From Those Beginning Notes
Now R 630
Description
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"From those beginning notes of yearning and love" comes from the first stanza of Walt Whitman's poem, Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. In 1978, I used this phrase as a subtitle for my composition, No. 29, to distinguish it from eight other versions of the work. I used other lines from Whitman's poem for other versions as I did for the nine selections on this CD. These words, "From those beginning notes" immediately came to mind when I composed the music. I generated all the sounds for the music from a tape recording of a rehearsal on January 6, 1990. It was the first rehearsal of three musicians: Motoharu Yoshizawa, Brad Graves, and Ralph Blauvelt; the "beginning notes" of a fruitful six-month collaboration. Our improvisations became subtle and more nuanced from one week to the next, but we had a natural affinity for one another right from those beginning notes of the first rehearsal. - Ralph Blauvelt, April 2017
Motoharu Yoshizawa (1931-1998) was an influential Japanese bassist known for playing in a distinctive free jazz and improvisation style, sometimes deploying electronics and the unusual self-designed five-string bass he called the "Tiritack." While on fellowship in 1989-90, Moto performed with many of the leading free jazz improvisers in New York City including Brad and Ralph.
Bradford Graves (1939-1998) was a sculptor and a musician. In 1980, Brad, Ralph and Janice Vilardo formed the music and dance improvisation ensemble VORTEX and performed in the New York metropolitan area for over ten years. As a sculptor, Brad participated in many solo and group exhibitions and received numerous grants, awards, and critical recognition for his distinctive stone sculptures.
Ralph Blauvelt is a musician/composer. Blauvelt's compositions range in style from traditional to experimental forms and the open forms of free improvisation. With VORTEX, he produced two LP recordings on the Soundscape Presents label, "C Album" (1984), and "Danube Album" (1987). Since 2004, Ralph has produced eighteen CDs of his music and published two books, "From Notation to Music" (2007), and "Music Album" (2014) that describe the evolution of his music.
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