Alt-Classical (2011)
What is Alt-Classical?
DIY, open instrumentation, alternative venues, mix of amateur and professional performers, music lies somewhere between art music (music meant to be contemplated) and pop music (music meant for mass consumption).
Alt Classical EP (2011) by pbailey
tracklist
Fearless Leader, (2006, revised 2007)
was partially inspired by a quote from the Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti: “ Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, its just not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I cannot escape.”
An Eye for Optical Theory (Michael Nyman Cover)
It is interesting to note that the although all of Nyman’s music from the Peter Greenaway film The Draughtsman’s Contract was derived from a Purcell chaconne, the ground bass (on which this piece is built) was subsequently discovered to have been written by a lesser-known contemporary of Purcell. This arrangement uses most of the melodic materials from the original piece, freely combining them to create a bizzaro world second cousin of the original.
Life’s Too Short (2006)
is a lighthearted meditation of life, death, and nihilism based on the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche (iconic German philosopher) and John Sinclair (Los Angeles based writer).
Cheap Admiration (2005)
Is loosely based on a harmonic deconstruction of Sonata Ciacona by Johann Pezel (1639-1694) who worked as a musician in Germany and was promoted to town stadtpfeifer (band director) in Leipzig in 1670. Later in his career he applied for and was turned down for the job of Cantor of St. Thomaskirche, a job that J.S. Bach would hold 50 years later.
myinnersatan (2005, revised 2006)
started as a cross between counterpoint exercise and a contemplation of the soul crushing emptiness of desk work.
Principal of Sufficient Irritation (originally titled 11/25/05)
is three sections of five melodic/ostinato gestures that can be performed in endless variety. in rehearsals a unique roadmap and orchestration is decided upon and explored during the performance. The title is based on an interesting concept in P.K. Dick’s “Ubik”.
Undone (The Sweater Song)
Weezer cover FTW!
Paul Bailey Ensemble (PBE)
is an alt-classical garage band that plays the music of a variety of living and dead composers. The group was created in 2002 as DIY forum outside the usual and limited channels of art music presentation.
credits
released 16 February 2011
Paul Bailey, Trombone
Bruce Gallego, Electric Guitar
Eric Hendrickson, Keyboards
Scott McIntosh, Clarinet
Ryan Nunes, Vibraphone
Carl Stronach, Bass Guitar
With Special Guest Piano
John Marr on “Undone (The Sweater Song)”
Life’s Too Short Vocals
Nicole Baker, Mezzo Soprano, Spoken Word
Sean McDermott, Tenor
Paul Cummings, Bass
Life’s Too Short Graphic LIbretto
Recorded, Edited, and Mixed by Paul Bailey and Marlon Luna
Mixing and Mastering Consultant/Coach/Head Cheerleader Jon Brenner
Recorded at California State University Fullerton, Swing House Studios Hollywood, and Because They Are Dead Studios, Highland Park
Principle of Sufficient Irritation
some pieces you ‘compose’ and other come out fully formed. “Principle of Sufficient Irritation” (POSI) is one of those pieces that sprang out of me almost fully realized almost exactly 4 years ago. even though i’m just a part-time adjunct teaching monkey, fall has always been very busy for me and not really a good time to compose and by the time november rolls around i’m itching to get some new pieces written. thinking back in 2005 it’s pretty telling that i remember most of the details around this piece.
Background
i know i had some rehearsals coming up with the PBE and really wanted to get some pieces written, especially something modular and improvisatory. besides having played terry riley’s “In C” the lloyd rodgers group had been performing many of his very simple and effective ‘black book‘ improvisations. i had already written one decent modular improvisation (tong aesthetics from the music from summerland CD), and i really wanted to explore another approach than the large through-composed pieces that were common in the late 60′s and 70′s. the funny thing is that when POSI was created (we originally referred to it by the day it was created. 11/25/05 was the original title) the particulars really didn’t matter anymore, i just needed a piece for a rehearsal and using improvisation as process sounded like a great way to create something new in a short time.
