Infernal Machines, Fair Weather Feelings

Hey-

Just got back from working at the New Amsterdam office.  The highlight of the day was interviewing Darcy James Argue, a contemporary big-band man who won "Emerging Composer of the Year" at the National Jazz Awards this year.  He is whip smart, makes really honest, compelling music, and has an excellent blog which, coincidentally, was nominated for "Blog of the Year" at that very same awards ceremony.  He calls his music "steampunk," which is usually a term used for fictional literature, but in his case refers to the fact that he is taking something old (the big band) and using it to make something futuristic (his weird, heavily indie-influenced, highly-produced album Infernal Machines).  In our interview, we talked about the juxtaposition of old/new, the relationship between notated and improvised material in his work, and the isolated mentality that many jazz composers have in regards to the rest of the music world.  The podcast will be up soon... in the meantime, you can stream his music from his page on the NewAm website.

In other news, I just finished a piece for string trio and bass yesterday which will be played by  the 5th House Ensemble at Yale in the fall.  It's going to be great, though a little difficulty I encountered when I ran it past my cellist roommate is the coordination of playing and stomping (there's a percussive aspect that runs through the work).  I'm thinking about having the cellist or bassist actually play a kick drum during the live performance... might be fun.

In GtG news, Allen is currently writing a duet for male and female voice.  We have a few prospective girl singers-- more on this later.  We're going to record it later this summer and release it on iTunes along with new versions of "Slow Song" and "Lullabye."  For now, here's some lyrics from our last duet, "Where We Land":

"So beautiful with your face and your eyes tossed aside

The ready-yets and the get-sets are safely inside

I'll admit to pretending you wouldn't ask to stay

But silly games, as you can tell, take both of us to play.

The fair weather feelings were bound to end

So take your time in feeling like more than just a friend

So stand your ground, dig into the sand

And let it get quiet where we land" 

You can download the song with the rest of our Where We Land album for FREE  here.  And you can get our newest album Just Pretend here, also free.  If you like it, please share it-- click the button below:

 

<3

ELL