#3039: Beyond Orchestral Works

Shred-classical might be one way of describing Daniel Bjarnason’s music as heard on his release, “Processions.”  Besides that, it's lyrical and plaintive as well as bombastic and technical, culminating in “beautiful chaos” (popmatters.com.)  On this New Sounds, we’ll sample from some of these grand orchestral creations by Bjarnason, along with some other music from Alarm Will Sound.

Plus, we’ll hear from a collaborative record, “Absolute Zawinul,” between Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble and Joe Zawinul, who worked with Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderly, in addition to his own band Weather Report.  The results are something like multi-traditional groove with orchestral instruments, like strings and flute, yet drum kit, thumb piano and gumbri (Moroccan bass lute) are also worked into the overall texture. While not retreading and re-working old Weather Report tunes, this first realization of some of Zawinul’s compositions and improvisations might just fall in that hard-to-label place between jazz, rock, trance, and classical.

PROGRAM # 3039, Beyond Orchestral Works (First aired on Tues., 02/16/10)