Writing Process
the process creating POSI was pretty simple; play a lick on my trombone, plug it into the sequencer and loop it while i improvised another one. i pretty quickly realized that the first gesture worked so well in canon that it was almost a piece by itself and after the initial inspiration my only goal was to “make it change”. my luck/the god(s)/karma must have been smiling on me that day b/c although i have never been good at writing canons, that day i figured out that i’m pretty good at improvising them (at least in this modular style). the rest of the piece pretty much wrote itself and needless to say i was pretty excited for my upcoming rehearsal.
1st rehearsal
well… here’s where i tell you that i took it to rehearsal and the group ‘got it’ and we played it down the first time. but actually the group was pretty stumped and it took us 3-4 rehearsals to get the hang of it. and it took a few tries of figuring out how to move from section to section and what the “rules” of the piece are. the main thing i remember is that when we finally played it like it was in my head i had that feeling of completion and pure joy that i experienced when i first wrote it and immediately became the piece that we ended all rehearsals with promising a frolicking good time at the end of every rehearsal (and performance)
Improvisation, Performance and Recording
even though the licks are written out, one of the best feeling of performing a modular improvisation (like POSI) is the ability to not worry what to play, but how to play it. each performance is like you get to visit something musically familiar, but each time you can experience it differently. i think performing a modular improvisation is very similar to giving actors an outline for a scene and telling them what needs to occur.
this recording of POSI was our last take of a two day session and in which we were all pretty mentally tired and loopy. if you were listening to the piece while looking at the score i’m sure it would be pretty hard to follow along, but if you listened a few times you should be able to hear that we are basically playing variations of variations of what was originally written down. i think its a great example of the pure improvisatory and musical joy that the PBE creates during many of our live show and i know that getting it on tape in a semi-artificial studio setting (in which the vibes and clarinet were recorded in separate rooms without being to see anybody else) is a testament of the great musicianship of scott, ryan, carl, bruce and eric. overall the way we were playing that afternoon i think we could have recorded the album over the phone and still have captured a great performance.
enjoy,
paul
Principle of Sufficient Irritation (originally 11/25/05)
* Paul Bailey, Trombone
* Bruce Gallego, Electric Guitar
* Eric Hendrickson, Keyboards
* Scott McIntosh, Clarinet
* Ryan Nunes, Vibraphone
* Carl Stronach, Bass Guitar
Recorded and Mixed by Paul Bailey and Marlon Luna
Recorded at California State University Fullerton and Swing House Studios Hollywood
Cheap Admiration
‘m really happy to finally release the first track from my upcoming PBE EP “Alt-Classical”
Cheap Admiration (2005), is a simple pop song (loosely based on a harmonic deconstruction) of Johann Pezel’s (1639-1694) Sonata Ciacona.
Around 1670 Pezel was the town stadtpfeifer (band director) in Leipzig and later in his career he applied and was turned down for the job of Cantor of St. Thomaskirche, a job that J.S. Bach would hold 50 years later.
Alt-Classical is:
DIY, open instrumentation, alternative venues, mix of amateur and professional performers, music lies somewhere between art music (music meant to be contemplated) and pop music (music meant for mass consumption).
Alt-Classical is the third CD/EP release from the Paul Bailey Ensemble
Paul Bailey Ensemble (PBE)
The Paul Bailey Ensemble (PBE) is an alt-classical garage band that plays the music of a variety of living and dead composers. The southern california group was created in 2002 as a DIY forum outside the usual and limited channels of art music presentation.
- Paul Bailey, Trombone
- Bruce Gallego, Electric Guitar
- Eric Hendrickson, Keyboards
- Scott McIntosh, Clarinet
- Ryan Nunes, Vibraphone
- Carl Stronach, Bass Guitar
Post-Whatever (2008)
post-whatever, 2008 modular improvisation for laptop (macbookpro/ableton live) and two players post-whatever 1st reading/rehearsal 061208, paul bailey (macbookpro/abletonlive, trombone), bruce gallego (electric guitar) matt menaged (bass guitar) Be the first to like. Like Unlike
