san francisco bay area monthly publication for experimental/improvised/ noise/electronic/freejazz/ outrock/21st century music and sonic art April 2001 McDonald's), which by continually prof- invaluable, yet deeply conservative musi- What is Creative fering the latest product, erode our cians who, by failing to acknowledge and attention span and seduce us with address the musical issues of our time, Music? ephemeral crap. remain doomed to conserve and per- by Christopher DeLaurenti chance propagate - not create - the music “Destroying the past is a losing Paradoxically, the 20th century has of the past. game; the past cannot be destroyed; it been the most radical and most conserva- merely wears out.” tive musical era in history. No one can dis- Creative music is not conservative. Virgil Thomson, American Music Since pute the astonishing legion of radical Composed or improvised, creative music 1910, page 80, Holt Rinehart 1971 compositions that have transformed the grapples with the unresolved musical context, identity and essence of music as issues of our time: polyphonic and poly- Describing creative music as adven- well the inexorable profusion of that temporal rhythm, the movement of turous, exploratory, and experimental most conservative of musical forms, the sound in space, the social context of per- decisively throws down a gauntlet. song. Forgive me if I refer to song-based formance, re-defining or attacking the "What is creative music?" is a qualitative musics such the blues, rock and roll, pop, traditional parameters of music (form, question which suggests that those not R&B, hip-hop, et al., as "rock" but since melody, harmony, etc.) from moment to making creative music are not creative. these genres all suffer from statically moment, the identity of musical instru- No one wants thousands of dollars and deployed periodic rhythms and the for- ments, and soon. Elaborating my years of hard work invested in a groovy mulaic prominence of words as well as abridged list would devour hundreds of world music record to seem laughable the predictable repetition of sections, pages; to define them here might suggest and irrelevant, but asking qualitative timbral aggregates, dynamics, and pitch a Canon Law of Creative Music, which questions invariably tramples someone's sequences, the rubric of "rock" suffices. might only be useful to me. Creative feelings. Rock has been accused of being the music music stands in essential opposition to of old men, but too many old men and the social and sonic strictures of our time. Some may complain that delineating old women have made music that out- Creative music is the subversive, creative creative music is elitist, but if you are shines their younger colleagues. These spark cupped furtively in one's hands, a reading this in the United States, count conservative musics are really the music shield against the deaf and dumb bluster yourself among an elite who enjoy the of old minds in thrall to old ideas. of society. benefits of paved roads, disease-free san- itation and plenty of food and shelter for Rock musicians are the Pat It is foolish to proclaim one form of you to purchase, scrounge, or steal. An Buchanans of the music world. Pat music as universally superior to another, elite is a small self-selected group who Buchanan and other conservative politi- just as it is outrageous to expect someone place their interest to be above and supe- cians of his ilk, despite being sincerely to choose between conservative or cre- rior to those outside the group. Most patriotic Americans, persist as unwitting ative music. Adventurous musicians, elites exact a substantial monetary or at fossils of an earlier, anti-queer era. Yet in unlike many of their conservative com- least a sartorial toll for admission, but all forms of music, we need antiquarians: rades, should be conversant with all entering the world of creative music Mozart on period instruments in a small forms of music. I believe that compared merely demands an ability to listen, sus- hall, the reunited Temptations at the to conservative music, creative music tain attention, and challenge your own local Bijou, punk rockers cavorting on a offers a deeper, richer experience. After conceptions of music. Like any pursuit of beer-glazed stage, and for lack of a bet- hearing Igor Stravinsky’s Movements (or an uncommon pleasure, the quest to ter term, "heritage" or "world musicians" even The Rite!), Alice Shields’ experience and understand creative music who perpetuate traditional music. Transformation of Ani, Sun Ra’s The Magic is not easy; indeed it is a lifetime struggle Unfortunately some of these artists need City or any among a mile-long list of cre- against cultural