#4749, With Bill Orcutt
Guitarist, composer, and improviser Bill Orcutt uses only four strings of the guitar to shape his lyrical, stabby, and pattern-leaning compositions. He talks about technique, tunings, and musical systems in this interview recorded from the 2023 Big Ears Festival.
Orcutt is an inveterate collaborator, known best for his remarkable duo with drummer Chris Corsano, but also working with musicians like cellist Okkyung Lee and fellow guitarists Michael Morley and Bill Nace. His Music for Four Guitars, was conceived as a work for other musicians, although he recorded all the parts himself. When it came time to put together the live quartet, the music was transcribed by Shane Parish, and Orcutt organized the ensemble forces of versatile guitarists Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza, and Parish – who performed at Big Ears, and are currently touring, (Big Ears Festival.)
Listen to some of Bill Orcutt's jumpy stabbing phrases as he skips strings and the way he manipulates repetition and slow-moving shifts in a minimalist fashion from his electric recording, Music for Four Guitars, and some of his primal blues-leaning music from his acoustic record, Jump On It for this New Sounds. Also, Orcutt cites his use of hammer-ons and non-standard tunings, amongst other techniques, as he describes how he built the confidence to play solo, and express himself without a band.
Plus, listen to “American Primitive” guitar hero John Fahey, Welsh guitar wizard Gwenifer Raymond, and crafty electric looping soundscapes by Robert Fripp, to round out the show. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4749, With Bill Orcutt (First aired 5/9/23)
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt Quartet
WORK: Music for Four Guitars [1:04]
RECORDING: Live at Big Ears
SOURCE: John Schaefer's phone
INFO: https://bigearsfestival.org/event/bill-orcutt/
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Only at dusk [2:50]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Two Things Close Together [2:31]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Seen from above [2:04]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Or from behind [2:00]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Or head on [1:53]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: What do you do with Memory [3:02]
RECORDING: Jump On It
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: https://billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/jump-on-it-2
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Jump On It [3:00]
RECORDING: Jump On It
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: https://billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/jump-on-it-2
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: A Natural Death [3:07]
RECORDING: Jump On It
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: https://billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/jump-on-it-2
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: Music That Fights Back [2:31]
RECORDING: Jump On It
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: https://billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/jump-on-it-2
ARTIST: Bill Orcutt
WORK: In The Rain [1:57]
RECORDING: Music For Four Guitars
SOURCE: Palilalia Records
INFO: billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-four-guitars
ARTIST: John Fahey
WORK: The Assassination of Stephan [sic] Grossman [2:12]
RECORDING: The Best of John Fahey 2 1964-1983
SOURCE: Takoma /Fantasy 8916
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube
ARTIST: Gwenifer Raymond
WORK: Requiem for John Fahey 1 [3:04]
RECORDING: You Were Never Much of a Dancer
SOURCE: Tompkins Square
INFO: gweniferraymond.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
WORK: Evening Star [3:00]
RECORDING: Evening Star
SOURCE: Opal / DGM 0516
INFO: dgmlive.com OR enoshop.co.uk
