ABOVE: Ego Plum's electronic band performs
"In The Hall Of The Mountain Queen"
ABOVE: Steve Bartek's band performs "Oil Gusher"
Stay 'tooned for 2 more videos from this concert next week.
Monday, February 04, 2013
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Listen to 3 Sneak Previews from Upcoming Mash-Up/Remix Album
The Bran Flakes (Otis Fodder, Canada), The Evolution Control Committee (TradeMark Gunderson, U.S.), and Go Home Productions (Mark Vidler, U.K.) were given hundreds of recordings owned by the Raymond Scott estate, in all genres, including unreleased material, spanning the 1930s to the 1980s. They were invited to have fun, keep it rhythmic, and make it percolate. Each contributed six audio montages with new titles, and they collaborated on Scott's signature tune, "Powerhouse." Approximately 250 sample sources were used in the construction of 19 tracks. Those samples have been edited, looped, flipped, and stretched; they were tweaked with equalization, pitch-shifting, compression, and all manner of digital cosmetology. Scott fans will recognize some passages, but in countless cases, the source recordings have been rendered unrecognizable. Album produced by Irwin Chusid and Otis Fodder, to be released on Basta in 2013. Listen to 3 preview tracks below:
Friday, February 01, 2013
Unhuman Muzik Festival in Berlin
The award-winning Raymond Scott documentary film, "DECONSTRUCTING DAD," will be screened during the Unhuman Muzik Festival in Berlin on Friday, February 22nd. Details: HERE. Directed by Raymond Scott's son, STAN WARNOW, and co-produced by JEFF WINNER (me), the documentary features: JOHN WILLIAMS, multi-Academy Award®-winning movie soundtrack composer (JAWS, STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER), MARK MOTHERSBAUGH, Emmy Award®-winning movie & TV score writer, & co-founder of DEVO, DJ SPOOKY, aka PAUL D. MILLER, turntablist, producer, & author, and others.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
2 new videos: Steve Bartek & Ego Plum's live show at WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
ABOVE: Ego Plum's electronic band performs "Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals"
ABOVE: Steve Bartek's band performs "The Penguin"
Stay 'tooned for 2 more videos from this concert next week.
Friday, January 04, 2013
22nd Annual Tucson International Jewish Film Festival
The award-winning Raymond Scott documentary film, "DECONSTRUCTING DAD," will be screened during the 22nd Annual Tuscon International Jewish Film Festival on January 13th. TICKETS & INFO: HERE. Directed by Raymond Scott's son, STAN WARNOW, and co-produced by JEFF WINNER (me), the documentary features: JOHN WILLIAMS, multi-Academy Award®-winning movie soundtrack composer (JAWS,STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER), MARK MOTHERSBAUGH, Emmy Award®-winning movie & TV score writer, & co-founder of DEVO, DJ SPOOKY, aka PAUL D. MILLER, turntablist, producer, & author, and others.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
75 Years of Wooden Indians
On this date 75 years ago, Raymond Scott returned to CBS studios with his 6-man 'Quintette' to record "War Dance For Wooden Indians." This hit tune was released in 1937, and is consecrated into several classic LOONEY TUNES shorts including "The Odor-able Kitty," "Tom Tom Tomcat," "A Peck o' Trouble," and "Bye, Bye Bluebeard." Download the vintage Columbia recording from the iTunes store, or Amazon, and watch one of our favorite covers here:
Thursday, November 29, 2012
It's Alive: Electronium Restoration Update
Yesterday I received an email from Darren Davidson, who is attempting to restore the Motown Electronium:
On Nov 28, 2012, at 1:18 PM, Darren Davison wrote:
Good Morning!
Last night a few Electrical/Engineering friends of mine and I were trying to get to the bottom of why the Electronium would still not utter a sound. After about an hour of tinkering and following the initial setup procedure Raymond wrote up, the machine began to make very simple and crude sounds. We recorded the sounds and although they are hardly musical, it is a fantastic milestone.
Most of the tone generators, but of course, there are more questions than answers. The voltages delivered by the power supplies are still not quite right and many of the pot switches are so sticky, that adjusting them is like steering a car in ice with a flat tire. The recording and "Auto-composing" portion is still not working and my feelings were "just get it to make some kind of controllable sound" first, then work on getting fancy.