forces (such as TV and to be reminded who they are skilled, ative music, most mainstream music sounds laughable, irrelevant and emo- tionally feeble. No prose can prove my point. Exploration and experience of all music is the only path. Christopher DeLaurenti is a Seattle-based composer and improvisor. http://www.delaurenti.net/ has more of his writing and music. With Alex Keller he per- forms as rebreather, improvising live elec- tronic music from the digital glossolalia of sabotaged consumer electronics, home- brew circuits and obsolete devices. Meridian Music: Composers in Performance proudly presents Tom Bickley performing original compositions for recorder and electronics Friday, April 6, 2001 8pm Meridian Gallery 545 Sutter, San Francisco (between Mason and Powell) $10 / $5 students&impoverished artists 415.398.7229 [email protected] http://www.meridiangallery.org thetransbay Creative Music Calendar [email protected] 1502 8th st. oakland, ca 94607 please send us your street address to to have the transbay delivered to you! April 2001 wed Mar28 CW Saloon[sf] Ruins and Spezza Rotto ACME Observatory fri Mar30 Mills College[oakland] 8p free a series of The Future of American Transportation Opera-Anesthesia in Five Acts by Jorge Boehringer contemporary music fri-sat Mar30-31 7Hz[sf] 8p $10-15 2nd Annual Music For a New Mess Festival KittenSparkles/RedAviator/Terrorstate/Svstriate sunday01 [from italy] WetGate/Jfrede/B>O>L>T/Schematic/Test: Carlo Actis Dato mon Apr02 21Grand[oakland] $6-10 8p solo saxophone Carlo Actis Dato/Damon Smith/Gino Robair mon Apr02 Hertz[berkeley] 8p Imbrie/Wilson/Lerdahl/Kirchner/Del Tredici/others wed Apr04 Kimo's Carnival Ad Nauseam[sf] 9p theEmergency String Quartet Vinkoloe/Smith/Francis/Elisha/Lane/Wright Tom Swafford violin Jeff Hobbs violin thu-fri Apr05-06 RovatÈ[sf] 8p [see back page] Bob Marsh cello/violin Adam Lane cello sat Apr07 NewLangtonArts[sf] 8p $8/$6 Scott Rosenberg Skronktet A SPECIAL FREE SHOW! sat Apr07 KALX[90.7fm] 9p Modular Set Live Performance sunday15 Biggi Vinkeloe [sax from sweden] mon Apr09 SFConservatory[sf] 8p with George Cremaschi[bass] Miya Masaoka[koto] NME: Imbrie/Dvdvsky/Hrbsn/Ptrsn/Crtr/others Gino Robair[percussion] wed Apr11 MillsColl.EnsRm[oakland] 7:30p free [reeds from chicago] Diana Dabby: Musical Variations from Chaos Scott Rosenberg Skronktet wed-sat Apr11-14 ODC[sf] 8p $18 Morgan Guberman[bass] matt ingalls[clarinet] queer Chamber Opera by Erling Wold Gino Robair[percussion] John Shiurba[guitar] thu Apr12 Mills College[oakland] 8p free David Gunn, Thesis Concert Left Coast Improv Group mon Apr16 Yerba Buena Forum[sf] 8p $18/$5 Ernesto Diaz-Infante[guitar] Shoko Hikage[koto] Earplay: Imbrie/Thow/Hartke/Shin Na/D'Alessio Scott Looney[elec] Bob Marsh[cello]Jim Ryan[sax] wed Apr18 Mills College[oakland] 8p free sun 18 | 8pm Julie Homi, Thesis Concert 19 Exclusive Bay Area Appearance fri Apr20 SFConservatory[sf] 8p thursday Student Composition Concert [from switzerland] sat Apr21 NewLangtonArts[sf] 8p $8/$6 James Goode, electronics Robert Dick sun Apr22 SFConservatory[sf] 8p solo flutes and with special guests Percussion Ensemble sun Apr22 SFSU McKenna Theater[sf] 3p free Kim Kashkashian, contemporary violin John Ingle mon Apr23 Hertz[berkeley] 8p solo saxophones ContempChamberPlayers: Electronic Music tue Apr24 Mills College[oakland] 8p free [from spain] 29 Contemporary Performance Ensemble, F.Frith, dir. sunday wed-sat Apr25-28 Davies[sf] 8p Koji Asano SFS: Ligeti Atmospheres/Bartók Str/Perc/Clste powerful but sensitive music created by using a laptop computer fri Apr27 MillsColl.ArtGallery[oakland] 8p free and microphone feedback Kristin Miltner, Thesis Concert sat Apr28 NewLangtonArts[sf] 8p $8/$6 Loren Chasse Hugh Livingston/Xu Bing: Cello & Chinese Chars a recreation of a dioramic miniature sat Apr28 W.W.'sFingerPalace[ 903 cedar, berk] 8p $10 landscape that uses its materials as Goodman/Vinkeloe/Masaoka/Robair/Cremaschi instruments while simultaneously sun Apr29 Mills College[oakland] 2p free attempting to activate the inherent Kymberly Jackson, Thesis Concert ambience of the performance space mon Apr30 Yerba Buena Forum[sf] 8p All ACME Observatory performances start at 8pm promptly at SFCMP: Bartok/Kurtag/Ligeti/Veress Tuva Space 3192 Adeline @ MLK Street in Berkeley, CA. 1 block from through may18 Berkeley Art Museum ASHBY BART [Look for the "ANT" sign] - Your donation at the door Ed Osborn: Sound Installation [we suggest $9.99] is greatly appreciated! NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY WITH A SMALLER DONATION. Set Order TBA. Info/booking: Please send your May Events to [email protected] 510.649.8744 http://sfSound.org/acme.html [email protected] by April 15.