Composer, flutist and conductor James Newton is a verifiable legend in the avant-garde music world. Amongst his contemporaries, his name is synonymous with dedicated and adventurous exploration of the deepest expressions through both composition and improvisation. His latest album The Manual of Light is a gorgeous collection of chamber music and solo pieces written over the last decade, book-ended by two stunning renditions of “Amazing Grace” for string orchestra. Enlisting some of Los Angeles’s best instrumentalists to deliver masterful performances of his spiritually rich compositions, Newton’s new opus is a journey into the divine.
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Photograph by Joey Wharton
David Dominique's "Mask" is a Surrealist Cross-Genre Expression of Angst & Catharsis
Sometimes a mask is as revealing as what lies beneath. Written over eight years, Mask, the new Orenda Records release from composer, bandleader and brass player David Dominique, bounds between styles, strategies, attitudes and textures. Somehow, the project furthers the language Dominique developed on his enthralling 2013 album, Ritual, while offering a perpetual sense of surprise.
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L-R: Scot Ray, Joseph Berardi, Steuart Liebig, Bill Barrett, Tony Atherton, Dan Clucas
Bassist Extraordinaire Steuart Liebig Resurrects his Men-Tot Six for "Last Call"
The idea for this project started back in 2008. I would take two related bands that I’d been writing for—The Mentones (Tony Atherton, Bill Barrett, Joe Berardi, me) and the Tee-Tot Quartet (Dan Clucas, Scot Ray, Joe Berardi, me)—and combine them. I started to write the music, I started the artwork, I had the album title—but life and the world intervened.
Then in 2017, I had the opportunity to play a fairly high-profile gig and I asked to do this, my deferred dream band. The presenter put faith in me (thank you, Lisa Mezzacappa!) and Men-Tot Six was back.
NYC Instrumental Rock Trio TWIN WHALES releases "Watt Doom" on Orenda Records
On their debut album Watt Doom, the instrumental group Twin Whales synthesizes disparate landscapes, divergent sonic backgrounds, and a shifting musical direction. Think improvisation, think modularity, think inspiration. Formed in 2015, the group has found a voice in music that they refer to as “pure survival mode” – frenetic and complex stuff that allows for unpredictable stylistic shifts and moments of quiet beauty.
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Daniel Corral releases Polytope on September 28, with October release shows
On September 28, 2018, Orenda Records will release Polytope by Los Angeles composer Daniel Corral. Polytope will be available on all major streaming platforms, as a digital download, and on CD. The Los Angeles Exchange (LAX) Festival will present 2 album release shows on October 17 and 19 at the Think Tank Gallery in Los Angeles.
Polytope is an aural vortex of electronic minimalism and alternate tuning that recalls classic experimental electronic albums like Terry Riley’s Shri Camel, Aphex Twin’sSelected Ambient Works Volume II, Laurie Spiegel’s The Expanding Universe, or Eliane Radigue’s Trilogie de la Mort. Sequenza 21 praised Polytope as “an extraordinary piece of musical and visual art… that is both accessible and compelling,” SF Gate hailed it as “a mesmerizing visual and musical spectacle,” and The Stranger described it as “gamelan from Pluto—or maybe ’70s Philip Glass as interpreted by Harry Partch on his Cloud-Chamber Bowls.”
Polytope album release shows at LAX Festival
The LAX Festival will present 2 live performance of Polytope on October 17 and 19 at the Think Tank Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. In live performance, Polytope is a multimedia blend of a string quartet, Kraftwerk, James Turrell, and an Indonesian dhalang (master shadow puppeteer). Performed entirely in darkness, it’s a mesmerizing dance of silhouettes of fingers over colorful glowing diamonds, captured on live feed video and projected large and bright as an evolving visual score. For these performances, Corral will be joined by musicians Erin Barnes, Cory Beers, and Andrew Lessman.
Live Dates
Think Tank Gallery
939 Maple Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015
October 17, 8pm
October 19, 10pm
Tickets available soon from Los Angeles Performance Practice