#4680, New Music From Detroit
There’s music from Detroit, with echoes of both Motown and techno, in work arranged for a chamber band by Detroit-based Carl Craig, pulse-driven music by Chicago-based composer Marc Mellits, Detroit-raised Randall Woolf, and experimental pop from My Brightest Diamond.
Hear music by influential Detroit-based DJ and producer Carl Craig, the techno pioneer, whose tracks and remixes have become contemporary dance floor staples as well as adaptable material for classical musicians. We’ll hear his minimalist ambient techno in an arrangement performed by French ensemble Les Siècles, founded and led by François-Xavier Roth, and featuring Barcelona pianist Francesco Tristano.
Hear music by Detroit-raised American composer Randall Woolf, his “Motor City Requiem”, an elegy to 1960s Detroit, before the 1967 riot, (also known as the 12th Street Riot or Detroit Rebellion (Wikipedia)). In the work, Woolf wistfully highlights that decade’s soul and R&B songs, in fragmented echoes on piano and strings, as played by Milwaukee’s new music ensemble, Present Music. Then, there’s music from My Brightest Diamond (Shara Nova)'s 2014 record This is My Hand, hear "Resonance," a percussively driven experimental pop tune featuring the Detroit Party Marching Band. Also, from pianist, composer, and educator Vijay Iyer, and a versatile trio involving bassist Stefan Crump and the drummer Marcus Gilmore, listen to “Hood”, a tribute to Detroit techno pioneer/producer Robert Hood.
Plus, there’s work by Chicago-based composer and educator Marc Mellits, and his collaboration with New Music Detroit, a flexible collective of musicians dedicated to playing new and adventurous music since 2006. Listen to Mellits’ piece, “Prime”, which has shots of repetitive and motoric rhythms not unlike a thumping four-to-the-floor techno beat. And more. – Caryn Havlik
Program #4680, New Music From Detroit (First aired 11/03/2022)
ARTIST: Carl Craig
WORK: Sandstorms [1:18]
RECORDING: Just Another Day (2004)
SOURCE: Planet E Communications PE652773
INFO: carlcraig.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Present Music/Kevin Stallheim
WORK: Randall Woolf: Motor City Requiem [9:36]
RECORDING:GRAFFITI
SOURCE: Innova 729
INFO: innova.mu
ARTIST: My Brightest Diamond with Detroit Party Marching Band
WORK: Resonance [4:24]
RECORDING: This is My Hand
SOURCE: Asthmatic Kitty
INFO: mybrightestdiamond.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Carl Craig, feat. Francesco Tristano, Les Siècles & François-Xavier Roth
WORK: Sandstorms [6:26]
RECORDING: Versus
SOURCE: InFiné Music
INFO: smarturl.it/versus-itunes | infine-rec.bandcamp.com/album/versus
ARTIST: Peter Gregson / Gabriel Prokofiev
WORK: Cello Multi-tracks: Detroit Spin (Heavy Deviance remix) [5:28]
RECORDING: Cello Multitracks
SOURCE: nonclassical
INFO: gabrielprokofiev.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Vijay Iyer, Stefan Crump, Marcus Gilmore
WORK: Hood [6:10]
RECORDING: Break Stuff
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: ecmrecords.com
ARTIST: New Music Detroit
WORK: Marc Mellits: Prime [11:06]
RECORDING: Smoke
SOURCE: Innova 1004
INFO: newmusicdetroit.com | innova.mu
