hey mike,

i just got done reading your interview with tim cole from basssource.com, and i was erading that you have a current project of playing with justin king! do you have any more info on that? justin king is one of my favorite guitarists, and i bet it just sounds out of this world with you playing with him (i don't know who those other guys are though...)
anyways, can you give anymore information on that project?

Charlie

Wow, thanks for the link to the article, Superbassman.

Hey Michael, I didn't realize how much you are into 20th century classical music. I actually work at the same college that David Cope (composer, modern classical historian, author) does. Not too far away from you, at UCSC in Santa Cruz. He is amazing. For 20 years he's been working on computer programs that artificially produce new pieces based on existing ones--avant garde stuff, really. His Bach experiments are eerie they're so spot on.

Glad to see that Berg is on your list. His Violin Concerto is one of my favorite pieces. You know, I've always thought that his blend of the 12 tone technique with traditional harmonic elements made him the most sophisticated of the New Viennese School. I love Schoenberg for his early work, and Webern is the dark horse with his total serialism, but Berg is just so special. I've actually been studying his Lyric Suite lately. (But I keep returning to the woodwind orchestration on Stravinsky's Rite of Spring--it's stunning)

Ligeti is up there, too! Do you like the postwar Polish movement at all? Early Penderecki is chock full of interesting ideas, sound mass, texture experiments. I've often thought it would be fun to record Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima or Polymorphia using all fretless basses, but there would need to be 52 players, and I don't think that's going to happen.

I'm a little ashamed...I spend more time composing and studying classical than I do playing bass. My bass skills have taken such a dive over the last ten years. :hmm:

While I was studying History of Music at school I made the mistake of listening to "Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima" late one night when I was alone in the house.

SPOOKY! TENSE! DIFFICULT!

:D

The project with Justin was a lot of fun, Charlie. It’s a collaboration between the two of us, a Dutch guitarist named Carlos Vamos and Justin’s regular drummer/percussionist James West. I’m not sure how to describe the music -- maybe experimental, instrumental pop? Justin said the mixes are done, but I haven’t heard them yet.

Glad to know you’re into Contemporary Music, Widener. I agree -- Berg rules! A lot of my friends prefer Webern, and while I very much enjoy his work too, like you, I find Berg’s marriage of serialism and extended tonality (post-tonality?) really intriguing. Lyric Suite is the bomb. And as for Stavinsky, I agree Rite of Spring is pretty freakin‘ amazing. I'd say it's probably the watershed musical work of the 20th Century (although I have a special fondness for Partch's Delusion of the Fury). I’m sorry to say I’m not as up on my Penderecki as I should be, but I’m definitely a fan. I’ve heard the Threnody and it is pretty scary!

It’s great that you know David Cope. I’ve read about his work but never heard any of it. Would you be up for describing his Artificial Musical Intelligence ideas a bit more? I wonder if folks here might be interested to hear about it. Maybe in the “Bass Dodo” thread?

cool...i really can't wait for the cd! just the idea of you playing with justin king blows my mind!
when can i preorder? :D

any updates you can give on this cd?
maybe a release date?

Sorry, superbassman200, no news yet. I'll let you know when I hear something.

i hate to bother you, but any news? :)

It’s great that you know David Cope. I’ve read about his work but never heard any of it. Would you be up for describing his Artificial Musical Intelligence ideas a bit more? I wonder if folks here might be interested to hear about it. Maybe in the “Bass Dodo” thread?

+1