Richard Teitelbaum
Blends & The Digital Pianos
Lumina Records Ltd. (US) 1984
L005 (LP) w/insert.
sleeve : EX-(light color-faded, peel-off of laminate.)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noises.)
This is a super masterpiece solo album released in 1984 by Richard Teitelbaum, a member of the fantasy experimental electronic music group Musica Elettronica Viva, who was introduced in the guidebook "OBSCURE SOUND REVISED EDITION". The album features contributions from Alvin Curran and Allan Bryant. It is dedicated to Katsuya Yokoyama, a shakuhachi player whom Teitelbaum studied under when he came to Japan in 1977 to learn the shakuhachi. Yokoyama is known for performing Toru Takemitsu's "November Steps" under the direction of Seiji Ozawa with the New York Philharmonic. Additionally, Trilok Gurtu, an Indian percussionist who has contributed to numerous ethnic jazz masterpieces and who was also a member of Aragon after Collin Walcott's passing, is featured on the album.
The highlight is the nearly 20-minute-long side A, which starts with Yokoyama's profound shakuhachi solo, then transitions into a midsection introduced by freaky electronic sounds from synthesizers, and finally moves into the latter half where Trilok Gurtu's tabla and percussion lead into a primitive world, creating an extraordinary ethno-experimental trip. It's amazing. Side B features a three-part piano solo suite where an acoustic piano enhanced by a computer is automatically played according to programmed instructions, and it's also exceptional.
A: Blends (the middle part)
A: Blends (the last part)
B: Digital Piano Music