"Music For A Retro Future"

New various-artists CD, Music For A Retro Future, from the Other Sounds label features important pioneers of electronic music, including Jean-Jacques Perrey, Louis & Bebe Barron, Dissevelt & Baltan, and others: "A companion album to the book Journey To A Plugged In State Of Mind, an introduction to 100 years of Electronic Music. This release traces the early experiments of the synthesizer in movies and into commercial music. Featuring the sounds of room-sized computers, early rhythm generators, and cognitive ideas of many men in white coats. Includes the earliest recordings of Zappa favorite Varèse, the exceptional 'Song Of The Second Moon,' and Raymond Scott's early experiments into synthetic sound." Order from Amazon.com: here

The Quintette 7 juggernaut

The West Point Band's Raymond Scott chamber group Quintette 7 has a busy itinerary. On the heels of their new CD, Quintette 7 Plays the Music of Raymond Scott, the band's clarinetist Kristen Mather writes with a concert update:

We'll be doing a February university tour in New Orleans and Baton Rouge (Feb. 15 — Lousiana State University, 4 pm performance; Feb. 16 — Loyola University, 1:30 pm performance, with possible evening performance; Feb 17 — University of New Orleans, performance time TBD). We will perform on February 20 (at 3 pm) for the Saugerties Pro Musica Festival. We just added the date, so it isn't on their website yet. On March 9 (10:30 am), Quintette 7 will be part of the West Point Band's Young People's concert at West Point's Eisenhower Hall Theater. We're in the process of producing a "silent film" to accompany "Powerhouse" for this concert. The video depicts the group being late for a parade and running all over West Point.

BTW, the West Point Band isn't comprised of military personnel who happen to play instruments. It consists of first-rate musicians who enlisted to serve their country. Here's a fine example, as SSG Jeff Prosperie of the WPB's Hellcats demonstrates the sublime art of drumming fast singles with accents.

12th Annual CTM Festival in Berlin

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on February 3rd at 8pm as part of the 12th annual CTM Festival in Berlin. Director Stan Warnow will attend for Q&A.

"The festival, repeatedly designated as 'Germany's prime meeting point for electronic and experimental music' and as 'Berlin's best pop festival,' puts down roots at new venues in Berlin Kreuzberg. Staying true to itself, CTM11 again assembles a unique blend of concerts, parties, laboratories, exhibitions and conferences, which will inspire nightlife hedonists, friends of breakneck experimentation and critical minds alike — not to mention those in who all three qualities are fused."

Cartoon Jazz Orchestra & SeptetConcert in Sunnyvale

Jeff Sanford's Cartoon Jazz Orchestra will be performing on January 26th at 7:30 PM: Raymond Scott repertoire and more! The Cartoon Jazz Septet will be opening the two sets for contrast and dynamics. A $10 cover minimum contribution is requested. From their website:

The Cartoon Jazz project was launched in 2003 at the Stanford Jazz Festival with the revival of charts from the great American composer, Raymond Scott. Jeff Sanford tracked down many charts of the famous composer, written for 13-piece bands in public archives and private collector libraries. Members of his band have since been contributing new arrangements of Scott's music as well as other jazz pieces which have been used in cartoons.

Senzala

250 East Java Drive

Sunnyvale, CA

(408) 734-1656

28th Annual "Reel Music Film Festival"

"The 28th annual Reel Music Festival in Portland celebrates the unexpected stories behind some of the world’s greatest music, with films spotlighting the incongruous, transformative, and sometimes bizarre origins of songs we sing every day."

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will be screened on January 16th at 5 pm at the Whitsell Auditorium in the Portland Art Museum. Details: here