Raymond Scott Project site updated

Stu Brown, whose UK Raymond Scott Project we've written about previously, has updated his website, including new press shots and a video clip from the Glasgow Jazz Fest. He intends to add more video over the next few days.

The thrill of a lifetime ...

... a long lifetime (91 years), one of the highlights of which has to be seeing yourself portrayed—however briefly—onstage in a New York theater. That was the honor accorded Mrs. Raymond (Mitzi) Scott on Sunday September 20, after she flew in from the west coast to attend a matinee of Powerhouse, the FringeNYC Festival biographic musical fantasia about her late husband. The cast was told Mitzi would be attending one of the four "Fringe Encore" (extended run) performances, but were not told which—to prevent an added layer of stage jitters (particularly for Clare McNulty, who offered a very sympathetic portrayal of Mitzi). The highly animated performance zoomed along smoothly, and Mitzi adored the show, after which she was introduced to the house and presented by the cast with a bouquet of roses.

The snapshot above was taken outside the Actors' Playhouse on Seventh Avenue after the final curtain. Left to right: Josh Luxenberg (writer); Jon Levin (director and concept); Hanley Smith (Dorothy Collins); Clare McNulty; Eric Wright (Mel, Puppet Designer and Builder); Mitzi Scott; Ben Dziuba (Chuck); Deborah Radloff (Pearl Zimney); Erik Lochtefeld (Raymond Scott); and Jesse Garrison (Carl).

Following the initial August run, the cast was awarded the FringeNYC 2009 Excellence Award for Outstanding Ensemble. The show was one of 20 (out of over 200) that earned a September slot in the Encore series. The next step—if the theatrical gods show favor—is for Powerhouse to open Off-Broadway. Here's hoping. A larger venue and a more accommodating budget would magnify the show's abundant charms.

Hell's Half Mile

Director Stan Warnow, Raymond Scott's son, has an update about his documentary:

"Yes, the film is headed for another festival, the Hell’s Half Mile Film and Music Festival in Bay City, Michigan. If you are in the area I hope you can attend."

There will be two showings: Saturday, October 3rd at Delta College, 11 AM, & Sunday, October 4th at State Theatre, 3 PM. Details here.

gig alert: Stu Brown's Scott Project9/24 in Glasgow

Stu Brown's six-piece Raymond Scott Project has a gig this Thursday in Glasgow, at the Europe Jazz Network Conference. If you're just coming on board, more info about Stu's barnstorming RSP here and here.

POWERHOUSE (with puppets), Act II

The New York Fringe Festival production Powerhouse, a freewheeling take on Raymond Scott's life and music, gets an extended life. Four additional performances will be staged Sept 19-21 as part of Fringe Encore, which features the best 19 (out of 200+) shows from the August festival. Ticket and venue details about the show are here. We blogged about the show on August 17, with rave reviews linked at the bottom. Here's another.

I hadn't seen the show at the time, and later attended one of the final performances of the limited run. The bravos are deserved. Powerhouse the musical, like its novelty namesake, doesn't have a dull moment. It's cleverly constructed and staged at a dizzying pace. For a production featuring real people (and two hand puppets), it might as well be animated. You'll learn a bit about Scott, and be hugely entertained in the process. If you consider yourself even a modest Scott authority, ignore the factual inaccuracies in the chronicle. I told writer Josh Luxenberg and director Jon Levin after the show that it was riddled with historical errors—and that I wouldn't change a word in the script. It's a Raymond Scott fantasia. The cast (six, each playing multiple roles) is charismatic, with physical gestures and facial expressions that match the pacing. At the Festival's closing ceremony, they received an award for "Outstanding Ensemble."


Raymond Scott's widow, Mitzi, is 91 and lives in Southern California. She will be flying to New York next weekend to attend the Sunday matinee, where she will behold herself portrayed onstage by the vivacious Clare McNulty. Twenty years ago, such an event would have seemed unlikely, if not unthinkable.

Raymond Scott 101: Happy Birthday

Today is the 101st anniversary of Raymond Scott's birth. But before we eat cake & ice cream, let's review some basics for the kids who were late to class.

Q: When was Raymond Scott born?

A: On September 10, 1908.

Q: Is Raymond Scott still alive?

A: He passed away in 1994 at the age of 85.

