Ascolta bene ciò che non ti dico.
Non lasciarti ingannare da me.
Non lasciarti ingannare dalle mie apparenze.
Perché sono solo una maschera, forse mille maschere che ho paura di togliere, anche se nessuna di esse mi rappresenta.
Do l’impressione di essere sicuro, che tutto procede a gonfie vele, dentro come fuori, di essere la fiducia in persona, di possedere la calma come una seconda natura, di essere in controllo della situazione e di non aver bisogno di nessuno.
Ma non credermi, ti prego.
Esteriormente posso apparire tranquillo, ma ciò che vedi è una maschera.
Sotto, celato, c’è il mio vero io nella confusione, nella paura, nella solitudine.
Ma lo nascondo.
Non voglio che nessuno lo sappia.
Sono preso dal panico al solo pensiero di esporlo.
Ecco perché ho costantemente bisogno di creare una maschera che mi nasconda, un’immagine pretenziosa, che mi protegga dallo sguardo che capisce.
Ma tale sguardo è precisamente la mia salvezza.
Ed io lo so.
Quando, però, è seguito dall’accettazione dell’amore allora diventa lo strumento che può liberarmi da me stesso, dal meccanismo di barriere che ho eretto;
lo strumento che mi può rassicurare di ciò che non riesco a convincere me stesso: di valere veramente qualcosa.
Questo però non te lo dico. Non ho coraggio.
Ho paura che il tuo sguardo non sia seguito dall’accettazione, dall’amore.
Forse temo che tu possa cambiare opinione su di me, che ti prenda gioco di me
e che il tuo sorriso mi uccida.
Ho paura, in fondo in fondo, di non valere niente, che tu ti accorga di questo e mi rigetti.
Allora continuo il mio gioco di pretese disperate con una apparenza esteriore sicura e con un bambino tremante dentro.
Sfoggio la mia sfilata di maschere e lascio che la mia vita diventi finzione.
Ti racconto tutto ciò che non conta niente e niente di ciò che è veramente importante, di ciò che mi strugge dentro.
Perciò quando riconosci questa routine non lasciarti distrarre dalle mie parole:
ascolta bene ciò che non ti dico, ciò che vorrei dire, ciò che ho bisogno di dire,
ma che non riesco a dire.
Non mi piace nascondermi, te lo confesso.
Vorrei tanto essere spontaneo, onesto e genuino, ma tu devi aiutarmi.
Per favore stendi la tua mano, anche quando questa sembra sia l’ultima cosa che voglio.
Tu puoi portare alla luce la mia vitalità: ogni volta che sei gentile, attento e premuroso, ogni volta che cerchi di comprendere perché mi vuoi bene il mio cuore palpita e rinasce.
Voglio che tu sappia quanto sei importante per me, come tu hai il potere di far emergere la persona che sono.
Solo se lo vuoi. Ti prego, ascoltami.
Tu puoi far cadere le barriere dietro le quali mi rifugio, tu puoi rimuovere la mia maschera, tu puoi liberarmi dalla mia prigione solitaria.
Non ignorarmi! Per favore non passare oltre!
Abbi pazienza con me.
A volte, sembra, che quanto più ti avvicini tanto più mi ribelli alla tua presenza.
E’ una cosa irrazionale, ma è così: combatto ciò di cui ho bisogno.
L’uomo è spesso fatto così!
Ma l’amore è più forte di ogni resistenza e qui sta la mia speranza.
La mia vera speranza.
Aiutami a far cadere le barriere con le tue mani sicure, ma con mani gentili
perché un bambino resta molto fragile.
Chi sono, ti domandi?
Sono qualcuno che conosci molto bene.
Sono ogni persona che incontri.
Sono te stesso.

(Sii un girasole accanto ai salici piangenti – Arnaldo Pangrazzi)

In sottofondo: ” It’s for you” – Pat Metheny

Há em alguns discos — e conto tantos assim — uma tal confusão de sons no ambiente sonoro que, e ainda que considere que tenha um bom ouvido, desenvolvo sérias dificuldades em identificar de onde vem, e como vem, aquele ou outro som. A possibilidade de os decifrar é um dos motivos porque gosto, especialmente, de um DVD musical bem realizado e equalizado.

Pat Metheny é um exemplo vivo desse tipo de construção de paisagens sonoras vivas e, simultaneamente, densas. É um guitarrista referência e detentor de um punhado de discos que são, para mim, significativos no meu pequeno crescimento musical. A(s) sua(s) guitarra(s) e a sua composição arrojada e pautada por notas, clinicamente, introduzidas nas peças que edita, assombram-me.

Pat Metheny

Quanto à escolha de um álbum, eu responderia com o “The Way Up” do seu Pat Metheny Group. É um álbum na sua construção, década e complexidade auditiva: limpo, actual e fácil, respectivamente  — tudo adjectivos acertados. Mas, é uma das minhas principais escolhas como companhia numa viagem nocturna mais longa. E isso, como qualquer ouvinte de música saberá, tem muito valor. No contexto de ambiente sonoro rico e, por vezes, arrebatador da audição é, igualmente, um excelente exemplo.

Ora, espreite-se o próximo vídeo com um excerto de uma música deste álbum — e retirado de um DVD ao vivo. Se estiver fácil nomear a precedência de cada uma das notas, sugiro o exercício de fechar os olhos e tentar adivinhar. Isto para depois espreitar e aferir da pontaria auditiva.

Conseguiram? Pois, lá está.

[ Vídeo: "Opening (The Way Up)", por Pat Metheny Group ]

The Shuffle Report: 10 songs I listened to, in order, on my iPod in shuffle mode at a given point in time. No editing, no skipping. It is what it is.

