i mourned you twice this week and will again tomorrow

THIS AUDIO RECORDING IS ARCHIVAL AND UNPUBLISHED. 

World premiere performed live on August 18, 2022 by Timothy McAllister (alto saxophone) and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra.

Scores - Recordings

For Wadada Leo Smith (Adagio)

"Eternal Signs" is the first track off of Milford Graves and Bill Laswell's album "Space / Time・Redemption. Out February 26 on TUM Records.

This album is the first duo recording by the legendary drummer and percussionist Milford Graves, who first rose to the forefront of improvised music in the mid-1960s as a member of the New York Art Quartet, through his solo and duo percussion performances and in groups led by Albert Ayler, Giuseppi Logan, Don Pullen and Sonny Sharrock, among many others, and the equally incomparable bassist Bill Laswell, who is known for his unique electric bass artistry in groups like Material, Massacre, Last Exit and Arcana, for performing and recording with the likes of Ginger Baker, Herbie Hancock, James “Blood” Ulmer and John Zorn and for working as a producer on countless sessions ranging from new age or rock influences to world music and free improvisation.

Eternal Signs - Milford Graves & Bill Laswell

Flip (2015)-Ashkan Behzadi
for

Flute (Bass Flute)
Viola
Accordion
Harp 
Percussion

Composed for:
neuverBand Ensemble

Flute: Anja Brezavšček
Viola: Anne-Laure Dottrens
Accordion: Stefanie Mirwald
Harp: Estelle Costanzo
Percussion: Julien Mégroz
Conductor: Arash Yazdani


Flip (2015) - Ashkan Behzadi

Conrad Tao, piano // Tyshawn Sorey, percussion

Performed live at the Park Avenue Armory Veterans Room as part of Jason Moran's Artists Studio series.
May 20, 2016.

Morton Feldman: Piano (with Tyshawn Sorey)

The word “dreamwaking” is one that I invented to define the state of being that exists early in the morning, when you are somewhere in-between sleep and wakefulness. I often wake up well before my alarm and find myself drifting in and out of dreams, sometimes aware of my surroundings and sometimes not. The piece illustrates this transitory state by residing in a harmonic world that is somewhere between improvised and composed.

Recorded by David Hughes (davidhughespianist.com)

dreamwaking, for solo piano

Tyshawn Sorey - microtonal piano
Maya Keren - equally tempered piano

Improvisation 1 (with Tyshawn Sorey)

Tyshawn Sorey - drums/percussion
Maya Keren - microtonal piano

Improvisation 2 (with Tyshawn Sorey)

Composed and recorded by Nina C. Young, April 20, 2020, New York.

present perfect

present perfect (2020) voice, prepared piano, electronics

untethered
for horn quartet with prominent solo part

Recording from virtual premiere by hornist Kevin Newton (knewhorn.com) as part of the 2020 Composers Conference.

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Program Notes:

The title untethered is taken from a poem written by a dear friend Rev. Kim Wildszewski, with whom I worked closely during my tenure as an accompanist at the Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing. In May of 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Kim and her wife, Tara, suddenly lost their young son, Malcolm. The unbelievable tragedy of losing their child was amplified by the complications of the pandemic, as those of us who loved Malcolm were unable to gather or grieve together. 

It was shortly after this time that I was asked to write a horn piece for the 2020 Composers Conference. Without consciously realizing that I was doing so, I processed much of what I was feeling in the wake of Malcolm’s death through writing this piece. It was only at the very end of the compositional process, when I came to the title untethered, that I realized this piece was for Malcolm.  There are moments in the piece of near-emptiness and scarcity, and others that feel more like a reflection of Malcolm’s vibrant spirit: a joyous toddler who loved music.

untethered, for horn quartet

Simply put, the music is slow and requires patience. Not much more explanation is needed. Scores available for perusal/purchase.

For Wadada Leo Smith (Adagio)

Tyshawn Sorey

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