Pablo Casals LP SIDE 1 SIDE 2 Alternate takes March 2010 Superimposed... Stellar Regions (2 takes) Sun Star (2) All tracks simultaneously (8) All tracks simultaneously (6) Nature Boy (2 takes) Check Out Time (2) Broad Way Blues (2) All tracks simultaneously (6) Exotica (2) Like Sonny (2) I'll Wait and Pray (2) Body and Soul (2) Giant Steps (11) Naima (4) Cousin Mary (2) Countdown (2) Tunji (4) Impressions (2) Africa (2) Greensleeves (2) Leap Frog (3) Relaxin with Lee (3) An Oscar for Treadwell (2) Mohawk (2) My Melancholy Baby (2) Laura (2) I'm in the Mood for Love (2) I'll Remember April (2) Au Privave (2) She Wrote (2) Why Do I Love You (3) Swedish Schnapps (2) Bach Home Blues (2) La Cucaracha (2) Estrellita (3) Kim (2) Cosmic Rays (2) In the Still of the Night (4) Old Folks (3) Chi Chi (4) I Get a Kick Out of You (4) Love For Sale (2) I Love Paris (2) I Remember You (3) You Don't Know What Love Is (2) Foolin' Myself (2) It's You Or No One (2) Out of Nowhere (2) There's Danger in Your Eyes (2) Cherokee (2) Carvin' the Rock (2) Wail Bait (2) Verdandi (2) Dalarna (2) Gypsy Without A Song (2) Yokada, Yokada (2) Ode to Von (2) Smokestack (2) Pumpkin (2) Black (2) Gerstein-Malaby Quartet Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Dan Peck, tuba; Ches Smith, drums; Ben Gerstein, trombone, compositions February 13, 2010 - Cornelia St. Cafe, NYC photos: Peter Gannushkin / DOWNTOWNMUSIC.NET 40:20 The hunting horns of Royale Foret Saint-Hubert! 1. La Saint Hubert 0'52 2. Le Nouveau Depart 0'49 3. Le Clocher de Dampierre 1'10 4. La Royale 0'39 Trio improvisations Michael Attias, alto saxophone; Ben Gerstein, trombone; Mat Maneri, viola November 10, 2009 - live from the Douglass St. Music Collective Part 1 24:35 Part 2 23:24 The sound of... 24 pianos All 24 Opus 87 Preludes by Shostakovich begun simultaneously, directly followed by all the Fugues, in the same fashion. 1. 11:28 Seven sublime recordings of different "Nocturno Responsorium" by Gesualdo played simultaneously 1. 4:45 Evil Eye Mike Pride - drums, compositions; Jonathan Moritz - saxophone, compositions Ben Gerstein - trombone; Ken Filiano - bass November 2, 2009, live from Local 269, NYC 1. 38:49 A very rare album by one of the greatest Shakuhachi players that ever lived, Watazumi Doso Roshi. More information about Watazumi as well as an invaluable transcript of a talk he gave can be found here. Background on each of the pieces below can be found here. Enjoy... 1. Saji 2. Hon Shirabe 3. Sugagaki 4. Mushirabe 5. Tsura no Sugomori 6. San'ya 7. San'an 8. Sagari Ha (Kansai) 9. Sagari Ha (Oshu) 10. Koku 11. Tamuke 12. Hi Fu Mi no Shirabe 13. Hon Shirabe 14. Yamagoe 15. Shingetsu T H E G A T E S Ben Gerstein - trombone, record players Jacob Sacks (left), Craig Taborn (right) - farfisa organ Thomas Morgan (left), Eivind Opsvik (right) - bass Dan Weiss (left), John McLellan (right) - drums Jacob Garchik - computer, accordion September 18, 2009 - New Languages Festival, Brooklyn, NY 1:05:49 Zabaleta x 3 17:57 Three LPs of harpist Nicanor Zabaleta begun simultaneously, conducted with the volume knobs. Left: Record 2, Side 1 - 18th century: CPE Bach and Beethoven's Variations on a Swiss Theme Center: Record 3, Side 2 - Modern French and Spanish: Caplet, Pittaluga, Tournier, Haiffter Right: Record 1, Side 1 - 16th century: Anonymous, Mudarra, Narvaez, Cabezon, Milan, Palero Pauline Kael And Stan Brakhage (1964?) ”Legendary film critic Pauline Kael is captured here in conversation with filmmaker Stan Brakhage. While the tape is incomplete, we do hear Brakhage defend his practice, his epic film DOG STAR MAN, his influences, his search for ‘ a happening in structure’… Brakhage