It was one of those nights. Everyone has one of those nights. You go to bed at a decent hour, manage to fall asleep relatively quickly but alas, a peaceful night’s rest is not to be. For any number of reasons, you find yourself awake in the middle of the night, and as hard as you pray for a quick return to dreamland, the sleep gods just laugh at you. Eventually, you do manage to will yourself back to sleep, but then the alarm goes off an hour later. When that happens, the first word that usually comes to mind starts with ‘f’ and rhymes with truck.

So while I tried to stay awake on the subway ride to work, thinking happy thoughts about that cup of coffee I’m going to grab as soon as I get to the office and trying to focus so I don’t miss my stop (hey, it’s happened), I turned up the volume on the iPod just a little bit louder. Had some good tunes to keep me company:

1. One More Day—Cheap Trick (Rockford) [Highly recommend this latter-day release from the masters of power pop.]
2. Hi Hi Hi—Paul McCartney (Wingspan: Hits and History) [Great rocker from McCartney's early solo work.]
3. Strong—Robbie Williams (The Ego Has Landed) [The guy is one of the biggest pop stars in the world but not in North America. Have never been able to figure that one out.]
4. Jamie G.—Joe Jackson (Laughter & Lust) [An oft-overlooked album from JJ's catalogue that contains some decent cuts.]
5. Ray’s Blues—Ray Charles (The Birth of Soul) [Essential compilation of Ray's career with Atlantic Records.]
6. Paper Thin—John Hiatt (Slow Turning) [Outstanding album from one my favourite artists.]
7. Outskirts—Blue Rodeo (Outskirts) [Have never grown tired of this album, 22 years after its release.]
8. Do You Want To Know A Secret—The Beatles (Please Please Me) [Sing it, George.]
9. It’s Just Talk—Pat Metheny Group (Still Life Talking) [Love Metheny's work with the PMG.]
10. Run Rudolph Run—Chuck Berry (The Chess Box) [Hey, it's that time of the year. Forget all the schmaltzy holiday music. Let Uncle Chuck show you how it's done.]

Fonte: “MusicalNews“

di Laura Gorini

Venerdì 6 novembre esce “L’insulto delle parole” (Promo Music/Edel), il quarto disco della cantautrice toscana Susanna Parigi.

L’album, distribuito nei negozi tradizionali, sulle piattaforme digitali e sul sito www.promomusic.it, affronta il tema della parola, delle sue smisurate e controverse potenzialità.

Sono le parole di Pasquale Panella, in una introduzione contenuta nel libretto, che presentano il cd: “Le parole che insultano e le parole che sono insultate, e quello che ne viene. […] Tu canti questo. […] Chiusa nel cuore e preda del tuo pubblico egoista”.

Susanna Parigi lo presenterà in una serie di showcase/incontri che partiranno il 5 novembre a Roma presso la Fnac del Centro Commerciale Porta di Roma (Via Alberto Lionello, 201) per proseguire il 6 novembre a Napoli presso la Fnac (via Luca Giordano, 59) e successivamente in altri store in tutta Italia.

Susanna Parigi racconta così il suo progetto: “Percorrere la storia di una parola è come scoprire sotto le pietre il segreto delle sorgenti. La parola ha una potenza smisurata, a volte può fare la differenza tra vivere o morire. La parola può dare la sensazione di appartenere a qualcos’altro, una folla, un esercito, un ideale. Può comandare, contrattare, illudere. La parola è sacra. Le parole ingannano. Qualcuno ha detto “Non credo che alcun sistema filosofico riuscirà mai a sopprimere la schiavitù: tutt’al più ne muterà il nome”. Ecco l’insulto di cui ho sentito esigenza di scrivere oggi, forte, violento, talmente evidente che è un dolore terribile accorgersi che dai più non è visto”.

Sei dei brani contenuti in “L’insulto delle parole” sono firmati in coppia con Kaballà, il musicista di origini siciliane già autore fra gli altri di Carmen Consoli, Eros Ramazzotti, Antonella Ruggiero e Mario Venuti.

Da segnalare la riedizione di “La canzone dei vecchi amanti” di Jacques Brel, riarrangiata da Vince Tempera. Tutto il disco è arricchito dal quartetto d’archi Arkè String Quartet, con Carlo Cantini al violino, Valentino Corvino al violino, Sandro Di Paolo alla viola e Stefano Dall’Ora al contrabbasso.

Queste le dieci tracce che compongono l’album: “L’insulto delle parole”, “Non chiedermi parole d’amore”, “Fa Niente”, “L’Attenzione”, “La Fiorista”, “Il Raro Movimento”, “C’è Bisogno di Tempo”, “La Canzone dei vecchi amanti”, “Una Basta”, “L’applauso”.

“L’insulto delle parole” contiene inoltre “The insult of words”(è la traduzione inglese, per questo va tolto), un clip video che raccoglie le testimonianze di Pino Arlacchi, Corrado Augias, Lella Costa, Cesare Fiumi, Kaballà, Leonardo Manera, Andrea Pinketts e Bruno Renzi e rappresenta un work in progress che si va man mano arricchendo di altre testimonianze e variazioni sul tema dell’insulto della parola.

Sul sito di Promo Music è già visibile l’intervista rilasciata da Marco Travaglio, e con il tempo si aggiungeranno sempre più dichiarazioni di importanti personalità della cultura italiana.

Interprete sofisticata e autrice di grande spessore, Susanna Parigi è stata pianista di Riccardo Cocciante, Claudio Baglioni e Fiorella Mannoia e vocalist di Raf, suona la fisarmonica, canta, scrive i testi, la musica e gli arrangiamenti delle sue canzoni. Chansonnière fiorentina ma trapiantata a Milano, propone un genere originalissimo che potrebbe essere definito “pop letterario”.

Sostenuta da artisti come il fotografo Sebastião Salgado e il filosofo Umberto Galimberti, diplomata in pianoforte, insegna al conservatorio di Trento. Susanna Parigi ha inoltre collaborato con il celebre chitarrista statunitense Pat Metheny, la cantante israeliana Noa e il bassista e stickista statunitense Tony Levin.

