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NW 80767CD
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"Part of what sets Anthony Coleman's (b. 1955) music apart from that of his contemporaries is the intensely focused intellectual force with which he pushes against the sybaritic outward-moving impulse and compresses multiple vocabularies around a core poetic. Though compressed, the vocabularies do not merge or blend, they fray at the edges where the play of opposing forces is most intense, and languages contaminate and confuse each other. However spacious, thin, desultory the texture may sometimes pretend to be, it is this dialectic that gives his music its peculiar density, a gravitas riddled with horror and hilarity, a vertigo of language. The six works on this recording -- anchored by two solo piano works, Oogenera (2013) and Metonymies of Pastness (2013), played by the composer himself -- evince the complex aesthetic concerns that inform his singular output and offer a rich portrait of one of the most versatile musicians of our time."
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TZ 7631
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"One of the greatest, and perhaps the very first composer in jazz history, Jelly Roll Morton was a charismatic and influential figure that helped define jazz music in its critical early years. Combining ragtime, Latin inflections and more, his music is complex and strikingly original. Anthony Coleman approaches these pieces with a modern composer's ear, bringing out melodic, rhythmic and harmonic nuances that give them an exciting fresh new edge. Five years in the making, this is a classic recital of essential music from the early 20th century by a brilliant modern composer/pianist who feels the music with a deep and profound passion."
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NW 80593CD
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"The music of Anthony Coleman (b. 1955) draws from so many varied, disparate, and even contradictory sources, yet still emerges with a distinctly singular and consistent voice. Listening to any of the five works on this CD -- 'Lapidation' (2002), 'East Orange' (2007), 'I Diet On Cod' (2007), 'Mise En Abîme' (1997), 'The King Of Kabay' (1988) -- is to enter into a particular world, highly specific in material but nearly hallucinatory in formal development. The music starts, becomes linear, suspends, goes vertical, goes backward, goes forward, produces vague memories, and ends. This recording is a compelling portrait of one of the most original, literate, and versatile musicians working today. As one might imagine would be the case with a composer who has spent many years working in many improvising bands as both a leader and side person, there is a strong element of collaboration in Coleman's music. Several musicians on this recording (most notably Doug Wieselman, Marty Ehrlich, Jim Pugliese, and Joseph Kubera) have worked with him for several decades and the individual "sounds" of each of these outstanding musicians have contributed to his palette and voice. This is, in many ways, very similar to the way Ellington (a primary influence) worked with and was shaped by members of his band. In looking at the scores of Coleman's music (all of which are clearly and fully notated) one can hear the transformation on the recording of the written music into the living sound. The effect of the individual musicians who play his music is palpable and an essential part of each of these compositions."
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TZ 8024
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"One of the mainstays of the New York avant-garde since 1978, Anthony Coleman has worked with every major name in the downtown scene and more. A brilliant player, composer and critical thinker, his projects are some of the most consistently interesting and radical around. Long overdue, this CD of classically-based chamber works sheds new light on this misunderstood musical master, and contains intimate solo pieces and large ensemble compositions that will stimulate, delight and confuse even the most experienced listener."
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