American Highways
vr 14 sep 2018 18:00 uur
AMERICAN HIGHWAYS # 115 KEYS OF CHANGE: GENE PRITSKER • My guest tonight on episode 115 of American Highways is composer and polymath Gene Pritsker, who will be remembered as the greatest kabuki opera composer of our time. Or not. Actually Gene is a radically experimental composer living in New York. I visited him at his chaotic studio, and we talked and laughed for two hours about music. Also we drank Maxwell House™ instant coffee and his dog Rosa sang for me. Yes, you'll hear her on this show, at the very end. Political lives, musical lives. A series on ten American musicians whose work was/is profoundly influenced by the forces of politics. This series grew out of a conversation I had a few years ago with composer and improviser Donal Fox. We began arguing about the relevance of race in music, and realized that our conflicting ideas made for a wonderful dialogue. Hence the inspiration for "Keys of Change." • I've chosen ten musicians for whom politics has played a major role. Some, like Paul Robeson and Marc Blitzstein, were communists; others, like Charles Ives, were more conservative. Some, like Lotte Lenya, were unwillingly dragged into politics, and kept their distance even while their music encouraged others. Alternatively, Gene Pritsker has thrown himself into political activism, using his music to project an intensely personal message. Gene Pritsker and Sebastian Pritsker, composers • 'Berlin Suite' • Absolute Ensemble, Kristjan Jarvi – conducting • From the Netflix TV series Babylon Berlin • Gene Pritsker • 'Money & Politics' • Sound Liberation Ensemble; David Taylor – narrator • Live performance • Gene Pritsker • Migration Song • Bel – beat boxer, Clair Obscur Sax Quartet, and the EMX Ensemble: Kai Schumacher – piano, Nikolai Scharnofske – bass, Phillip Bernhardt – drums, Gene Pritsker – conductor • Composers Concordance comcon0047 • Gene Pritsker • Songs So Wild And Wayward • Lara St. John – violin with the Composers Concordance Chamber Orchestra; Thomas Carlo Bo – conductor • Live performance • Gene Pritsker, composer; haiku texts by Issa • 'Shout Song Cycle' – Issa's Cries, Piss & Shit • EMX Ensemble: Thomas Fischer – shout voice, Kai Schumacher – piano, Philipp Bernhardt – drums • Composers Concordance comcon0047 • Gene Pritsker • 'Tweets' from 'Trump A Di.J. Concerto' • Gene Pritsker – Di.J. with the MDR Symphony, Ulrich Kern – conductor. Recorded live at the 2017 Impuls Festival in Halle, Germany at Steintor-Varieté Hall • Gene Pritsker • 'Wall' From TRUMP – A Theatrical Concerto • Philippe Quint – violin, Charles Coleman – baritone; Absolute Ensemble, Kristjan Jarvi – conducting • live at Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY. Gene Pritsker • Capitalism Running Wild • Performed by: Sound Liberation & B3+ • Feat. David 'Criminal Cello' Gotay & Gene 'Noizepunk' Pritsker – raps. Composers Concordance COMCON0013 • Gene Pritsker • Flammenschrift: A Fanfare for the Natives of this Earth • Staatskapelle Halle, Josep Caballe – conducting • Live at the opening concert of the 2015 Impuls Festival in Halle, Germany. David King • Super America • The Bad Plus • E1 Records: EOM-CD-2112