Questi i suoi lavori precedenti: “Susanna Parigi” (1996); “Scomposta” (1999); “In Differenze” (2004); “In Differenze: il dvd” (2007).

Fonte: Ufficio Stampa Parole e Dintorni

10月31日（土）にRoyal Festival Hall（ロイヤル・フェスティバル・ホール）であったコンサート「Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians」に行ってきた。Mがスティーヴ・ライヒのファンで、2006年にもバービカン・センターでのコンサートに行ったのだが、彼はちょくちょくロンドンに来ているようで、時々コンサートの案内を見かける。

今回のコンサートでは、ロンドンに本拠を置く室内オーケストラ、London Sinfonietta（ロンドン・シンフォニエッタ）と共演。二人が手拍子で音楽を奏でる「クラッピング・ミュージック（手拍子の音楽）」、パット・メセニーのために作曲された「エレクトリック・カウンターポイント」、打楽器奏者4人と鍵盤楽器奏者2人が演奏する「六重奏曲（Sextet）」、そしてミニマル・ミュージックを代表する作曲家であるライヒの代表作の一つである「18人の音楽家のための音楽（Music for 18 Musicians）」の4曲が演奏された。私の勝手な感想（ライヒファンの方の気を害したらごめんなさい）。ライヒ本人が演奏したクラッピング・ミュージックは、フラメンコのミュージシャンの方が上手。エレクトリック・カウンターポイントは、パット・メセニーの音楽は、男のセンチメンタリズムっぽくって嫌いなので（Mは大ファンだけど）×（バツ）。残り2曲はなかなか良かった。しかし、ミニマル・ミュージックは「反復音楽」と呼ばれるだけあって、多少の違いはあるものの、ずーっと同じような音楽が延々と続く。「六重奏曲」は25分間だけれど、「18人の音楽家のための音楽」は何と1時間。同じリズムの繰り返しが眠気を催し、気づくとウトウト、夢も何回も見たが、起きても眠りに落ちる前と同じような音楽が流れているから、聞き逃した気がしない。ミニマル・ミュージックの醍醐味は、微細な変化を聞き取ることらしいが、私はそこまでの域に達っしていないし、達する気もない。でも、起きていても寝ていても気持ちの良いコンサートだった。

そう言えば、この日はハロウィーンだったけれど、全く仮装したり騒いでる人たちは見なかったな。

We went the Royal Festival Hall for the concert “Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians” on Saturday, October 31. M is a fan of Steve Reich, and we also went to his concert at Barbican Centre a while ago. It seems that Reich comes to London once in a while, as I see the information of his concerts in London sometimes.

In this concert, Reich played together with London Sinfonietta and performed four of his works – Clapping Music for two musicians clapping, Electric Counterpoint composed for Pat Metheny, Sextet for percussion and keyboards, and Music for 18 Musicians, one of the most important work of Reich as a pioneer of minimalist music. Here is my stupid opinions (and I am sorry if I offend some of the loyal Reich fans). Probably Flamenco musicians would do a better job for Clapping Music. I don’t like Pat Metheny as his musics represents men’s sentimentalism for me, so I couldn’t stand Electric Counterpoint. I like other two works, but as minimalist music is often defined as reiteration of musical phrases, and the similar rhythms continue on, and on, and on, from the start to the end. Sextet was 25 minutes and it was OK, but Music for 18 Musicians was almost 1 hour! The repetition of the music made me dose off sometimes and I even had several dreams during the concert, but I didn’t feel like I missed a lot because the music sounded the same as when I fell a sleep. The whole point of minimalist music is supposed to enjoy a small and slow transformation as the music progress, but I unfortunately haven’t reached the level (and I am afraid I never will).  However, it was a pleasant concert for me either when I was awake or sleeping.

By the way, the day of the concert was Halloween but I didn’t see anyone in a crazy costume or partying…

Post Concert Talk

I decided it was time to create a new Pandora station, so I threw one together of a light jazz genre, seeded with Jeff Lorber and Pat Metheny.  Here are the results:

1. “Philly Style” – Jeff Lorber, Philly Style
2. “In the Moment” – Althea Rene, In the Moment
3. “Silent Movie” – Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Metheny Mehldau Quartet
4. “Airstream” – Path Metheny, American Garage
5. “Highland Aire” – Lyle Mays, Lyle Mays
6. “High Steppin’” – Larry Carlton, The Best of Larry Carlton
7. “Gigabyte” – Jeff Lorber, Philly Style
8. “Cinnamon Sugar” – Fourplay, X
9. “Cockatoo” – Spyro Gyra, Catching the Sun
10. “Unrequited” – Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Metheny / Mehldau

Bonus track (one of my all-time favorites): “Last Train Home” – Pat Metheny, Still Life (Talking)

Have a great Halloween!

Ci sono state stagioni fredde, amare, desolate. Stagioni in cui non si era più, non ci si rinnovava, non si dava nulla.

Ci sono state stagioni aride e fredde, sconsolate. Stagioni in cui non c’era nessuna carezza, nessuna carezza si dava.

In questo tempo d’autunno, d’inverno, di primavera o d’estate c’è il tepore di un cuore che sa di esserci, al di là di ogni sconfitta, di ogni privazione, di ogni dolore, perché  ha dentro la consapevolezza che tutto dipende da sé…

E non fa freddo. NON PIU’.

E la musica continua a scorrere in questo mio mare di emozioni. Onde che vanno, che approdano a me. Abbandonatevi  con me , lasciatevi prendere dalla forza del mare…

Non fa freddo. Non più.

Profonde conoscenze

s’imprimono nei pensieri

che navigano

attraverso i sensi amplificati

dal buio dubitare.