proudly declares: ‘I'm an amateur filmmaker, I make home movies.’” —Ubu.com, Rare Audio from Anthology Film Archives ________________________________ Stan Brakhage... nothing could stop him, His Life was his Art... But Pauline Kael?? Never made a film in her entire life, and became an esthetic snob who found a sense of "prestige" for herself by trying to get in between artists and their work and its audience rather than make her own... in other words, attempting to almost take away credit from the artist and use it to build her own sense of "notoriety" or "achievement"... KuhlSteinMcManLiotGenfritz June 18, 2009 Tim Kuhl - drums, group; Ben Gerstein - trombone; Terry McManus - guitar; Frantz Loriot - viola; James Ilgenfritz - bass 57:13 St. John ~ Rain June 2009 day night Take the A Train Canal street, 11:30pm - 0:57 Oum Kalthoum One of her greatest recordings... Side 1, Side 2 The Seven Themes Playing simultaneously all seven of "The Theme"s from the Plugged Nickel recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet The Themes 10:22 Szeryng, Milstein, Heifetz Three LPs combined of them each playing Bach's G minor violin sonata Szeryng-Milstein-Heifetz 16:42 Gurdjieff A beautiful record of G.I. Gurdjieff's piano music. The only information on it is "played by Thomas de Hartmann." There is no date or label. Side 1, Side 2 Beethreeven Three LPs mixed together of three different string quartets (the Budapest, Amadeus and Yale) each playing the adagio from Beethoven's A-minor opus 132 1. Molto adagio - Andante - Molto adagio 17:15 YouTube collage gramaphone, nyc setting sun, talking bird dogs beethoven piano concerto no. 4 cat shitting, shaolin finger balance japanese village singing, baby lauging, con edison truck, sea turtle the 100-meter dash gregorian chant, tuvan throat singing, gagaku, native american powwow music box pieces scriabin op. 8 no. 12 maria callas chess modal analysis rakugo September 2008 Trio Improvisations with Dave Ballou, trumpet; James Ilgenfritz, bass live from Le Grand Dakar, Brooklyn one 17:28 two 4:11 three 10:47 four 6:28 Baby Records Two beat-up copies of the same old favorite baby record playing from two portable suitcase turntables simultaneously Sides 1 Sides 2 Trio Improvisations with Brandon Seabrook, banjo; Frantz Loriot, viola part 1 16:09 part 2 2:26 part 3 18:54 July 2008 Kol Nidre in Moscow September 15, 1956 side 1 23:39 side 2 22:05 side 3 21:52 side 4 23:21 Addio Del Passato (La Traviata - Verdi) 4:24 June 2008 Not for the timid. Two very different things put together to breed a new listening experience. Curiosity does not kill the cat. A performance of Bach's organ music by Helmut Walcha combined with some random hardcore porn off of the web. Interviewer Didn't you say somewhere, "I am for obscenity and against pornography"? Henry Miller Well, it's very simple. The obscene would be the forthright, and pornography would be the roundabout. I believe in saying the truth, coming out with it cold, shocking if necessary, not disguising it. In other words, obscenity is a cleansing process, whereas pornography only adds to the murk. J.X. Bach 4:40 Backyard, home in Santa Barbara... April 2008 1. Rain 16:00 2. Wind 2:14:40 3. Dawn 1:51:28 March 14, 2008 The sound of all Bach's Goldberg Variations playing simultaneously - Glenn Gould, 1981. 