SpringDrumWithPierre’sWords

Spring Drum

… with Pierre’s words

… with Xavier’s flute and electronics

Spring Drum, originally titled Music-N in reflection of my original intention to compose a series of compositions based on flamenco styles, was commissioned by the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company and performed for the first time at The Egg, in Albany, New York, on May 3, 1997.

Following the first and a few other performances during that same spring, however, my intention changed to a single composition with unique flexibility.

Although the basic Spring Drum is identified by its recorded rhythm and sounds, which form the essential character of the composition, the first performance also included live performances by Pierre Joris who recited his poem Ghazal, Xavier Chabot who improvised with flute and electronics, Jan Williams and Benjamin Chadabe who played rhythms with congas. Since Pierre Joris’ recitation was the focus of the performance, the title became Spring Drum with Pierre’s Words.

Following the first performances, we created another basic Spring Drum, including the recorded sounds of Xavier Chabot’s improvisation with flute and electronics, that can support live performers in a concert.

In short, given the identity of the rhythm and accompanying sounds, the idea of Spring Drum is to include performers that improvise, whether musicians, singers, electronics, poets, video, and dancers, blending their sounds and movements into various specific performance situations and matching what they do to the pitch, tonality, and rhythm in a basic Spring Drum. In addition to performers mentioned here, at different times Curtis Bahn played bass and Leroy Jenkins played violin.