Rotolano parole

per definire percorsi e intenzioni

ma la rete dell’insondabile

soffoca il fiato

e stringe i suoi lacci

attorno ai perché stanchi.

Ora il suono che strazia

e che incanta questo giorno

m’incontra e mi sorride

tenendomi le mani chiuse

aprendomi la voce

che s’alza e si dimena

accanto alle mie vesti.

Batte il mio petto

e si ritrova assorto

nella contemplazione.

Pace in briciole d’amore

si sparge attorno ai campi

e innesta steli di bellezza.

Dove corrono i miei passi?

Seguono quell’onda impermeabile

che m’avvolge nella notte

e non fa freddo, non più.

Amo e piango ridendo

le mie tundre sconfinate

ed i suoi canti al pascolo.

Rosalba Sgroia

Poesia che ha vinto il PRIMO PREMIO ( link)

Premio Nazionale di Poesia e Pittura Arx Volscorum 2007

———

This is the introductory part of a series of blog post on how to engage with and love music. Don’t think it is necessarily easy and intuitive. One can discuss how to use music. One can learn to engage with music in a better way. Engage, to make it matter. Since these posts will map out my own thoughts on engaging with music in a good way, you can think of their totality as a kind of on-going manifesto for this blog.

There’s a note to be made on the importance of all this, specifically what it means to matter. As an intro, I will ask and try to answer that question here. It will probably have the most technical language of the series. Don’t be afraid, just read things slowly.

So, what does it mean when “music matters”? Well, that it has value and means something for someone. Music can make incredible things and we can talk and discuss which things and why so. But music also “matters” in another sense: it materializes. Music can matter in a very concrete sense, by becoming a physical object. That’s how music becomes something else by mattering (in both senses of the word). This in turn sets into motion a whole causal chain of cultural-material practices and objects: e.g. dubstep becomes visualized in strobe-light which becomes embodied in an epileptic seizure on the dancefloor. Music do things to people, who do things to other people or things, and by that way make the effects of music come into being. This goes for conditions to matter as well. The iPod would not have existed (mattered) if nobody didn’t care about listening to music while on-the-go (if that didn’t matter). This is why matter is always two-fold: cultural-material. Music come to matter, by mattering, by materializing. All of these phrases basically mean the same, because meaning and materiality is always entangled (you got it!).

Let’s try to put this rather heavy stuff into examples (you can come up with any other categories of course)

Lack – Indie kids wear the Keffyieh but can’t spell PLO

This statement is so sad but true haha! Lack, sadly now dissolved, had an important part in the small but potent Copenhagen math rock/pop scene. Another similar although quite brutal title from this band include “Behead (them screamo-kids)”. Speaking of the Keffyieh, there’s a sense in which this aesthetic group-making aspect of music has turned counterculture into a superficial Rebel™, a kind of paradoxical monoculture obsessed with uniqueness and transgression (a.k.a. The Hipster).

Pat Metheny Group – As it is

Metheny is a genious on guitar, up there with acid-jazzer John Scofield. I have walked winter-frosted fields in my teens while listening to him. But this entire sound is basically destroyed by way of negative Pavlovian conditiong, so it’s extremely difficult to take it seriously unless you’re already dedicated, or just a guitar geek. Hearing Pat Metheny and other fusion jazzers over and over and over in annoying TV-shop breaks makes you associate that very sound to annoyance, like the dog that learns to salivate by Pavlov’s ringing of the food-associated-bell. What would happen if annoying commercials started playing Sigúr Rós? Oh wait, they already do!

Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit

It is difficult to measure the effect this song had on the civil rights movement and anti-racist politics (it came out in 1939). It is also completely impossible to distinguish the music from the history, when I feel the rush of goosebumps on my body. This video is the trailer from a documentary made to track the impact it has had. Interesting.

SebastiAn – Ross Ross Ross

The year 2007 was dominated by duo Justice, the figure heads of french electro label Ed Banger. You may remember the video for “D.A.N.C.E.”, which basically consists of a show case of t-shirts (which you could buy of course. By coincidence, the most recent comment on youtube said: “Great song, great video! I want a T-shirt like those ones!!! lol” –hahaha!). Wonder what that video mattered for the hipster fashion industry? I won’t speculate more. My own favourite name from that period, together with same-label Mr. Oizo, was SebastiAn, who had a slighty more crunchy, syncopated staccato sound.

Daniel Johnston – Premarital Sex

Well, I’m not going to go into the neurophysiology of my exposure to this track, so you can just imagine a bunch of slimey looking axons making exciting electrical impulses to new brain cells, almost sounding like that awesome pumping organ in the song.

That’s all for today folks. I hope you enjoyed this introductory part of the series. As you can see, music can matter in a variety of ways, although not necessarily good ways (e.g. I don’t particularly like the turning of Pat Metheny into muzak). Therefore, the next task will be to map ways of making music matter in a good way. We haven’t really dealt with how I personally want that to happen yet of course, since this was mostly a sorting out of the concept of “matter” itself, but you probably have some ideas at this point. The first substantive part will be titled Masochism, and it will scare the shit out of you I’m sure. Since these posts take some time to write (at least this one did), expect a lot of other cool stuff in between. See you soon!

There is no one with a voice as drop dead gorgeous as Milton Nasciemento.  The playing on this record straddles wide open jazz playing to spiraling dark fusion.  No matter where it goes the angelic voice hangs over everything, guiding you through the labyrinth of jazz chords and unfamiliar percussion.  This music breathes.  Throughout the disc jazz magicians Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock , and Wayne Shorter drip brilliance here and there.  Unfortunately James Taylor shows up to RUIN a song with his vocal stylings…luckily Peter Gabriel’s track more than makes up for that misstep.  BTW this disc has the most incredible cover of The Beatles “Hello Goodbye” ever recorded.  Get this album, then shell out for his early stuff to be truly blown away.

