mutablemusic
109 west 27 street, eighth floor, ny, ny 10001
phone 212 627 0990 fax 212 627 5504 email info@mutablemusic.
www.mutablemusic.
May 2009 Release
LOCAL CUSTOMS
TOM HAMILTON
(Mutable 17533-2)
(UPC: 801021753322)
Jacqueline Martelle, flute; Richard Cohen, clarinets; James Martin,
trombone; Terry Kippenberger, contrabass; Rich O¹Donnell, percussion; Tom
Hamilton, electronic harmony generator
Composer Tom Hamilton¹s stunning new CD, Local Customs, explores some
obscure notions about music theory and performance practice, leading to
sound combinations that are at once unsettling and yet somehow familiar. One
discovers that there is very little in Local Customs that follows from
conventionally intentional music writing. It is perhaps better to regard it
as a group of artifacts of little-known origins, modified through new
transformations into something further unexplained.
The foundation for the piece is an "electronic harmony generator" that plays
an endless sequence of chords exhibiting curious relationships with no
purposeful direction. The musical lines for the ensemble consisting of
flute, clarinets, trombone, contrabass, percussion, and electronic harmony -
accumulated from coding and decoding various readings, investigations, and
experiences during a summer residency in Italy.
Tom Hamilton has been composing and performing for over 40 years, and his
work with electronic music originated in the late-60s era of analog
synthesis. He often explores the interaction of many simultaneous layers of
activity, prompting the use of "present-time listening" on the part of both
performer and listener. Hamilton appears on synthesizer in his own
ensembles, and has participated in groups led by Peter Zummo, David Soldier,
and Michael Schumacher. He has recently performed with Thomas Buckner, Lisle
Ellis, Chris Mann, Al Margolis, and Jacqueline Martelle. His CD London Fix
received an award in the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. He is a longtime member
of composer Robert Ashley's touring opera ensemble, and his work can be
found in over 60 CD releases of new and experimental music. Hamilton¹s CD
Shadow Machine with guitarist Bruce Eisenbeil has just been released as well
on the Pogus label.
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