Rite of Summer (7/7/19)

Sandbox Percussion

Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney,

Haiku 2 – Andy Akiho
Interdependence (world premiere) – Brendon Randall-Myers
Dark Full Ride – Julia Wolfe
Bell Patterns – Victor Caccese
Postlude 6 – Elliot Cole
Sonata – Jonny Allen
Drumming Part 1 – Steve Reich

This is an outdoor series that takes place on Governors Island. Originally scheduled for Saturday, this concert was postponed to Sunday (oddly, as announced from the stage, their inaugural concert was totally rained out both days last year (or two ago?)). It was a concert that, alas, looked better on paper than it turned out in the ear. Don’t get me wrong, the physical artistry on display was phenomenal. The overall result, not so much.

First, all four percussionists played many instruments, sometimes within the same piece, so concrete details will be distinctly lacking. Haiku 2 featured two metallophones and a marimba. And drumstick on metal disk, wine bottle, metal coffee(?) pot, and wooden block (not claves). There was also minimal choreography, where eventually all four players circled, counterclockwise, before ending at the front of the stage with their drumsticks and bangee of choice.

Interdependence featured a singing bowl (think a larger version of running your dampened finger around the rim of your wine glass). There was also bowed metal (I think it was a cello or double bass bow scraped along a bar of the metallophone—too technical?). The piece was really New-Age-y and really, really long. The composer was in the house (actually, on the lawn), so we had had to be polite. I would have been anyway. [Note: The percussion quartet turned into a quintet with the addition of an overhead helicopter. That counts, right?]

Dark Full Ride featured a quartet of high-hat cymbals (part of a drum set). It was repetitive and redundant. Apparently Ms. Wolfe won a Pulitzer Prize for a different composition. This one was also turned into a quintet by the addition of a ferry horn.

Bell Patterns, Postlude 6, and Sonata were played as a continuous set. I think the first was played with a recorded score, but I couldn’t be sure. At any rate, I’d rate it as choreographed cacophony. Postlude 6 (as well as some of the others) had bowed vibraphone bars. If you’ve ever seen someone playing a musical saw, it’s like that but with a fixed pitch. Sonata had a tom-tom drum added and what seemed to be a guiro (a fish-shaped hollow gourd with a grooved exterior that you can scrape, as a percussion instrument). A standing cymbal was featured in Sonata.

Steve Reich. Definitely not my favorite. Original input unchanged. This piece, as described from the stage, featured phasing—drumming in unison, then one of the two drummers changing the rhythm slightly. I never heard it. There were two drummers at once (though not always the same two) – then three – then four. The piece was slightly mesmerizing (though not in a good way) and really, really long.

Will I go back to Rite of Summer? Probably. I still need to expand my horizons.

ConcertMeister

Fifty Shades of Jonée (6/24/19)

If the cover of the program can be believed, this was the farewell Gay Pride performance of drag queen pianist extraordinaire, Jacqueline Jonée. She was joined by the JouJou Jacquettes Philharmonic Orchestra—Violin, Viola, Cello, Flutes, Clarinet, and French Horn—as well as two backup singers. There was no printed program of what we would hear, so my notes are just my best guesses.

As has often happened in past performances, Ms. Jonée made her entrance from the back of the house, this year carrying a huge bouquet of balloons, including a gold ‘5’ and a gold ‘0’, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. The performance kicked off with A Little Mozart (Mostly), Rondo alla Turca, which is actually the third and final movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11. In Ms. Jonée’s nimble fingers, it was also alla Jazz, alla Honky-Tonk, and alla Boogie-Woogie, with a little bit of Für Elise thrown in for good measure. A most pleasant way to start off.

Along the way, there were costume changes and wig changes all of which were quite stunning. Other compositions announced from the stage included Duke Ellington’s Jubilee Stomp, When You Wish upon a Star, and Bei Mir Bist du Schön, with those backup boys.

The next set featured individual Jacquettes with Ms. Jonée in several songs. Clair de Lune had violin and piano while a very dramatic version of What Makes a Man a Man? featured viola and piano. Piano and flute gave us a Gymnopédie, and the backup boys were back for Your Buddy Misses You (one of Ms. Jonée’s hallmark pieces that I’ve heard, and enjoyed, several times).

Another set piece that I’ve heard before is the medley/mashup of America/Not While I’m Around/There’s a Place for Us/Somewhere, which was as effective as always. A Gershwin medley included The Man I Love, Rhapsody in Blue, Fascinatin’ Rhythm, S’Wonderful, and Strike Up the Band. Rousing stuff.

While not really a downer, the evening ended with strong performances of I Did It My Way, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, and I’ll Be Seeing You. Alas, we may not be seeing Ms. Jonée next year (???) at Pride Week but she most certainly did this one her way!

A lovely Nocturne was a quite fitting encore.

ConcertMeister