“It’s a shame that jazz is now being turned into dried fruit. It’s becoming quantized, diced and defined. To me, jazz is more like a process than it is a thing.”

-Pat Metheny

Fonte: “Ilgiornale.it“

di Duccio Pasqua

La stagione del nuovo Auditorium tra grandi artisti, emergenti, laboratori e novità per gli amanti dei libri
Un raro Lou Reed «metallico». Un inusuale Baglioni natalizio. E poi il grande jazz, le orchestre, i progetti originali e le «carte bianche». L’Auditorium si affaccia alla nuova stagione con un programma estremamente ricco, che farà la gioia dei musicofili di ogni genere (e non solo). Raccontare tutto è impossibile: centinaia di eventi già in programma da oggi alla fine di luglio, più altri ancora in fase di organizzazione. Le star della musica italiana: Carmen Consoli, Elio e le Storie Tese, Gino Paoli, Cristiano De Andrè e un quintuplo Claudio Baglioni (dal 25 al 30 dicembre). 
I big internazionali: Lou Reed, che a maggio proporrà un concerto per sola chitarra, per celebrare lo storico album Metal machine music; poi Mark Knopfler, Peter Hammill, Joss Stone. Naturalmente, il miglior jazz in circolazione: l’8 novembre si apre il Roma Jazz Festival, con il concerto di Stefano Bollani, e poi arriveranno Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny, Bobby McFerrin, John Scofield, Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum. E tra i protagonisti della stagione ci sarà Enrico Rava, curatore del nuovo progetto «Parco della Musica Jazz Lab», autentica fucina per i nuovi talenti del jazz italiano, che esporterà progetti originali dall’Auditorium verso altre manifestazioni, come l’European Jazz Expo di Cagliari (a novembre) e Umbria Jazz Winter a Orvieto. Il Jazz Lab diventa a tutti gli effetti la quarta orchestra stabile, che si affianca alle veterane PMJO e OPI (l’orchestra popolare di Sparagna) e alla giovane PMCE, ovvero «Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble». «Tra le novità più rilevanti – spiega l’amministratore delegato Carlo Fuortes – c’è l’appuntamento di marzo con “Libri come”, una vera e propria festa del libro e della lettura che vedrà la partecipazione dei più celebri autori e artisti del panorama internazionale. Siamo anche felici di attribuire due premi: nell’ambito del Festival della Nuova Danza verrà consegnato il “Premio Equilibrio”, mentre in ambito teatrale nascerà il “Premio Vertigine”, curato da Giorgio Barberio Corsetti. Naturalmente seguiremo con attenzione i nuovi talenti, non tanto per motivi filantropici, ma perché siamo convinti che su di loro si basi il futuro di una struttura come l’Auditorium. Non è un caso che “Generazione X” diventi un vero e proprio festival, concentrato in cinque giorni».
Anche la nuova stagione sarà arricchita da numerosi appuntamenti fissi: le «Lezioni di rock» con Assante e Castaldo, gli «Incontri d’autore», le Lezioni di musica, di storia e di giornalismo, e poi i festival delle Scienze, il Natale all’Auditorium con il Festival Gospel, la rassegna «Cantando sotto la storia» curata dal presidente Gianni Borgna, le mostre d’arte. Se l’anno scorso è stato dedicato alla rassegna sul basso, quest’anno protagonista sarà la chitarra, con concerti dei già citati Metheny, Knopfler e Lou Reed, ma anche di Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Bill Frisell, John McLaughlin, Mike Stern, Marc Ribot, Al Di Meola, Tuck & Patti.
Ci sarà la musica contemporanea, con gli spettacoli di Philip Glass, Steve Reich e Arvo Pärt. E non mancherà l’attività della «Parco della Musica Records», etichetta dell’Auditorium, pronta a sfornare altri dischi jazz di alto livello.
Dopo sette anni di crescita continua, dunque, la struttura romana continua a offrire una programmazione di notevole qualità. Un ottimo inizio per superare il record di 1.300.000 spettatori conseguito l’anno scorso.

Fonte: “romauno.tv“

E’ mastodontico il programma per la stagione 2009-2010 dell’Auditorium Parco della Musica: il gigante ai piedi di Villa Giulia, a sette anni dalla sua nascita, gode di ottima salute, per nulla scalfita dalla crisi che ha sottratto invece risorse a chiunque altro.
Musica, spettacolo, arte: il cartellone è un enorme contenitore culturale con grandi temi, grandissimi ospiti e parecchie novità.
A partire dalla nuove orchestre promosse dalla Fondazione Musica per Roma: al Parco della Musica Jazz Orchestra diretta da Maurizio Giammarco e all’Orchestra Popolare Italiana diretta da Ambrogio Sparagna, si affiancano il Parco della Musica Contemporanea Ensemble e il nuovissimo Parco della Musica Jazz Lab capitanato da Enrico Rava. 
Gli eventi musicali in programma offrono un’offerta spaziale con nomi italiani e internazionali, da Carmen Consoli che presenterà in prima assoluta il nuovo album a Philip Glass, anche lui in anteprima mondiale, da Claudio Baglioni a Joss Stone, da Gino Paoli a Tori Amos: l’elenco è lunghissimo.
A novembre il Roma Jazz Festival proporrà l’esibizione di grandi artisti del jazz internazionale mentre Meet In Town e Generazione X offriranno un panorama sui protagonisti dell’elettronica e della nuova scena giovanile.
Nasce quest’anno la rassegna La Chitarra che porterà sul palco interpreti dello strumento del calibro di Pat Metheny e Marc Knopfler.
Fiocco rosa anche per la prima edizione di Vertigine 2010, un incontro dedicato alla produzione teatrale emergente.
Poi c’è il grande capitolo delle rassegne dedicate ai temi della contemporaneità: oltre agli ormai radicati Festival delle Scienze, Lezioni di Storia e Lezioni di giornalismo, a marzo ecco sbocciare anche una festa per tutti coloro che amano i libri Libri Come. Festa del Libro e della Lettura.
Per i dettagli sul programma, consigliamo di navigare nel sito internet www.auditorium.it. Prendetevi una pausa, ci vorrà del tempo.

