CONTENTSCONTRIBUTOR BIOS: Evan Hause, 3 LIVE EVENTS
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Listen Well! All in the Family: The California E.A.R. Unit Blends Virtuosity and Camaraderie Kala Pierson "New Sounds Live Presents The California E.A.R. Unit." Erika Duke, cello; Amy Knoles, percussion; Robin Lorentz, violin; Vicki Ray, piano; Dorothy Stone, flute; Marty Walker, clarinets and narration. Music by Adams, Rzewski, Bergamo and Sellars. Presented by WNYC Radio and the Kaufman Center. Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center, NY, NY, February 13, 2003. The 22-year-old California E.A.R. Unit has a well-deserved reputation as one of the nation's foremost new music-focused chamber groups. The sextet's long-awaited return to New York was filled with joyous, elegant playing, and marked by the familial comfort of a group of friends who've grown to know and love one another's every quirk. The second in Merkin Hall's two-part "View from the Coasts" series, the concert was hosted by veteran new music advocate John Schaefer and recorded for broadcast on WNYC's "New Sounds Live." Onstage interviews between Schaefer and the performers provided insight into each piece; composer Fred Rzewski also took a turn in the interview chair, telling the story behind his minimal classic, _Coming Together_. The concert was filled with hallmarks of the "west coast sound": traditional (pattern-driven) minimalism, political commentary, and a certain relaxed buoyancy in both playing and repertoire. Indeed, this "west coast" concert conformed to common stereotypes as much as its "east coast" counterpart had. (A driven, 'maximal' and tech-savvy east coast spirit had informed the sister concert by New York-based Alarm Will Sound; in that group's stylistically varied program, intense and energetic performances alternated with techno-inflected electronic remixes of each live piece.) The EAR Unit's playing was 'relaxed' in the best sense. The group's performances sparkled with camaraderie, effortless coordination, and palpable delight in the act of performing. The six musicians feel like a circle of old friends who understand and care about one another, and -- perhaps even more significantly -- have nothing to prove to one another or to the world. This obvious comfort, confidence and maturity help the E.A.R. Unit draw in listeners naturally, without the self-conscious theatricality to which some younger groups (such as eighth blackbird) have turned in a desire to connect with audiences. Not all the pieces on the program met the same standards of engaging character. James Sellars' _Go_, simultaneously loud and lightweight, substitutes constant surface-level motion for real structural drive. Despite its many clever moments, _Go_ felt unfulfilling even in an excellent, exuberant performance by the E.A.R. Unit (for whom the piece was written). John Adams and John Bergamo both contributed stylish yet somewhat insubstantial works. Adams's violin/piano duet, _Road Movies_, bounces along in appealing counterpoint, but seemed frankly unworthy of Robin Lorentz and Vicki Ray's precise and vibrant playing. _Foreign Objects_, Bergamo's "atonal pop tune" (as the E.A.R. Unit describes it), is a flashy, percussion-heavy showstopper; like _Go_, it offers lots of action but little real satisfaction. The program's strongest and most viscerally engaging piece was also its oldest: Rzewski's _Coming Together_ (1971). Based on a prisoner's account of the uprising at Attica, this work is only partly notated, so the performers' flexibility and communication skills were on display throughout. Marty Walker set down his clarinet to serve as a clear-eyed narrator; his five colleagues joined in with a hard-edged, riveting performance. Apparently, the California E.A.R. Unit's decade-long absence from New York's concert halls was largely for logistical reasons; certainly the group has a place in this and every city. Here's hoping New Yorkers don't have to wait nearly so long for their next visit. |