Jon Balke
I just purchased two albums of the group Batagraf, which Jon Balke is the leader. It is called a percussion group and fuses percussion, vocal and electronics. Nice stuff. Batagraf on Presto Music
Modern Music
Greece finally pays tribute to Iannis Xenakis
Greece finally pays tribute to Iannis Xenakis (The Guardian 01/28/2024) “Few cultural figures were as important in the second half of the century,” said Katerina Gregos, the artistic director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens (EMST). “Xenakis was not just a polymath, a visionary, a true cosmopolitan, he was a mathematician, civil … [Read more…]
Out of Bounds: Japanese Women Artists in Fluxus
A review of a Fluxus retrospective from the New York Times. Through Jan. 21 at Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, Manhattan https://www.japansociety.org/arts-and-culture/exhibitions/kazuko-miyamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto Dies at 71
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar-Winning Japanese Composer, Dies at 71 in the New York Times. The Guardian carries a tribute here.
Keith Reid, Who Brought Poetry to Procol Harum, Dies at 76
Keith Reid, Who Brought Poetry to Procol Harum, Dies at 76 He did not perform with the group, but his impressionistic words made it one of the leading acts of the progressive-rock era.
Fuzzy Haskins, Who Helped Turn Doo-Wop Into P-Funk, Dies at 81
Fuzzy Haskins, Who Helped Turn Doo-Wop Into P-Funk, Dies at 81 [NY Times requires a subscription] As a teenager, he joined forces with George Clinton. Their vocal group, the Parliaments, morphed into Parliament-Funkadelic, one of the wildest acts of the 1970s.
Angelo Badalamenti, Is Dead at 85
Angelo Badalamenti, Composer for ‘Twin Peaks,’ Is Dead at 85
Judith Davidoff, Master of Long-Dormant Instruments, Dies at 94
A NYT obituary on Judith Davidoff, Master of Long-Dormant Instruments. A master of the viola da gamba and other stringed instruments, she was a central part of the early-music scene. By Neil Genzlinger Jan. 6, 2022 “She toured all over the world looking for instruments to play,” Ms. Terry, a past president of the Viola … [Read more…]
how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956
‘He touched a nerve’: how the first piece of AI music was born in 1956 Long before Auto-Tune and deepfake compositions, university professor Lejaren Hiller premiered a concert recital composed by a computer and became an overnight celebrity The Guardian Electronic music Jeff Gage Tue 7 Dec 2021 Illiac Suite
Modern Times Playlist
Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times On Saturday nights between 10 and 12 P.M., on KDFC radio (and www.kdfc.com), Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times, his curation of modern “classical” music. I’ve been logging the titles played over the course of the last 18 months and present them here as a “Playlist” one can use to explore … [Read more…]