#4318: Composer-Led Ensembles

Hear music from composers who are also performers, from the early trailblazer Philip Glass and his own ensemble, to works by Penguin Cafe, Missy Mazzoli and Victoire, Laura Jurd and Dinosaur, and Matt McBane and Build. For this New Sounds, there is an accidental exclusionary focus on composer-led ensembles in both New York and in London.

Listen to music by chamber-rock minimalists Penguin Café, led by keyboardist Arthur Jeffes, from the record, Handfuls Of Night, centered around a Greenpeace commission to write four pieces, one for each species of penguin native to Antarctica. There’s also music by Victoire, led by keyboardist Missy Mazzoli, in her suite – Vespers for a New Dark Age - for singers, chamber ensemble and electronics, setting text by contemporary poet Matthew Zapruder. Then listen to work from violinist and composer Matt McBane for Brooklyn-based instrumental band, Build, an augmented classical piano trio with bass and drums.

Then, listen to work by the London-based Mercury Prize-nominated band, Dinosaur, led by trumpeter & composer Laura Jurd. It’s from their record, Wonder Trail, and might be described as electronic-infused, sometimes spaced out, sometimes systems music-leaning muted swirls of Rhodes and trumpet, with expressive fuzzed electric bass and drums. There’s also music by the 12-member London-based vocal group, Shards, led by singer, composer and producer Kieran Brunt. It’s from their record, Find Sound, a collection of sonic paintings built of voice, synths, and percussion. Hear new music from British clarinetist, composer, producer, and bandleader Anna Meredith who blends pop, minimalism, and club music into electro-acoustic bangers on her latest record, FIBS.

Plus, music by Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw for Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member, and guitarist composer Mark Dancigers, of NOW Ensemble.

Program #4318: Composer-Led Ensembles (First aired 1/15/2020)

ARTIST: Philip Glass Ensemble
WORK: Etoile Polaire (North Star) [1:00]
RECORDING: Glass A Portrait of Philip In Twelve Parts
SOURCE: Orange Mountain Music OMM 054CD
INFO: philipglass.com

ARTIST: Penguin Café
WORK: Chinstrap [6:44]
RECORDING: Handfuls of Night
SOURCE: Erased Tapes
INFO: erasedtapes.com | penguincafe.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Missy Mazzoli & Victoire, feat. Melissa Hughes, Virginia Warnken Kelsey, Martha Cluver & Glenn Kotche
WORK: IV. Come On All You [5:35]
RECORDING: Vespers for a New Dark Age
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records - #NWAM 062
INFO: newamrecords.com

ARTIST: Build
WORK: Matt McBane: Ride [5:01]
RECORDING: Place
SOURCE: New Amsterdam 028
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.com

ARTIST: Dinosaur
WORK: Set Free [4:04]
RECORDING: Wonder Trail
SOURCE: Edition Records
INFO: dinosaurband.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Shards
WORK: Find Sound [4:26]
RECORDING: Find Sound
SOURCE: Erased Tapes
INFO: shardsvoices.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Anna Meredith
WORK: Calion [5:07]
RECORDING: FIBS
SOURCE: Moshi Moshi/Black Prince Fury 
INFO: annahmeredith.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Missy Mazzoli & Victoire
WORK: A Thousand Tongues (Lorna Dune Remix) [7:19]
RECORDING: Vespers for a New Dark Age
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records - #NWAM 062
INFO: newamrecords.com

ARTIST: Roomful of Teeth
WORK: Caroline Shaw: Partita for 8 Voices - Allemande [5:54]
RECORDING: Roomful of Teeth
SOURCE: New Amsterdam NWAM 041
INFO: roomfulofteeth.org

ARTIST: NOW Ensemble
WORK: Mark Dancigers: Burst [3:12
RECORDING: Awake
SOURCE: New Amsterdam NWAM0029
INFO: newamrecords.com