Q: Did Raymond Scott write music for cartoons?

A: No, but 20 of his compositions have been immortalized in countless classic animations, from BUGS BUNNY to THE SIMPSONS.

Q: Did BOB MOOG, the inventor of Moog Synthesizers, work for Raymond Scott?

A: Although Bob Moog was more than 25 years younger than Raymond, they were professional colleagues & friends for nearly two decades. Bob acknowledged Ray as an early influence during the 1950s & '60s. Details about Scott-Moog connections here.

Q: Was Johnny Williams, drummer for the 1930s Raymond Scott Quintette, related to JOHN WILLIAMS, the famous film score composer of music for JAWS, STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, HARRY POTTER, etc.?

A: Yes, they are father & son.

Q: Did Raymond Scott work for MOTOWN?

A: During the 1950s & '60s, Scott perfected his 'Electronium,' an electronic music machine which attracted the attention of Motown owner Berry Gordy, who purchased an Electronium for Motown in September 1970. Scott then became Motown's Director of Electronic Research and Development for several years. Following a serious heart attack in 1977, Scott retired from Motown at age 69.

Q: I've heard that Raymond Scott worked with MUPPETS creator JIM HENSON. Fact or fiction?

A: Henson was more than a quarter-century younger than Scott when they met in the mid-1960s, and they collaborated on experimental art films, industrial reels, and TV projects. Many of the Scott-Henson collaborations are showcased in the 2-CD/144-page book package MANHATTAN RESEARCH INC.

HOMEWORK & FURTHER STUDY:

• Raymond Scott Timeline

• Raymond Scott FAQ

• RaymondScott.com

OK, now it's time for the birthday party!

Catch A Brain Wave

On Sunday, August 28th, 1949, newspapers across the globe published this article & cartoon about Raymond Scott's “brain wave” music of the future:

CHICAGO, Aug. 27 - (AP) - Some day composers won't write music, and musicians won't play it — yet fans will enjoy it in never-before-heard perfection. The composer or artist will simply project it by brain waves — "thought transference," says Raymond Scott.

BRAIN WAVES

This man, who thinks in terms of electronics and music, thinks that is all quite possible. Scott said in an interview:

"Brains put out electrical waves. I wouldn't be at all surprised if some day it were possible to do away with lines in music, such as writing it out and playing the notes. You'll just be able to think it.

"Imagine fastening electrodes to your head, inviting some people to your home and then thinking your music. If you wanted 1000 violins you could have them – and if you wanted the bass fiddle to play piccolo parts, you could do that, too."

RECORDINGS, TOO

Scott says even recordings will carry, instead of musical sound, the brain waves of the composer. No arrangers, no rehearsals.

Scott is a New Yorker who has spent most of his adult life working on new developments in his two loves, music and electronics. He maintains a permanent electronics research laboratory in New York, while he composes music and directs his bands for radio shows and night club appearances. His musical theories have always been off-beat.

BBC Radio Interview

The BBC World Service radio arts program, The Strand, recently aired an interview with Raymond Scott's son, Stan Warnow, about his forthcoming documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD. Listen to the feature, which also utilizes generous portions of Stu Brown's new CD: here<<

photo of Stan Warnow

by: Gert-Jan Blom

POWERHOUSE — with puppets

We'll just quote part of the press release for this intriguing production currently running at the New York Fringe Festival (ecstatic reviews posted at bottom):

With puppetry and live action, swing dancing and physical comedy, POWERHOUSE tells the story of a brilliant man who wrote music that nearly every American has heard and yet almost no one can identify. It’s 1936 and 27 year-old Harry Warnow has it all — a beautiful wife, a hit record, a recording company, a publishing company, his very own swing orchestra and a new name: Raymond Scott. But in 30 years he would be virtually unknown. Secluded in his home studio, he would spend his time writing commercials and inventing futuristic music machines. Unbeknownst to Scott, however, his music had become imprinted on the minds of millions. For years, the animators at Warner Bros. had been scoring their Looney Tunes cartoons with Scott’s life’s work. This would be his legacy — and he never knew. Featuring puppets playing cartoons, people playing machines, and machines playing music, the acclaimed Sinking Ship Productions presents the world premiere of POWERHOUSE at the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival.