I am sure this will accelerate things, and I have been in contact with Alan Entenman and am sending him photos of the internals of the Electronium in hopes of refreshing his memory of how some of it should work on the recording and keyboard side.
Anyway, I am hoping that by March, even if it is not recording or auto composing, the sounds are less harsh and that some of the other features such as the "Bass generators, "counterpoints", and other features are working.
I will send a copy of the sound files as soon as I can, most likely this evening. It's on the Engineering guys phone and he is having trouble sending vide for some reason. The whole thing was recorded on an Iphone and there is a 4 min? video of me adjusting knobs and such. In all fairness to their help, their names are Guy Lewis and Pete Levno.
Now I think we will start picking up steam!
—Darren
Last night a few Electrical/Engineering friends of mine and I were trying to get to the bottom of why the Electronium would still not utter a sound. After about an hour of tinkering and following the initial setup procedure Raymond wrote up, the machine began to make very simple and crude sounds. We recorded the sounds and although they are hardly musical, it is a fantastic milestone.
Most of the tone generators, but of course, there are more questions than answers. The voltages delivered by the power supplies are still not quite right and many of the pot switches are so sticky, that adjusting them is like steering a car in ice with a flat tire. The recording and "Auto-composing" portion is still not working and my feelings were "just get it to make some kind of controllable sound" first, then work on getting fancy.
I am sure this will accelerate things, and I have been in contact with Alan Entenman and am sending him photos of the internals of the Electronium in hopes of refreshing his memory of how some of it should work on the recording and keyboard side.
Anyway, I am hoping that by March, even if it is not recording or auto composing, the sounds are less harsh and that some of the other features such as the "Bass generators, "counterpoints", and other features are working.
I will send a copy of the sound files as soon as I can, most likely this evening. It's on the Engineering guys phone and he is having trouble sending vide for some reason. The whole thing was recorded on an Iphone and there is a 4 min? video of me adjusting knobs and such. In all fairness to their help, their names are Guy Lewis and Pete Levno.
Now I think we will start picking up steam!
—Darren
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
New release: "SUITE FOR VIOLIN & PIANO"
Raymond Scott created a diverse body of work that included jazz novelties (often considered "cartoon music"), orchestral ballads, a Broadway musical, film scores, commercial jingles, electronic miniatures, and avant-garde musique concrète. However, the Suite for Violin and Piano, composed in 1950 and never commercially released, was unique in his catalog.
The same daredevil who gave the world “The Toy Trumpet” and “Powerhouse” composed this exquisitely crafted classical jewel. True, Scott was a 1931 Juilliard grad, but the closest his prior compositions had inched towards the classics were jazzed-up reinventions of Mozart, Verdi, and Schubert.
The five-movement work was publicly performed just once, at Carnegie Hall in 1950, by renowned violinist Arnold Eidus and pianist Carlo Bussotti. The work was then recorded by Eidus and Bussotti, under the supervision of the composer. However, Scott did not release it commercially for reasons historically unknown.
In 2004, after Scott's widow, Mitzi, discovered the score at home, a new recording was produced by Beau Hunks Orchestra leader Gert-Jan Blom in the Netherlands, featuring violinist Davide Rossi and pianist Ramon Dor.
The two versions are now coupled on this new Basta release. The package is adorned with vintage 1940s and '50s music illustrations by noted artist Jim Flora, and features liner notes co-written by Gert-Jan Blom and Scott authority Irwin Chusid.
Producer: Gert-Jan Blom
Executive Producer: Jeroen van der Schaaf
Art Direction: Piet Schreuders
Illustrations: Jim Flora
Research: Irwin Chusid and Jeff E. Winner
On a special note, we are offering free copies of the sheet music at http://bastamusic.com/suiteExecutive Producer: Jeroen van der Schaaf
Art Direction: Piet Schreuders
Illustrations: Jim Flora
Research: Irwin Chusid and Jeff E. Winner
• Get the CD or download from Amazon.com here, or the iTunes Store: here
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Live WZBC Radio Special with
Jeff E. Winner & Tom Rhea:
75th Anniversary Event
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Raymond Scott's music, Brian Carpenter hosted a live 3-hour WZBC radio special — co-hosted by Jeff E. Winner (me) of the RS Archives, and Tom Rhea (Berklee, MOOG Music), with special guests: J.G. Thirlwell (FOETUS, STEROID MAXIMUS), DJ Spooky, Stu Brown, Will Friedwald, Daniel Goldmark, Irwin Chusid, and David Harrington (KRONOS QUARTET).