Logo pela manhã o tempo muito úmido, alguns papéis molhados em outras calçadas… Mal consegui fechar os olhos, o telhado acima de mim trepidava, iminente queda. E lá fora o tempo continuava voando amarelo-cinzento até as altitudes mais montanhosas. Num relâmpago percebi que não estava mais chovendo.

Ainda procurava restos de ervas, passavam os dias e eu entrava mais e mais na crise de gripe. Tudo bem, apenas uma semana, mas num fim de mundo de concreto até sete dias parecem muito mais do que são. Mal consigo pensar na possibilidade de as ervas também serem nocivas, mutantes. Matando o bacteriófago, tanto faz.

Há algum tipo de modo ortográfico, este implica na inscrição clara e fechada de idéias. Métodos discursivos batidos, copiados, anos e anos da mesma coisa, as mesmas gratificantes palavras e a mesma métrica e não sei ainda o exato motivo por quê.

Num método avaliativo, linear, um ser senta em sua cadeira logo pela manhã. Pega o chumaço de textos, dá nota a eles, separa alguns e joga no lixo outros (mais árvores). Calendários e pastas a corrigir, milhões de saletas insolúveis n’água. Diga-se de passagem: reação de dupla troca. Num momento estimado próximo ao infinito, um olho passa pela prova e atinge a caneta, a caneta entra no olho com sua tinta e muda a cor da retina.

As questões mais simples lacradas pelos nós; dias anteriores a caneta está separada do olho, mas mesmo assim perfura, mancha o papel de tinta preta e depois avermelha. Nisso, o corretor pondera, o café poderia estar mais forte, o parágrafo mais claro, as palavras mais concisas, poder-se-ia usar mais citações, mais dados, mais infográficos, mais tecnopolos, mais silício, mais tinta, menos tinta, mais letra menos letra e todas as contas rabiscadas desconsideradas no canto da folha em branco rapidamente quando os minutos começam a acabar o pobre ou podre coitado grita internamente não há mais tempo escreve logo o gabarito o fim está próximo entrega e percebe o erro.

Das mãos do escrivão às mãos do bebedor de café. A máxima aproximação que dois seres viventes do mesmo casebre terão será a caneta dentro do olho, a retina com outra cor, os apontamentos de onde o texto poderia ser mais bem acentuado, mais coerente ou coeso. Uma dissertação em vão, uma rima: uma aprovação.

Sidney Rodrigues, né à São Paulo est un guitariste brésilien autodidacte.

Influençé par Ary Piassarollo, Pat Metheny, George Benson or Wes Montgomery, Sideny Rodrigues a développé sa propre technique pour devenir compositeur et improvisateur sur guitare classique et semi acoustique.

A Paris depuis 2002, il poursuit une carrière européenne et en parrallèle de sa carrière solo, a pu joué avec de grands chanteurs et chanteuses comme Marcia Maria, Bïa, Emilio Santiago, Jorge Pardo and Nicolas Stilo.

Vous pouvez le découvrir sur son site Myspace ici : http://www.myspace.com/sidneyrodrigues

Philippe Baden Powell, le fils du plus célèbre guitariste brésilien nous le recommande ce soir.

The Shuffle Report: 10 songs I listened to, in order, on my iPod in shuffle mode at a given point in time. No editing, no skipping. It is what it is.

Usually I have some sort of quaint tie-in to go along with posting my 10-song list. You know, songs I listened to while I “took the time to walk with my son to school”, or was “stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home from the airport” or even the songs I listened to when I was “cleaning up from dinner then folded laundry.”

The reason for today’s list isn’t as quaint. It’s just the tunes I heard while riding on the subway today. But less than quaint doesn’t mean I want to share it any less with you. That’s the point of blogging after all, isn’t it? If I can I can open just one’s person eyes to a song or album or artist that I enjoy that maybe they’ve never listened to before then I fell like I’ve accomplished something worthwhile, and that’s my objective. So while riding the subway is a rather mundane activity, I hope you still find something that interests you in the list. Presenting today’s list.

1. The Big Ranch–Los Lobos (Good Morning Aztlan) [Great way to start the day.]
2. The Bed’s Too Big Without You–The Police (Reggatta de Blanc) [A lesser known Police track, but still killer.]
3. You Turn Me On I’m A Radio–Joni Mitchell (Hits) [For those casual Joni Mitchell fans who are looking to add some Joni to their collection, the "Hits" cd is a great place to start.]
4. So Close–Hall & Oates (Change of Season) [I've always liked Hall & Oates. No denying the string of hits they produced. This wasn't one of their biggest, but it's a good track nonetheless.]
5. Sweet Maxine–The Doobie Borthers (Very Best of) [Like No. 2 on today's list, a lesser-known but no less worthwhile tune.]
6. Tramp–Otis Redding (The Ultimate Otis Redding) [Otis. A must for any collection.]
7. Confessin’ The Blues–Little Walter (His Best) [If you like blues harmonica, this cd is for you.]
8. Feelin’ Stronger Every Day–Chicago (The Best of Chicago) [While I have ignored anything post-1978 by these guys, I always enjoyed their earlier output from when they were really cookin'. This is one of my faves.]
9. Have You Heard–Pat Metheny Group (Letter From Home) [Great effort from one of my favourite guitarists in any genre.]
10. Hella Good–No Doubt (The Singles: 1992-2003) [I like a few No Doubt tunes. I saw them open up for the Stones. Yes, the Stones. They were suprisingly good in a cavernous setting like the Rogers Centre.]

Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny will perform at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at Memorial Hall at UNC-Chapel Hill as part of the university’s Carolina Performing Arts Series.

