisations with real-time manipulations of the improvisations through digital delay controlled by a computer with software programmed in MAX. "Composed Improvisations for Steinberger Bass Guitar and Snare Drum" by John Cage is what you would expect from a Cage piece. The philosophy and process supercede the sound of the music, and its inclusion on the CD tags the recording as avante-garde for those of us who need a genre classification. "Radio Sonata" by James Sellars along with "Big and Cheap" by Amy Knoles and Robert Black are the more mainstream and accessible, but contemporary works of artistic substance. The lively rhythms are sure to captivate. "Mirrors" by Paul Dresher is for the electric bass jocks who like to read guitar magazines. The composition is original (Try to think of "Portrait of Tracy" on uppers) and the performance is an example of electronic virtuosity. The "Piece No. 1" by Orlando Jacinto Garcia will rattle appliances and loosen wall fixtures. Make sure you have speakers that can handle the low end!"