"A Bug's Second Life: Clarinetist Don Byron Revisits Infectious Golden Era Swing Tunes," by Derk Richardson, appeared in the San Francisco Music Examiner, June 1. Byron recorded six Raymond Scott Quintette classics on his 1996 Nonesuch CD Bug Music, and 12 years later these tunes remain in his concert repertoire.
The latest Photoshopped image from EsoTek (a/k/a Scott Skerchock), who has a long history of creating Raymond Scott remixes of a visual & audio nature:
In the 1960s and '70s, Raymond Scott developed an instantaneous composition-performance machine called The Electronium. It was Beethoven-in-a-Box, designed to compose via artificial intelligence and play new music in real-time. Berry Gordy placed an order for one, and Scott continued to modify it for the Motown mogul throughout the 1970s. The device was never effectively completed, and eventually the inventor cannibalized it for spare parts.
Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project, previously noted when they performed in Edinburgh last February, are taking the stage again, this time in Glasgow. On Saturday, June 21, the band will launch their controlled mayhem in a venue billed as "Scotland's Last Surviving Music Hall"—the Britannia Panopticon, which opened in 1859 (too recent to have an 18th century drawing room).
Paul D. Miller, a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, has compiled a new book & CD set titled SOUND UNBOUND: Sampling Digital Music and Culture, published by MIT Press. Included in the text is a chapter, written by me (Jeff Winner), exploring Raymond Scott's pioneering electronic instruments & music, an introduction from Steve Reich, forward by Cory Doctorow, plus contributions from Chuck D of Public Enemy, Moby, Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud), Pierre Boulez, Brian Eno, Douglas Kahn, & others.''A nice antidote to the usual way music history is often categorized. From RAYMOND SCOTT to the hidden racism in digital circuitry to a history of easy listening, there is enough inspiring weirdness here to fuel some musical fires for a good while.''>> More info: MIT Press
—DAVID BYRNE
''A marvelous collection! The essays criss-cross over many aspects of sound -- cosmic, chemical, political, economic. Plus you get to meet fascinating characters like Alex Steinweiss and synthesizer pioneer RAYMOND SCOTT. I love this book!''
—LAURIE ANDERSON
It was still a great game, you know. Joe Mather collected the first of what I think will be many major league home runs, and Mark Worrell collected the first of what I think will be very, very few. By the way, speaking of Worrell, does anyone else hear Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" in their head as Worrell whirls into that Rube Goldberg delivery of his? Personally, I have no idea how one even begins to go about throwing a ball the way he does, but it sure is fun to watch.
The Concordia Raymond Scott Quintette was formed in late '07 for a cross-genre Scott Centennial Tribute Concert at Concordia University on March 12, 2008. Following the concert's success, the CRSQ decided to continue performing Scott's work during the centennial. The CRSQ recreates the repertoire of the Raymond Scott Quintette of the 30's and 40's with careful attention to authenticity. Their set features vintage instruments and costumes, and their repertoire includes both well-known Scott titles and a few obscurities. In fact, at the March event they debuted a sextet composition, "Tenor Man's Headache" (watch video), for which hand-written sheet music was discovered in the Scott archives. There is no indication that this work had ever been performed by any Scott band. |
| Bo Diddley |