World renowned guitarist /composer Pat Metheny has been at the forefront of musical expression for decades. His staggering 17 Grammy Awards and 33 Nominations in 12 different categories are the most of any performer in Grammy history, and his focus remains continually on breaking down barriers and the exploration of new musical ideas.

In this performance, he will move between solo guitar improvisations to the unveiling of a new technology for the presentation of an acoustically driven “solo ensemble” music he has dubbed “Orchestrionics.” The performance will feature music from his forthcoming album of new original compositions, as well as older tunes from his celebrated songbook

I wrote in a recent post about the free, very entertaining and informative podcast by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny. After listening to it I felt like listening to more of his music and took a trip to the library.

I checked out four CD:s with The Pat Metheny Group and have now listened to them for a couple of days and I have enjoyed them very much. One word that comes to mind is “pure”. The music and melodies are very pure and the production on all these titles are very clear and, once again, pure… The music is a very nice blend between composed and improvised, at least that is what it sounds to me?

If you get a chance to listen to Pat Metheny I can recommend any of these four CD:s. One interesting thing about my little random pick at the library is that I got music spanning pretty much all over The Pat Metheny Group’s career, starting with American Garage from 1980 and ending with the 2005 release The Way Up. There is also Letter From Home (1989) and Unity Village which was recorded live in U.S.A. 1979.

It is with great pleasure I recommend the Pat Metheny Podcast to you. It is a completly free Podcast available for download via iTunes. You get to hear Pat Metheny himself comment on some of his solo albums as well as some classic releases with other musicians and The Pat Metheny Group. On some Podcasts you can also listen to him tell the story behind an album or recording. These Podcasts gives you a great insight in to the music and mind of Pat Metheny. He is very interesting and entertaining and is almost as nice to listen to talking as he his playing. His passion for the music and playing really comes through on these Podcasts.

I have not listened to many of his albums but I got Question & Answer which I always enjoy listening to. It is a jazz album recorded with Dave Holland & Roy Haynes. My favorite album is One Quiet Night which was recorded in one night and is an amazing solo album with Pat playing acoustic and baritone guitar.

But now after listening to a few of these Podacasts I definitely will check out some more music by Mr Metheny.

Find out more about Pat Metheny at:
www.patmetheny.com

Krantz Carlock Lefebvre (Abstract Logix)

By Casey Dolan

Wayne Krantz, Keith Carlock and Tim Lefebvre have thrown down the gauntlet with their new album, Krantz Carlock Lefebvre, (Abstract Logix, Aug. 18), showering the listener with swaths of tone, color and dynamics. This is a remarkable release that sets the barre for all current guitarists, bassists and drummers.

As the first full album recording for the trio since 2003’s Your Basic Live and Krantz’ first studio album in 16 years, it bears significance. All three musicians have proven themselves as young turks of the post-fusion jazz world since the early ‘90s – Krantz with Steely Dan and his several solo albums, Carlock also with Steely Dan and Sting and Lefebvre with Chris Botti — but the new album takes in more influences than what is normally perceived as jazz: from drums ‘n’ bass to nu metal; from open-stringed folk modalities to hard-edged funk; from jam band excursions to pop.

It is not, however, a three-ring circus of pastiche, but consistent throughout; it sounds like the work of a trio guided by one vision. It may not be the Wayne Krantz Trio, but it is to Krantz we must look for the album’s overall design and concept. They are his tunes and the music fits into an important chapter in his musical development.

Wayne Krantz made a commitment over a decade ago to issue live recordings, chiefly on his website, that made up in the spontaneity of performance what they lacked in audio quality. It was perhaps an impetuous reaction to his first two studio albums – Signals (1991) and Long to be Loose (1993) – the debut heralding a player of uncommon speed, dexterity and imagination with a post-bop background deeply influenced by Pat Metheny. Much of that was jettisoned by album number two (try to find a bop phrase on …Loose) and by the live third, 2 Drink Minimum (1995), it was clear that Krantz was determined to work without a net and let the music simply happen (although most of the tunes were tightly structured).

As time went on, Krantz became more entrenched in an ideology of improvisation. Interviews revealed a man determined to work from clean slates and his guitar manual, An Improviser’s OS, (2005) codifies what possibilities exist from any given sequence of notes, or “formulas.” If it was not for a weekly gig at New York’s 55 Bar and the occasional tour with Steely Dan and Donald Fagen, Wayne Krantz would have disappeared from sight except to a small group of players and music academics.

Sometimes his explorations worked; sometimes they didn’t. He would say that is part of the deal, you take your chances. By 1999’s Greenwich Mean, gorgeous jewel-like prayers or ferocious Hendrixian workouts would be followed by baffling, serpentine, seemingly aimless noodlings or, even worse, the hint of an undeveloped great idea. However, something else took form – this trio involving Keith Carlock and bassist Tim Lefebvre – that and a pronounced harder, louder edge to the sound. In short, Krantz rocked and the band, abetted by Carlock’s rolling thunder and Lefebvre’s uncanny ability to listen to his colleagues and play off them, became an almost-legendary powerhouse in New York’s live music circles. It was the classic definition of a power trio, much like Hendrix’ Experience, Cream or Tony Williams’ original Lifetime.

Rock had always been part of the Krantz palette. Screaming bluesy lines on 2 Drink Minimum would not have been amiss on a Jeff Beck album, but, in the late ‘90s, Krantz started adding effects – octave dividers, nasty overdrives, wah-wah and, most importantly, the ring modulator, causing the guitar to sound like an out-of-control microphonic ringtone…all part of the new musical landscape.

Krantz Carlock Lefebvre is both a summation of what has gone on before and the gateway to yet another bold new sound. There is increased accessibility: more structure than before – some might even call it “pop” structure — with verses, choruses and bridges. Only two tunes exceed six minutes and repeated, hummable phrases abound. Somehow, Wayne Krantz has found a way of putting his improvisation agenda into an almost-pop context.

