#4608, Chamber-Pop Song Cycles

 Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Eliza Bagg, Attacca Quartet at Big Ears Festival, 2022

Hear new song cycles on the border of pop music & art music by Gabriel Kahane, Elizabeth & the Catapult, and Ellis Ludwig-Leone of San Fermin, recorded at Big Ears Festival 2022.

Listen to a new chamber-pop song cycle by classically trained composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone (San Fermin), with vocalist Eliza Bagg (Lisel) and strings by Attacca Quartet. False We Hope is a cycle of songs set to imagistic text by Karen Russell, who wrote the novel Swamplandia!—and the poet Carey McHugh. Ellis Ludwig-Leone  presents some of these new songs, recorded live at the 2022 Big Ears Festival from the First Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN.

Then, hear songs by Gabriel Kahane from his latest new song cycle Magnificent Bird, and the year-long internet hiatus that inspired it. The subject matter has some overlap with his last musical project, the ten-song musical travelogue 8980: Book of Travelers, in considering what it means to be an American. Gabriel Kahane plays live in The Greene Space on April 7 at 7PM.

Plus, there's music from a 2017 gathering of chamber-pop players: the New York outfit NOW Ensemble and the band San Fermin, as led by Ellis Ludwig-Leone, from a New Sounds Live concert at Merkin Hall. And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4608, Chamber-Pop Song Cycles (First aired 4/5/22)

ARTIST: NOW Ensemble & San Fermin
WORK: Ludwig-Leone: Open (San Fermin) [1:37]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live/Ecstatic Music at Merkin Hall, 1/25/17
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: nowensemble.com | sanferminband.com

ARTIST: Gabriel Kahane
WORK: Jason [3:34]
RECORDING: 8980: Book of Travelers
SOURCE: Zeitgeist Roughs, not part of the commercial release
INFO: https://gabrielkahane.bandcamp.com/album/book-of-travelers

ARTIST: Gabriel Kahane
WORK: We Are the Saints [3:15]
RECORDING: Magnificent Bird
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://gabrielkahane.bandcamp.com/album/magnificent-bird

ARTIST: Gabriel Kahane
WORK: To Be American [2:57]
RECORDING: Magnificent Bird
SOURCE: Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://gabrielkahane.bandcamp.com/album/magnificent-bird

ARTIST: Elizabeth & the Catapult
WORK: The Other Side of Zero [4:59]
RECORDING: The Other Side of Zero
SOURCE: Verve Forecast B0014836
INFO: Available at Amazon.com and AppleMusic

ARTIST: Elizabeth & the Catapult
WORK: Do Not Hang Your Head [4:57]
RECORDING: The Other Side of Zero
SOURCE: Verve Forecast B0014836
INFO: Available at Amazon.com and AppleMusic

ARTIST: Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Eliza Bagg, Attacca Quartet
WORK: Ellis Ludwig-Leone: False We Hope [2:57]
RECORDING: Live at Big Ears Festival, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: ellisludwigleone.com | Big Ears Festival

ARTIST: Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Eliza Bagg, Attacca Quartet
WORK: Ellis Ludwig-Leone: How to Resurrect a Loved One's Voice [3:24]
RECORDING: Live at Big Ears Festival, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: ellisludwigleone.com | Big Ears Festival

ARTIST: Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Eliza Bagg, Attacca Quartet
WORK: Ellis Ludwig-Leone: Welcome Home [2:38]
RECORDING: Live at Big Ears Festival, 2022
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: ellisludwigleone.com | Big Ears Festival

ARTIST: NOW Ensemble & San Fermin
WORK: Ludwig-Leone: Open (San Fermin) [4:37]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live/Ecstatic Music at Merkin Hall, 1/25/17
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: nowensemble.com | sanferminband.com

ARTIST: NOW Ensemble & San Fermin
WORK: Ludwig-Leone: Daedalus (San Fermin) [2:17]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live/Ecstatic Music at Merkin Hall, 1/25/17
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: nowensemble.com | sanferminband.com