Customer Reviews

Music for the Gift

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i've had the time to really dig into this cd and i am still amazed at these early experiments.Most of them are done from recordings made by a mid sixties Chet Baker (!) and his group. And Riley then starts messing around with these recordings sending Baker to a whole different plateau. There are other tracks which are equally interesting and more in the nature of later works. Overall, a one-of-a-kind experience.Recommended to searchers of original avant, recording experimentation and jazz.

"Mescalin Mix" (1960-1962) and "Bird of Paradise" (1965) are both tape collage/assemblage/manipulation pieces firmly rooted in the conceptual traditions of Musique Concrète but pushed in new directions due to conscious decisions on Riley's part. For "Mescalin Mix," rather than just simply assembling gathered sounds, Riley had a plan for the sounds he desired--whether it be a girl's laughter or a blues piano riff (which he would play himself). When it came time to cut tape though the lengths were estimated using crude measuring techniques which retained a sense of arbitrariness in the piece. Another noteworthy technique used was the hand-manipulation of tape speed which Riley found interesting when used on spoken words. "Bird of Paradise" differs in that it plays with some pre-existing recorded (commercial?--I couldn't make out any specifics) music which makes it seem more rhythmic (initially at least, compared to "Mescalin Mix") and immediately brings to mind contemporary sampling (plunderphonics, mashups...). In addition to the occasional audible splice, both pieces suffer from the to-be-expected degradation/noise that is customary to several generations of tape manipulations (cutting, copying, looping, etc.) on, Riley's admittedly, low-tech equipment. Riley credits these experimental textures, the inherent low-fi nature of the piece and his tactile approach to cutting and measuring in giving Mescalin Mix a more "folk art," even relaxing, dreamy quality rather than the sterile, mechanical studio work one might expect.

The highlight on this CD though is "Music for the Gift" (1963). It seems that a bit of luck, timing and serendipity made possible the collaboration between Riley, Chet Baker and a playwright named Ken Dewey. At a La Monte Young suggestion, Dewey tracked down Riley which in this instance happened to be in Paris 1963. A chance meeting between Riley and Baker in a poolhall the same week set the stage for the project. Dewey had been commissioned to present a program at the Theater of Nations; Baker had recently returned to Paris after being detained in an Italian Jail and was looking for "work"--Riley made the introductions and Dewey was able to convince Baker to come on board. "The Gift" ended up being a highly improvisational piece featuring both actors, dancers and a live band performing along with a pre-recorded "soundtrack." "Music for the Gift" is the recorded music that was used for the performances in July 1963. Riley recorded the musicians (featuring Baker on trumpet along with Luis Fuentes on trombone, George Solano on drums and Luigi Trussardi on bass) in both a group setting as well as individually having them improvise solos in both instances. After mixing, cutting and re-orchestrating the recordings, Riley described to the engineer what he had done (and tried to do) on "Mescalin Mix" and asked him for essentially a "long, repeated loop"--what they came up with was the formulation of an "accumulation technique" utilizing a tape looped between two tape recorders which enabled them to play with feedback and tape delay and made it possible to fragment, attenuate and return time. "Music for the Gift" is divided into 5 parts on the CD (roughly 20 min. total), beginning with a lean three piece (trumpet, bass, drums) blues number and building to include all performers (including the repetitive usage of a vocal sample by one of the show's dancers) all the while varying the feedback effect range from non-existant (a single sound image, the band as recorded) to a heavily effected "dense chaotic kind of sound." The result has a hypnotic, euphoric feel which, for me at least, seems as much akin to "electric" Miles and DJ Krush's first album as it does to Riley's minimalist classical milestones that are just around the corner. The performance in '63 sounds like it would have been an experience as "Music for the Gift" and the live performers were mixed live for the shows (in addition, there was a prop tape recorder playing some of the recorded pieces which players could stop/start). Riley admits to becoming obsessed with "time-lag accumulation feed-back" after this experience. A treat to hear Riley work within this jazz framework.

The final piece on the CD is "Two Pianos and Five Tape Recorders" (1961) which features Riley on piano and tape assemblage and La Monte Young on piano. A noisy, discordant exercise whose thunder is stolen by a humorous play-by-play commentary from announcer Glen Glasow who can't quite seem to determine when the actual piece has begun. I wouldn't say an essential track for insight into Riley, Young or The Theatre of Eternal Music/Dream Syndicate but a mildly entertaining track nonetheless.

Overall, a very nice collection of early Riley work (albeit a bit of a departure from the minimalist classical most know him for) especially the Mescalin Mix/Music for the Gift pairing. The liner notes include an interview with Riley from 1995 (as well as some Bruce Conner artwork) where he reflects on the impact the "Gift" had on him, inspiring him to conceptualize larger, grander pieces for many instruments utilizing these new techniques and rooted in modal jazz. Although this was ultimately abandoned, shortly after the idea for "In C" "came as an inspiration." Seems as though whatever way Riley was choosing to occupy his thoughts paid off.

This review is of the organ of Corti 2000 CD release.