The album begins with the declaration that “It’s No Fun Not to Like Pop” and swings mightily, but the video for the Prince-like funky tune could be one of Krantz’ few missteps. Every era has heard the implicit criticism that current music stinks (The Byrds’ “So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” comes to mind as a critical perspective on the commercial packaging of pop and Frank Zappa made it a crucial theme in his career). True as it may be, the video, featuring a dissatisfied listener of new CDs, emphasizes its snobbish and snarky stance. Happily, though, the playing is a counterbalance to the sentiment and a portentous door of entry. Behold the mighty Carlock circus kick drum sound! Marvel at the playful syncopations in the phrasing (Krantz has a knack of beginning and ending phrases on off-beats; part of his bop training). Lefebvre is more felt than heard on this opening track, unfortunately, but that is not the norm for the album. Krantz sings the title several times (his only previous recorded vocal outing, to this writer’s knowledge, is on the album he shared with Leni Stern: 1996’s Separate Cages). No other lyric is required. Also making an early appearance is a descending scale. Simple, diatonic descending scales pop up with enough frequency on the album that they could even be regarded as a recurring motif.

“War-Torn Johnny” challenges the very notion of what is rock or jazz with a churning rhythm pattern evolving into a chorused Andy Summers-like head. Krantz has an opportunity to employ his quiver of sounds, most particularly the ring modulator. Carlock’s drumming has an almost African feel and timbre, another subliminal theme or subtext in the album, invoking talking drums and Moroccan hand drums. The interface between the mechanical (the ring modulator) and the real (Mr. Carlock, himself, surrounded by “skins”) becomes blurred.

The haunting “Rushdie” will recall guitarists Pat Metheny or Richard Thompson, but is wholly Krantz. It is one of the masterworks on the record with extraordinary performances by all. The second section of the tune features yet another descending scale with Lefebvre doubling Krantz over Carlock’s hybrid of swamp and military press rolls. A bridging section with Krantz on acoustic and Lefebvre, both soloing against each other, leads to an overpowering shattering electric section with Carlock unleashed playing 16ths then back to the main theme with a slight coda. The whole track is 3:59, but it’s all in there. All of it.

“Wine is the Thread” has a pleasant double-tracked vocal by Krantz and more shadowing of Krantz by Lefebvre. Lefebvre has his job cut out for him, locking in with Carlock or doubling Krantz’ impossibly syncopated lines. The melody goes into whole-tone territory, taking it out of the tonality and there’s a nasty treble overdrive lead which neatly plays against the A section.

The next track, the languidly magisterial “The Earth from Above,” is an essential distillation of everything important about the record. More echoes of vintage Richard Thompson with those open-stringed chords (or is he playing in a tuning?), sounding like something from the drone-y era of Thompson’s “Pour Down like Silver.” The descending scale is heard once more. Kudos must go to an understated Carlock. It’s not easy playing at a tempo this slow and the counterpoint between Lefebvre and Krantz is uncanny.

But, then in surprising fashion, we are woken from our dream state and thrown into the drums ‘n’ bass world of “Left it on the Playground,” sounding ever so much like a bang-your-head track from Squarepusher or Aphex Twin, with Carlock playing for real what those artists would have programmed. Krantz’ ring modulator work is extreme, sounding like a mad gamelan, with Lefebvre playing post-bop lines underneath. For all the notes, all the wonderful ring modulator space-age acid kitsch, this is really Carlock’s show. He alternates patterns at breakneck speed while never losing the funk, and delivers an inhumanly great performance for the books. If there is any criticism to be made, it might be that the track, the longest on the record at 8:59, goes on a bit and would not have suffered if it had been trimmed by a minute or so.

“Jeff Beck” follows, written for the man himself who elected not to perform it. Perhaps that is not surprising considering that it is difficult to assess what, beyond a few bluesy phrases, actually constitutes the song. It seems thin and lacks an emotional center, but Krantz and Lefebvre both shine with tight, funky playing.

There is no thinness at all with the manic, punk, noisy, adrenalized “I Was Like” which has so much going at once that your neighbors might think, during the solo section, that you are playing some industrial noise record. There’s a kind of hysterical busyness here that exhilarates, much like finding yourself in the middle of a riot. It features a frantic, almost out-of-breath Krantz vocal, not double-tracked, and is intended to be played loud.

“Mosley” (yet another song with a writer’s name) has a dirty, swampy groove that works as a soundtrack to Walter Mosley’s smog noir novels. Krantz gets an amazing overdriven wah-wah sound and when Lefebvre kicks in to the second section, the tune glides along on the bouncy shocks of a Roadmaster.

“Holy Joe” takes us back into manic land with the ring modulator with both Lefebvre and Carlock providing punchy accents. The tune ascends into a punk metal place, counterbalanced by an acoustic deftly placed in the mix.

But peace eventually comes to all: The album ends with “Rugged Individual,” another tune that seems to encompass everything right about the band and this album. Krantz’ Tyler is viscous, gliding through the opening contemplative theme, with a B section resolving into a bridge that has Krantz chording beautifully on the 1 and the 3. After an extended break with very subtle wah-wah, the bridge is repeated at the end, with Carlock playing so extraordinarily underneath (it’s basically a drum solo), that this listener could have heard an entire album of nothing but that section repeated endlessly.

Wayne Krantz continues to evolve. In some ways, he has come full circle back to the tight statements of “Signals,” but informed with even more confidence and the considerably freer playing and sonic expansion of the last ten years. With Krantz Carlock Lefebvre, he is affecting the kind of sea change that will be talked about by guitarists for years to come, much in the same way that John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Inner Mounting Flame” affected an earlier generation of guitarists.

I cannot recommend a CD more highly.