Maynard Dixon's paintings from the 1930's illuminate the crushing circumstances of living during the Great Depression. People, especially urban-dwelling individuals, are often represented with obscured faces in quasi-monochromatic portraits where the sky is barely noticeable. However, when Dixon portrays natural settings (especially those of the so-called “American West”), a world of color emerges and the sky never seems to end. In the three miniatures based on his paintings, the musical landscape of my pieces respond to his work to show the burden shouldered by common people, and how the natural splendor and hope for a better future seem unattainable to the working class, especially in times of capitalism's inevitable crisis. This piece and my interpretation of his paintings are also somewhat of a response to my recent move from Colorado to L.A., where often I feel socially and culturally isolated (as Dixon possibly felt as well moving to California), and removed from the undisturbed land and sky that nurtured my soul. I hope one day that the relationship between humans and nature can be repaired in a post-capitalist world. 

Clarinet- Benjamin Webster 

Electric guitar- Conner Shaw 

Violin- Nicholas Bentz 

Cello- Alex Mansour 

Premiered on October 27th, 2019 at Newman Recital Hall on the University of Southern California campus. 

Recorded and mixed by Recording.LA 

Album art paintings by Maynard Dixon. 

© C.L. Shaw Music 2019(ASCAP). All rights reserved.

II. Destination Nowhere

Purgatory - performed live at the Gerald R. Daniel Recital Hall, May 4th 2022

Featuring:
Alex Lui(Clarinet), Dr. Alexander Miller(Electric Guitar), Aidan Moravec (Bass), Benjamin Nicholas (Tenor), Cassandra Duschane (Soprano), Clara Kelly(Soprano), Clint Koehler(Marimba), Dakota Noxon(Tenor), Emma Holm(Alto), Eric Cornwell(Bass), Jason Griffin(Piano), Jinsei Goto(Trombone), Jonathan Wright(Tenor), Julie Morimoto(Trumpet), Lisa Yoshida(Violin), Loren Herz-O'Brien(Flute), Marisa Ramey(Viola), Natalie Do(Cello), Tegan Roberts(Soprano), Tessa Delee(Alto)

Purgatory (live)

'in drops of dew will I sink down and mingle with the dust' is a line taken from the Hymns of the Night by the German Romantic poet, Novalis, which envisions night as the threshold between life and death. Novalis died far too soon, at the age of 28, and his work has been an important and guiding light in my own 28th year. I was immediately struck by the imagery of this line and wanted to translate the motion of absorption between water and dust into the sonic medium, a descending into the earth. A harmonic texture is set-up which becomes decentered in its development, forcing it to journey through uncomfortable and odd territories before it reaches a level of satiation. 'in drops of dew will I sink down and mingle with the dust' was written for Ensemble Dal Niente.

-Ensemble Dal Niente
Emma Hospelhorn, bass flute
Zachary Good, bass clarinet
Matthew Oliphant, horn
Ben Melsky, harp
Kyle Flens, percussion
Theo Ramsey, violin
Juan Horie, cello
Michael Lewanski, conductor

-live recording: 3/8/23, Martinos Auditorium @ Granoff Center - Providence, RI

in drops of dew will I sink down and mingle with the dust (2022-23)

A bit of this winter's ambient output another solo live to 2 track ambient piece utilizing Plague Bidule as a host for my soft synths and loopers along with my guitar and pedalboard.

Glass Houses - Global Warming Isn't Waiting for You to Acknowledge It

Glass Houses 3

A collaboration between myself, Amorphous Euphoria https://soundcloud.com/jonas-heimbecker and Spencer Zweifel. This was Spencer's first outing in the ambient world and we had a fine time improvising these pieces!

Glass House On The Beach

My take on the infamous "low key" sample, this was incredibly fun to make and I learned a lot while doing it!

Much like my HXRY remix, the first drop is all manipulated vocals, and the second drop is all sound design. I really like the vibe this creates, and hope to do more with vocal manipulation in the future!

Thank you for listening and supporting! <3

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jistixmusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jistixmusic

Low Key

for eight amplified violins and electronics
Atmospheric Entry attempts to translate the process of a probe passing through an atmospheric membrane into sound using eight violins. The electronics are originally taken from the Huygens lander’s descent to the surface of Saturn’s moon, Titan. Atmospheric Entry was written for the studio of Lina Bahn at the University of Southern California.
Played by Nick Bentz

Atmospheric Entry (2020)

Today is a day or EARTH. Sing your praise to Mother Earth for all she provides, rejoice in the sturdiness of the ground beneath your feet and the stone will of your heart.
Or just write a song about dirt. Your call!
LET'S GO!

*unfinished and meant to loop.

II. Destination Nowhere

Conner Leigh Shaw (C.L. Shaw)

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