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Box 2842, San Anselmo, CA 94960. e-mail: [email protected]. 21ST CENTURY MUSIC November 2000 Volume 7, Number 11 INTERVIEW Micromanagement with Dean Drummond 1 MARK ALBURGER CONCERT REVIEWS Simply Gifted 4 LAURIE HUDICEK Proms of Promise 4 JOHN RODNEY LISTER Classy Glass 5 MICHAEL MCDONAGH Tricky Thomas at SF Symphony 6 MARK ALBURGER No Saint to Remember 7 MICHAEL MCDONAGH Same Old Same New 7 MARK ALBURGER RECORD REVIEWS Diaz-Infante Double 8 DAVID CLEARY One from Opus One 8 DAVID CLEARY Many Hued Hyla 8 DAVID CLEARY Hyperblue 9 DAVID CLEARY Newmark of the Green Angel 9 DAVID CLEARY Paulus Fantasy 10 DAVID CLEARY Tapestry of the Americas 10 DAVID CLEARY BOOK REVIEW Sound Visions 11 MICHAEL MCDONAGH CALENDAR For November 2000 8 CHRONICLE Of September 2000 11 WRITERS 14 ILLUSTRATIONS i Harry Partch - Gourd Tree and Cone Gongs 3 Dean Drummond 11 "The sound track is photographed" (World Book) 14 Alban Berg with a portrait of himself by Arnold Schoenberg 17 George Crumb - Vox Balaenae (beginning - Peters) Micromanagement with Dean Drummond MARK ALBURGER Dean Drummond is a composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, ALBURGER: How did you hook up with Don Ellis? music instrument inventor, co-director of Newband and Director of the Harry Partch Instrument Collection. Born in 1949 in Los DRUMMOND: While in high school, I chanced to see an ad placed Angeles, Drummond received degrees in music composition from the by Don Ellis offering trumpet and jazz lessons. I remember I was University of Southern California (Bachelor of Music, 1971) and about to turn 16 because I was just learning to drive and it was big California Institute of the Arts (Master of Fine Arts, 1973). While a deal to drive one hour each way across Los Angeles -- from San student, he studied trumpet with Don Ellis and John Clyman, Pedro to the San Fernando Valley -- for a trumpet lesson. composition with Leonard Stein, and worked as musician for and assistant to Harry Partch, performing in the premieres of Partch’s ALBURGER: What was it like to study with him? Daphne of the Dunes, And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, and Delusion of the Fury, as well as on both Columbia DRUMMOND: It was great. I give Don credit for introducing me to Masterworks recordings made during the late 60's. In 1976, a lot, from Luciano Berio to Indian music, from Leonard Stein with Drummond moved to New York, where he co-founded Newband the whom I studied species counterpoint to Harry Partch, who became following year with flutist Stefani Starin. Since 1977, Drummond my main mentor and a great inspiration. has been engaged in a multi-faceted career including composition, hundreds of performances, recordings, production of Harry Partch’s ALBURGER: So it was through Ellis that you met Harry Partch? music theatre works, encouragement and education of composers interested in new microtonal resources, and many educational DRUMMOND: Yes. I was still 16 (in the fall 1965) when Don activities for children. loaned me the Gate 5 recording of Revelation in the Courthouse Park and gave me a number to call to attend one of Harry Partch's I met Dean Drummond at his guest accommodations in a decidedly rehearsals. I called and ended up attending a demonstration of the downscale San Francisco hotel on Saturday, September 25, 1999 -- instruments, mostly by Emil Richards, attempting to enlist some two days after his amazing concert of Harry Partch's and his own young studio percussionists to play Harry's music. I was absolutely music at Yerba Buena Center. blown away by the instruments, by the demonstration and by Harry himself, who wouldn't answer any of my many questions and told me to read his book. It was easy to see that musicians were needed. I, ALBURGER: Nice to see they're putting you up in such style. probably naively, expressed interest in playing and left my number. A couple months later, Harry called and asked me to play in what DRUMMOND: Yes! turned out to be the premiere of And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma, which happened during May 1966. During the summer ALBURGER: At least the concert certainly had style. after Petals, I tried to help Harry organize some rehearsals of Delusion of the Fury but it proved to be a premature attempt. I also DRUMMOND: Now of course it's a bit of a blur. We have helped Harry a little, driving him on errands. By this time, I had performed some of those pieces so many times that I can't remember read his book -- some of it twice -- and also we got into huge specific performances so well. I did think the performance of my discussions in which I would basically pick his brain or we would Congressional Record was one of our best. discuss the meaning of corporeality: what was corporeal and what wasn't. In the fall of 1966, I began studies at University of Southern ALBURGER: How does your personal record begin? California and didn't see much of Harry until he called me and invited me to serve as his assistant the following year at University of DRUMMOND: I got started by signing up for trumpet when band California at San Diego. The next year was one of the most amazing was offered in 4th grade (Los Angeles City School District) and by of my life. Along with Jonathan Glasier, I assisted Harry throughout listening to my parent's collection of 78's and LP's. the year with tuning, minor instrument repairs, rehearsal organization, and played in the performances that were done that ALBURGER: What music was important to you then? year, including the first performance of Daphne of the Dunes. I had a pretty light schedule of classes at UCSD which made me willing and DRUMMOND: When I "discovered" Louis Armstrong's Hot Five, I even eager to hang out with Harry as much as possible, which was about ten and knew that music was extremely important. I sometimes meant driving all over for a particular hardware supply quickly became interested in bebop and the innovative jazz of the late and sometimes to check out reed organs. The following year Harry's 50's and early 60's, also in Stravinsky, Bartók, and others. position at UCSD evaporated and there was no reason for me to be there. I moved back to L.A. and resumed studies at USC. For ALBURGER: How did you begin composing? continued participation with Harry, it ended up being the right move though. Harry also moved to L.A. to organize an ensemble to DRUMMOND: I can't remember exactly how I began to compose. perform at the Whitney Museum in New York during the fall (1968) My earliest memory is improvising, pretty crudely, at the piano, and and then to perform the first performances of Delusion of the Fury then trying to write down the best part of the improvisation. I guess (possibly his greatest work) at UCLA the following Spring. What I have always been an organizer and as early as middle school, I can I say? It doesn't get much better than getting to go to New York spent my allowance on jazz band arrangements by Dizzy Gillespie with Harry Partch when you're 19 years old and then play in Delusion and others and attempted to organize readings. Since I could never of the Fury and make two records for Columbia Masterworks to boot! assemble exactly the right musicians, I would have to arrange and transpose the parts for the instruments we had.