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Liner notes by Brandon Evans [→ CD Reviews]
In the Summer of 1993 I moved to Middletown, Connecticut to study music with Anthony Braxton. When I arrived at Wesleyan, nearly all of the students were gone and the school was close to vacant, it being vacation time. There were a few folks there, hiding away, doing their respective work. At the age of 20, I was a bold individual who would take to practicing outdoors frequently. One day I was playing tenor out on the football field, and later, in an alcove area in the Center for the Arts (where later I ended up realizing that I was disturbing a bee hive!)
That day, while playing in the alcove area, a man appeared before me, and stood patiently while I winded down my timbre. This man was Roland Dahinden, the virtuoso trombonist from Switzerland. We began to talk, and realized we had much in common as far as our musical interests and goals. Roland introduced me to his wife, Hildegard Kleeb, the virtuoso pianist from Switzerland, and they greeted and welcomed me to Wesleyan with a warm and sincere feeling. This was the beginning of a new time period for me, in which I would embark on a long course of continued music study which would open up my mind to a vast world of dynamic music, musicians, thinkers, and artists who I would encounter and work with, or whose work I would experience in the greater sphere of Wesleyan, and later, New York City.
Roland and Hildegard were (and remain so) very important to me, in many ways. Their tremendous support of my work in composition and performance would allow me to push my work forward in areas of extended notated compositions, integrating detailed graphic notation for specific instrumentations and target sources. I began writing several pieces for solo piano for Hildegard, and she was gracious to read through and give me feedback from a virtuoso's perspective.
Several of these solo piano works are performed here, within the collage state of sound created by this magnificent quartet, and quintet (with special guest Andre Vida on track 2, 'pinnacles'.)
If you don't know who Hildegard Kleeb is, then you have not begun to deal with the depth of an artist whose sense of space, whose conception of time and tone are elevating and compelling on so many levels. Hildegard Kleeb is a master interpreter of contemporary music for piano, having worked with John Cage, Morton Feldman, Anthony Braxton, Maria de Alvear, Peter Hansen, Hauke Harder, Chris Newman, Pauline Oliveros, Lars Sandberg, Heinz Weber, Daniel Wolf and Christian Wolf, and others. Hildegard is an amazing improvisor with notated structure. Her contribution to this performance is greatly appreciciated.
Among the people I met who inspired me is Andre Vida, a saxophonist and composer whose work has always been an inspiration, and we have had the chance over the years to collaborate and document a body of compositions from works for duo to large ensemble works with vocalists, actors, mimes, and poets. This recording marks the first performance we did together outside of Mr. Braxton's ensemble.
This would be the beginning of a fruitful creative friendship.
Also inspiring is the work of Joe Fonda and Eric Rosenthal, respectively. Here they shine creatively and dynamically as a brilliant team. Rosenthal keeps the time straight while Fonda fleshes out the dynamic intervals of numerous solo bass compositions I gave him for the concert. A Special thanks to the musicians who played on this recording. You were all an inspiration to me.
Liner Notes | CD Reviews
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Bruce Lee Gallanter for Downtown Music Gallery (New Releases 6/14/2002)
Featuring Brandon on tenor sax, bass clarinet & shenai, Hildegard Kleeb on piano, Andre Vida on soprano sax, Joe Fonda on bass and Eric Rosenthal on drums. Brandon claims that he recently found this mysterious recording of his early quartet in a box in his closet and was amazed at how well it stands up and has decided to release it on his own Parallactic label. Great for us! Brandon was studying with visionary composer Anthony Braxton at the time and would soon be collaborating with Mr. Braxton on various projects through the years. Brandon is joined by the marvelous modern classical pianist Hildegard Kleeb who is known as specialist in the works of Morton Feldman, John Cage and Braxton as well, plus another former Braxton student Andre Vida and the fine contrabassist - Joe Fonda (also a Braxton collaborator). 'Live at Wesleyan 1994' features two long and winding works which show that Brandon was both adventurous and focused right from the beginning of his music making journey, blending his swirling double reed with bowed bass, serious avant classical piano and crafty percussion. A challenging odyssey throughout the hills and valleys of modern music making.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright © 2006 Downtown Music Gallery and Bruce Lee Gallanter.
Liner Notes | CD Reviews
All reviews written by Bruce Lee Gallanter:
- Roland Dahinden: Naima
- Nu Band: Live at the Bop Shop, Rochester, NY
- Nu Band: The Nu Band Live
- Michael Musillami Trio: Dachau
- Kevin Norton: For Guy Debord (In Nine Events)
- Kevin Norton: Knots
- Joe Fonda: From The Source
- Fonda/Stevens Group: Forever Real
- Fonda/Stevens Group: Evolution
- Fonda/Stevens Group: Live at Alte Paketpost
- FAB: Live at Iron Works, Vancouver, BC
- Conference Call: Variations On A Master Plan
- Conference Call: Live at the Outpost
- Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 3
- Anthony Braxton: Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997, Vol. 1
- Anthony Braxton: Four Compositions (Washington, D.C.) 1998
- Joe Fonda's Bottoms Out: Loaded Basses
- Walter Thompson Orchestra: The Colonel
- Brandon Evans Youth Quartet: Live at Wesleyan 1994
- Angelini-Fonda-Lopez: Silent Cascade
- ZMF Trio: Circle the Path
- Fonda/Stevens Group: Trio (Live at Alchemia, Krakow, Poland, April 2006)
- Michael Musillami Trio w/ Mark Feldman: The Treatment
- The Nu Band: The Dope and The Ghost (Live in Vienna)
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