Listen to Sharing a Sonority feat Charlemagne Palestine, Tony Conrad & Rhys Chatham

Listen & Buy.

By Marc Moeller for Other Music:

This fourth volume of Alga Marghen's "Golden" series of archival material by Charlemagne Palestine presents rare documentation of the pianist in collaboration with fellow travelers. The opening piece, "Short and Sweet," is descriptively titled, and Palestine's sparse, melodic piano playing is like a precursor to the style best exemplified by Harold Budd. The track is the only recorded evidence of a series of regular meetings Palestine had with saxophonist Terry Jennings while at CalArts in the seventies. "Electronic and Flute" feels like an exercise in withholding; the pace is sluggish, with Palestine and flautist Robert Feldman coming across as intent on merely laying out a sound palette, which consists of sparse flute punctuated by electronic squiggles. It would be great if a future volume unearths a long form piece by the duo, as this feels more like a sketch. The real gem of this set, however, is the 32-minute "Db," the only recorded section of an all-afternoon concert from 1974 by Palestine, Tony Conrad and Rhys Chatham. Palestine is on vocals throughout much of the piece, wailing away in his inimitable devotional style, possibly fueled by an inhuman amount of Cognac. Having recently heard Conrad apply his violin drone to a number of situations involving contemporary underlings, it's refreshing to hear him matched with an equal talent. I'm not sure exactly what "The Rhyster" is up to here, but he's certainly not standing out in a negative sense. Palestine's notes in the CD version mention him playing flute and experimenting with the Buchla synthesizer some five years prior, though I can't particularly detect either sound here. These three are on the same wavelength, despite having never played as a trio before or since this date. This stunning track alone ensures that the set is worth obtaining. It's a good thing La Monte Young wasn't around that night, or we may have had to wait even longer to hear this unique piece of music history.

Tony Conrad has played Soundlab a zillion times. Click on the tag below to find out when. Chatham performed at Soundlab with his minimalist death metal project Essentialist on 09/15/06. On 02/01/07, he assembled a group of Buffalo musicians to realize his seminal no wave-minimalist piece Guitar Trio. Read Chatham's account of the show.