You can download a pdf of the show's press release here. The production opened Saturday. Scott's son Stan Warnow was impressed, emailing: "It was well done and inventive. Staging and directing were very good. It was fluid and moved right along, lots happening on stage." Although we haven't yet seen the production, we met with Jon Levin and Josh Luxenberg a few months ago while they were researching the project. Their absorption with the details of Scott's legacy conveyed impressive intentions to tell the story respectfully, if idiosyncratically. And they were nice guys, so we're cheering them on.

Update 1: reviewed by The New York Times Arts Beat:

Powerhouse, which somehow manages to pack very funny puppetry, exuberant dance numbers, fascinating historical tangents, a mountain of narrative and a vivid sense of period mood into one steam train of a drama, is the rare Fringe show that lives up to its title.

Update 2: Another satisfied customer: "Every element was perfect and brilliantly creative. It's what live theater can be that no other medium can match." Update 3: TimeOut New York: "... a kinetic and visually enchanting production. Aiming to honor the mad, creative urge to perfectly transmute ideas into art, Powerhouse succeeds beautifully." Update 4: Doesn't anyone not like this show? Update 5: Andrew loved it (and so did Andrew): "Powerhouse is that rare Fringe Fest gem that doesn’t come across like a drag show on steroids." Update 6: Jeff Winner attended the August 22 performance and met some of the cast, including Erik Lochtefeld, who plays the lead. Jeff reports:

Finally, after all these years, I met Raymond Scott! I had read he was only about 5'9", but apparently that was just part of the Scott mythology. He's actually 6'5". Photographic evidence:

Photo: Das Überbabe

Les Paul & Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott's fellow/rival musician, inventor, and multi-track recording pioneer Les Paul died today at age 94. Details about this audio giant and his important accomplishments here.

Below is an excerpt from THE WORLD OF SOUND, a chapter I contributed to the SOUND/UNBOUND anthology, compiled by Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky:

In 1952, Raymond Scott designed and built two of the world’s first multi-track tape machines, capable of recording seven and fourteen parallel tracks on a single reel. Two years later, sonic maverick Les Paul made an eight-track prototype, and inventor Hugh Le Caine devised a way to mix-down six separate tape sources in 1955. But as author/music historian Thom Holmes points out, “nobody came close to matching Scott’s early achievement.” Scott filed two patents for his advancements in magnetic tape technology in 1953, and a third in ’59.

Neil Strauss included a chapter about Raymond Scott in his new book, EVERYONE LOVES YOU WHEN YOU’RE DEAD, and added this footnote:

"During an interview with Les Paul, the musician who helped develop the electric guitar and popularize multi-track recording, I mentioned Raymond Scott and accidentally set him off on a tirade. Evidently, the two were rival innovators. 'He used to come to my house,' Paul snapped. 'He sure had some equipment though. I envied him.'" 

QSF: Boy Scout in Switzerland

Jeremy Cohen's Quartet San Francisco performing Scott's "Boy Scout in Switzerland" for string quartet. A studio version appeared on QSF's CD Whirled Chamber Music, along with six other RS tunes.

Stu Brown's Scott Project gig alert

Stu Brown's virtuosic Raymond Scott repertory sextet will be performing at the: on August 8 as part of the festival's Scottish (no pun intended, but appreciated nonetheless) Jazz Expo. Don't forget the band has a great new CD which is fully endorsed by the Raymond Scott mavenhood.

bells toll

A ringing endorsement of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" by "musical percussion theatre" ensemble Campanile. Played from a piano score with added keyboard part by Jeff Batdorf.

Kings of Swing:Chamber Jazz 1927-1940

An upcoming concert in London, presented by BBC Radio’s Russell Davies, will include five Raymond Scott pieces: "The Penguin," "Powerhouse," "Minuet In Jazz," "War Dance For Wooden Indians," and "In An 18th Century Drawing Room."

Also to be presented is the elegant virtuosity of the John Kirby Sextet, the piquant jazz harpsichord of Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five, Duke Ellington's distinctive orchestrations for small bands, and the contrasting styles of jazz violin greats, Stephane Grappelli and Joe Venuti.

WHEN: Thursday, July 16th, 2009, at 7:30pm 
WHERE: Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London

INFO: KingsOfSwingConcerts.co.uk

TICKETS: CadoganHall.com