The Glass is an online webpage for giving people an opportunity to see the arts world both through my words and the words of the artists themselves. On this page I hope to also give the cross-section of audiences an opportunity to read up on artists they possibly haven’t discovered before and to give them an incentive for even greater support.
Hello,
I am a composer and would like to let you know about two brand new albums of my music on the Well-Tempered label. Both are available on iTunes or on CD via jaffe.com.
“’Cluck Old Hen’ Variations” focuses on music for strings, while “Wlidlife” combines instruments with computers.
Here’s the iTunes link and some info for “’Cluck Old Hen’ Variations:”
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cluck-old-hen-variations/id483882533?ls=1
“’Cluck Old Hen’ Variations and other works for strings” explores an expansive emotional landscape, from a jazz-inspired quintet for five basses, recorded in Moscow by the Russian National Orchestra; to a bluegrass fantasy performed in Canada by Ann Elliott-Goldschmid of the Lafayette Quartet; to a somber meditation on birdsong, from a concert of the San Francisco Symphony chamber music series at Davies Symphony Hall; to dreams of Havana, conjured by the Earplay Ensemble; and finally ending with an orchestral tone poem combining Brazilian samba with Texas fiddling, recorded by the Polish Radio and TV Orchestra of Krakow, with the horns and tubas playing the parts of Whooping Cranes.
And here’s the iTunes link and some info for “Wildlife:”
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wildlife-other-works-combining/id483888814?ls=1
“Wildlife” and other works combining computers and instruments showcases twenty-five years of do-it-yourself computer music. From the half-human/half-bird voices of Impossible Animals, which took one month of computer time to synthesize on a mainframe in the 1980s, to the state-of-the-art computer physical models of car engines and jet airplanes of Racing Against Time which combine with saxophones, piano and strings, the music explores the connections between human and machine expression, using software custom written by the composer. Several of the pieces are performed on the “Radio-drum,” originally designed as a 3-dimensional mouse at Bell Labs by Max Mathews and Bob Boie. In Terra Non Firma, the conductor leads four cellists with his right hand while performing the Radio-drum part with his left hand; in Wildlife, the Radio-drum is combined with the Zeta electronic/MIDI violin to create an interactive improvisational duo, where each player can modify the sound produced by the other, sometimes in the spirit of cooperation, other times more like sabotage. The recording features performances by Radio-drum virtuoso Andrew Schloss, renowned contemporary music violinist Karen Bentley Pollick, the “Quarks!” ensemble, and myself.
… and here’s a bit about me …
David A. Jaffe has composed over ninety works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensembles, and electronics, commissioned by ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, Chanticleer and Cello Octet Amsterdam. His musical approach carries forward the innovative spirit of American composers Henry Brant (a close personal friend and mentor), Carl Ruggles and Charles Ives. His music has been presented by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony; and in over twenty-five countries at festivals such as the Winnipeg New Music Festival, the Berlin Festival, the ISCM Warsaw Autumn Festival, the Venice Biennale and the American Festival in London. His work “Silicon Valley Breakdown” is widely regarded as a landmark of computer music, and has been acclaimed by such diverse sources as Le Monde, Newsweek, The Manchester Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine and Computer Music Journal. Jaffe received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from Stanford University in 1983. He has been a visiting professor at Princeton University, Melbourne University, Stanford University, and the University of California at San Diego. As a computer music researcher, he has been recognized by awards from the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) and the Bourges Festival, as well as by several patents. His extensive writings on technical and aesthetic issues have been published in Perspectives of New Music, Computer Music Journal, Interface, Sonograma, and Leonardo Music Journal, and in the books “The Music Machine” and “The Well-Tempered Object.” Also a mandolinist, violinist and conductor, Jaffe frequently performs his own works, as well as a variety of other genres of music, including bluegrass, salsa, and klezmer.
For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Jaffe or jaffe.com
Wasn’t sure where to write this, but just had to say: I’m finding the comments about Keating over at PD quite interesting. PD readers are all ages and all stripes when it comes to music. Some claim not to be musical at all, yet Keating’s music seems to connect with everyone (well, of course, she wouldn’t have so many followers on twitter if that weren’t the case . . .). I think this may be the first time I’ve seen that. It’s quite a thrill, actually–to help in even the smallest way to build a bridge to new music across which people are not only willing to walk, but happy to walk. A comment at PD, emblematic of what I mean and which I just love, is this: Optimist = Catharsis. Over at The Glass, of course, you are building a bridge the size of the Triboro!
Thanks for your comments again, Susan! I’m really happy that Zoe’s music reaches people in astonishing numbers, and if you or I have made that much difference for her with our postings, that makes it all the more sweeter!
And I hope my bridge grows to be more like the GWB.