1. Goldberg Variations Variation 6:03 February 24, 2008 Olivier Messiaen's Livre d'Orgue, which I recorded organist Gail Archer performing in a free concert given at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on w. 73rd St. 1. Reprises par Interversion 7:47 2. Piece en Trio 2:05 3. Les Mains de l'Abime 6:24 4. Chants d'Oiseaux 9:54 5. Piece en Trio 10:19 6. Les Yeux Dans les Roues 2:15 7. Soixante Quatre Durees 11:37 A very obscure Hungarian LP of bird song. Beautiful, complex calls presented at their original speeds and then much slower Notes from the jacket as follows. Side A 24:17 Side B 20:53 Mirra Alfassa Also known as The Mother, I recently came across Mirra Alfassa for the first time in the sixth episode of Louis Malle's Phantom India (1969), at the ashram of Pondicherry. Alfassa was the spiritual guru to that area. Cameramen were not allowed to film her, only record her voice. What she said, the sound of her voice - I was so struck by it... This is a beautiful book... The Mother speaks 1:36 Translation: It never happens the same way twice. Generally, it happens when we least expect it. And it’s usually when we’ve surrendered our so-called knowledge, our convictions, and abandoned all hope that we enter a state where we’re able to receive it. Revelation is always present. It’s always here. We’re the ones who don’t let it in. Knowledge is always present. Enlightenment is always present, floating above everything, ready to be received. It’s only because we’re so completely blinded by everything we think we know and want to do that we can’t receive it. But at the moment we surrender, for whatever reason, it makes us a bit passive and open, and that’s when we receive it. ... "Phantom India" Hours of beautiful footage documented by filmmaker Louis Malle in the early 1960s. This has just recently been made available on dvd, and I couldn't more highly recommend something to see, or hear. So for that matter, here are the sound environments of it all which I recorded and spliced out the French commentary from episode 1 - the impossible camera 15:27 episode 2 - things seen in madras 17:34 episode 3 - the indians and the sacred 17:00 episode 4 - dream and reality 19:47 episode 5 - a look at castes 25:26 episode 6 - on the fringes of indian society 10:44 episode 7 - bombay 28:10 Turkish ney solo Manipulated with the fast-forward and rewind buttons on a cd player. November 17, 2007 1. Track 1 8:30 Gerstein, Attias, McManus Ben Gerstein - trombone; Michael Attias - alto saxophone; Terry McManus - guitar Recorded live at the Downtown Music Gallery October 21, 2007 1. part 1 14:46 2. part 2 13:04 3. part 3 9:13 Rye Beach, New Hampshire July 2007 1. "birds, backyard, wind in the trees, road" 2:07 2. "ocean" 6:28 Jacob Sacks Quintet Ben Gerstein [nearer to mic], Jacob Garchik - trombone; Jacob Sacks - piano, composition Dave Ambrosio - bass; Vinnie Sperrazza - drums May 25, 2007 Rose Music Live - Williamsburg, Brooklyn New Languages Festival 1. "Two" 8:10 Mike Pride's Drummer's Corpse February 21, 2007 - Tonic, NYC Mike Pride, vocals; Chris Welcome, guitar; Ben Gerstein, drums, along with four other percussionists scattered around the space. "A 33-minute, multi-layer, polyrhythmic, hyper-dense, drone-based catharsis music for drummers composed by Mike Pride." - Mike Pride excerpt 6:51 Tony Malaby, Ben Gerstein, Marcus Rojas, Tom Rainey December 1, 2006 - Cornelia St. Cafe, NYC excerpt 1 10:23 excerpt 2 8:49 Mat Maneri's PENTAGON Mat Maneri - viola; Joe Maneri - reeds and organ; Ben Gerstein - trombone; Craig Taborn - piano and electronics; Ed Schuller - bass; John McLellan - drums Album available on Thirsty Ear Records These in fact were to become the last public performances by Joe Maneri (1927-2009)... October 21, 2006 - live in Maine Part 1 37:51 Part 2 18:39 Part 3 11:09 October 22, 2006 - live in Cambridge Part 1 21:56 Part 2 22:07 Part 3 12:14 October 23, 2006 - live in Montreal Part 1 30:47 Part 2 25:43 Part 3 10:05 Joe Maneri 1:02 October 