TT 69: Leon Fleisher, Harmony, more Quarantine Projects
Coming up: A concert for paid subscribers of Transitional Technology. I’ll be taking requests in real time. I’ll confirm details on Monday; this will be the first time I am sending out a Substack letter to paid subscribers only.
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RIP concert pianist Leon Fleisher. I wrote about his classic performances of Grieg and Schumann with George Szell.
There’s been some “theory wars” about classical music on Twitter, and I couldn’t help but use the discourse to once again make the case for jazz.
I also have signal-boosted some friends and associates doing good works on DTM, here’s a copy/paste. Tune in to the Turnpike in 120 minutes…
Tonight at 8 PM (EST) I’m going to check out Malaby / Hébert / Mintz: The Under Turnpike Trio at Arts for Art. Tony Malaby’s blurb is inspiring:
In 2016, Billy Mintz, Hill Greene, and I were supposed to play one of AFA’s InGardens sets but were cancelled because of noise complaints. On our way home to New Jersey, Billy and I played two long and fulfilling sets under the turnpike. When the pandemic started we talked about meeting there and hitting as soon as things calmed down a bit. One afternoon, John Hébert called with that desperation to hit and play music so we organized the first Under the Turnpike session and have met there since. The noise of traffic from the turnpike above and skateboarders’ crashing boards has become part of our sound. I’m so happy to have this place close by and share it with two of my oldest friends. – Tony Malaby
As any serious DTM reader knows, Scott Wollschleger is one of my favorite “new” composers, and I’m very happy that Steve Smith featured Scott and pianist Karl Larson for the post “Double Vision” at Night After Night. The substantial interview is a goldmine, and of course the music (which sees YouTube release thanks to quarantine conditions) is wonderful.
Matthew Guerrieri has been meditating on Bach (among other things), joking, “I have been doing my part to uphold the classical-music hegemony by practicing Johann Sebastian Bach under lockdown—practically a cliché at this point, but when has that ever stopped me before?” The whole post is delightful.
My quarantine “Carolina Shout” is up on YouTube, I’m pretty pleased with it. Among the props is a David Nyvall sculpture on loan from Daniel Pinkwater. If you dig, don’t be afraid to like and comment “for the algorithm.”
Oh, and “All the Things You Are” anagrams as “Reheating a Holy Lust.” (Just thought you should know that.)