• LISTEN HERE: The show can now be streamed:
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
"30 ROCK"
During the 1950s, Raymond Scott was seen by millions of television viewers every week on the show YOUR HIT PARADE, which was filmed at NBC's Studio 8H located at 30 Rockefeller Center in NYC. On October 18th, Scott's music returns to primetime NBC-TV — his tune "Rococo" will make a cameo on the hit series, 30 ROCK. The show was created by Tina Fey, based upon her experiences on Saturday Night Live, which is also filmed in Studio 8H in the '30 Rock' building. As Executive Producer and Composer, Jeff Richmond says, "I write all the music for 30 ROCK and I wanted to thank you for the Raymond Scott piece. Truly hip. It has a very important use. It's at the end and helps tie all the story lines together." UPDATE: Watch the entire episode: here.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
New "Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection Volume Two" 3-DVD Blu-ray set
Is there a cartoon geek on your holiday shopping list? The new "LOONEY TUNES: PLATINUM COLLECTION Volume Two" 3-DVD Blu-ray set is released today. Watch side-by-side remastering comparison of "Canned Feud" — featuring Raymond Scott's hit tune, "Huckleberry Duck" — below:
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Walt Disney Concert Hall show in LA:
Oingo Boingo's Steve Bartek & Ego Plum
Press release from Walt Disney Concert Hall:
LOS ANGELES, CA — REDCAT, CalArts’ downtown center for contemporary arts, presents in cooperation with JEFF E. WINNER of The Raymond Scott Archives, a special evening celebrating pioneer of electronic music Raymond Scott. Machine-Man: The Musical Mayhem of Raymond Scott will be held at the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater on Friday, November 9 at 8:30 pm.
Though musical shape-shifter Raymond Scott may no longer be a household name, his inimitable “cartoon jazz” is instantly recognized by millions: it has been adapted to underscore the antics of BUGS BUNNY, DAFFY DUCK, REN & STIMPY, THE SIMPSONS, and many other cartoon characters for 75 years. Scott, moreover, was an inventor of instruments and a pioneer of electronic music.
In this unprecedented celebration of Scott’s polymorphic career, former OINGO BOINGO co-founder and guitarist STEVE BARTEK and his band (including other Oingo Boingo alums) find new takes on the composer’s early cartoon classics, while composer EGO PLUM’s ensemble re-envisions Scott’s farsighted electronica. Joining in is the Rogue Artists Ensemble who will stage a first-ever live interpretation of a vintage Scott film collaboration with MUPPETS creator JIM HENSON.
Event webpage on REDCAT.ORG:
http://www.redcat.org/event/raymond-scott-tribute
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
24th Annual Earshot Jazz Film Festival
The award-winning documentary film, "DECONSTRUCTING DAD," will be screened twice during the 24th Annual Earshot Jazz Film Festival at the Northwest Film Forum on Saturday, October 27th, and Sunday, October 28th. The Film Forum is Seattle's premier film arts organization, known for “adventurous, spot-on programming” (Jazz Times) and praised as "one of the best festivals in America" (Seattle Times) the Earshot Jazz Festival brings concerts by some of the most important and emerging artists in the world, a series of rare jazz films, photo exhibits, panel discussions, educational programs and more. TICKETS: HERE
Directed by Raymond Scott's son, STAN WARNOW, and co-produced by JEFF WINNER (me), the documentary features: JOHN WILLIAMS, multi-Academy Award®-winning movie soundtrack composer (JAWS, STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER), MARK MOTHERSBAUGH, Emmy Award®-winning movie & TV score writer, & co-founder of DEVO, DJ SPOOKY, aka PAUL D. MILLER, turntablist, producer, & author, and others.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
6th Annual Buffalo International Film Festival at The Screening Room Cinema
Directed by Raymond Scott's son, STAN WARNOW, and co-produced by JEFF WINNER (me), the documentary features: JOHN WILLIAMS, multi-Academy Award®-winning movie soundtrack composer (JAWS, STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER), MARK MOTHERSBAUGH, Emmy Award®-winning movie & TV score writer, & co-founder of DEVO, DJ SPOOKY, aka PAUL D. MILLER, turntablist, producer, & author, and others.
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