25, 2006 - live in Philadelphia Part 1 24:46 Part 2 47:46 October 26, 2006 - live in NYC Part 1 33:33 Part 2 6:49 music for MORT Musical excerpts from the play MORT, which I arranged and performed music for in its first two and only performances on August 3 and 4, 2006. These particular collage pieces consist of sound only from music by Morton Feldman. They were assembled collaboratively with tenor saxophonist/composer Sam Hillmer #24 Broken Music Himalayas Jigsaw Luft Impressions x 10 July 7, 2007 The sound of ten different recordings of John Coltrane playing "Impressions" going simulatenously. Rather difficult to listen to, but interesting I think... 1. "Impressions x 10" 20:54 FRACTAL March 4, 2006 Sampled from an old episode of Police Squad (the joke was a suspect's name, Eddie Cassalas, "rang a bell," so a bell kept going off) "FRACTAL" (3min. 4sec.) with TONE COLLECTOR Ben Gerstein, trombone; Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Jeff Davis, drums website January 22, 2006, Second Set, at Bar4, Brooklyn, NY. Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 with Joe and Mat Maneri Joe Maneri, alto saxophone; Ben Gerstein, trombone; Mat Maneri, viola; Jacob Sacks, keyboard; John Hebert, bass; John McLellan, drums January 12, 2006 at BARBES, Brooklyn, NY. Track 1 RACHMANINOFF OFF Rachmaninoff-off 3:37 with TONE COLLECTOR Tony Malaby, tenor saxophone; Eivind Opsvik, bass; Jeff Davis, drums Tone Collector website November 8, 2005 at Koze Lounge, Brooklyn, NY. Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2 SOUND COLLAGE July 2005 Various musical excerpts affected and blended together with the computer. Collage BEATSHELL 1.4 April 18, 2005 In collaboration with drummer, composer and long-time friend Doug Hirlinger, Beatshell 1.4 was assembled over the course of many weeks, sending a sound file back and forth to each other through e-mail. An initial sample from an electronic piece by composer Charles Wuornen got us going, from which point sounds were set from sources such as Fellini's Satyricon (Ilhan Mimaroglu), Kieslowski's Dekalog, Morton Feldman, Mario Davidovsky, Olivier Messiaen, Bela Bartok, Alban Berg, John Cage, Harrison Birtwistle, George Crumb... many old things going back to the days of mini disc recorders and the Manhattan School of Music library. Beatshell 1.4 a Jacob Sacks quintet Live at the Friend's Seminary, NYC January 14, 2005 Jacob Sacks - piano; Ben Gerstein - trombone (first solo); Jacob Garchik - trombone; Thomas Morgan - bass; Dan Weiss - drums Track 1 WFMU RADIO BROADCAST with Mat Maneri and John McLellan Recorded August 19, 2004, from 2:00-6:00am. We had just recently recorded Mat's new record, "Pentagon" Trio set #1 (18MB) Trio set #2 (9MB) Complete 4 hour broadcast Desseins Eternels - Olivier Messiaen Composed by Olivier Messiaen and originally conceived as the third movement of La Nativite du Seigneur (The Birth of the Lord - Nine Meditations for Organ), I arranged to play as a soloist with The Metro Trombone Ensemble. This recording was from a concert on June 22, 2004 at St. James Catholic Church in Brooklyn, NY. Moments before this performance began, birds outside just beyond the stained-glass windows began chirping excitedly in the dark blue glow of an early summer evening. Desseins Eternels trio improvisations June 10, 2004 Eivind Opsvik, bass - right channel Thomas Morgan, bass - left channel one two three three, part two four duet with Thomas (1999) An old exercise of mine: playing Coltrane's long 1961 V. Vanguard "Impressions" solo on melodica along with the record... 14:42 CHINATOWN RECORDINGS, LOOPS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16