ScottWorks: The Raymond Scott Festival

RECKLESS NIGHT MUSIC PRESENTS: ScottWorks | The Raymond Scott Festival is coming to Los Angeles on September 8th. Check it out: here

HELP WANTED: Animators & Motion-Graphic Artists

HELP WANTED: We're seeking animators & motion-graphic artists to create short abstract films — synchronized to music — for live performances by LA-based composer Ego Plum. The animations will be projected throughout the shows during this series of concerts that are dedicated to Raymond Scott's electronic music. [Scheduled for Fall of 2018, and Spring of 2019.] Here are examples for inspiration and reference:

• Oskar Fischinger: https://youtu.be/6Xc4g00FFLk
• Hans Richter: https://youtu.be/CMd2J9teidY
• Cornelius: https://youtu.be/WX_oynYs018

Email Jeff Winner (me) with samples of your work for details: info@RaymondScott.com

Concert: West Point Band’s Quintet 7

ABOVE: The West Point Band's Quintette 7

Raymond Scott Quintette drummer Johnny Williams once remarked about his boss's penchant for exhaustive rehearsals: "All that discipline helped. It had to. I developed a technique way beyond what I'd had." The West Point Band's Quintette 7 understands discipline, and it pays off in their performances of Scott's quirky tunes, which they'll offer in a FREE concert at the Chappaqua Library Theater on Sunday, May 7th, 2016. (The program will also feature the Q7 performing non-Scott selections such as "Misty" and "Big Noise from Winnetka.") RSVP via Facebook: here

Info from the Library: http://bit.ly/1q0Zm6j

Hear—and buy—tracks from the BEST-SELLING album "Quintette 7 Plays the Music of Raymond Scott": http://apple.co/1Ma1vXW

Powerhouse Passacaglia

Geoffrey Burleson performs "Powerhouse Passacaglia," a "Fantasy-Homage on Raymond Scott's 'Powerhouse'," composed by Burleson, at the New West Electronic Arts & Music Organization Festival, at Brooklyn’s ShapeShifter Lab, December 7, 2015.

Here's the work performed by the No Exit New Music Ensemble, November 2013:

Ghost Train Orchestra, Feb 28, Brooklyn

Our friend Brian Carpenter, leader of the fabulous Ghost Train Orchestra, whose Book of Rhapsodies CD contains several cleverly arranged works by Raymond Scott, writes:

Don't miss our last show with the Book of Rhapsodies band on Saturday February 28 before we head into the studio to record Book of Rhapsodies Volume II (all of which can be heard live at this show). We'll debut new arrangements of strange and beautiful chamber works penned by Raymond Scott, Alec Wilder, Charlie Shavers, and Reginald Foresythe, as well as a special treat — some pieces by a seemingly unknown bandleader/composer from the '30s and '40s recently discovered by Irwin Chusid. We can't wait to debut these pieces live (and tell you who it is.)

Saturday February 28

Jalopy Theater

315 Columbia Street

Red Hook, Brooklyn

8pm doors / 9pm show

Note: I won't reveal the name of the "unknown" bandleader/composer, but I didn't discover him. His work was discovered by our friend Takashi Okada of Tokyo, who passed the recordings along to me, and I sent them on to Brian certain that he would appreciate them. It was Brian's idea to arrange and perform them.

Here's GTO's recording of Scott's "New Year's Eve in a Haunted House."

Raymond Scott Orchestrette @ Lake George

The Raymond Scott Orchestrette takes their namesake's inspired eccentricities into the 21st century, reinventing the Scott catalog for modern ears. They're based in New York City, but rarely play in their hometown. Your soonest opportunity to see this marvelous septet is at the Lake George Jazz Festival, at which they'll offer the closing set on Sunday, September 14 at 4:30.

Also appearing at the festival will be Steven Bernstein's Sexmob, who hail from NYC as well. Both ensembles got a nice advance writeup in the Lake George Mirror.

Full disclosure: Raymond Scott is NOT in the Orchestrette. (He passed away in 1994.) But we think he'd be honored to know his music continues to captivate audiences 75 years after he wrote it.

Alarm Will Sound/Dance Heginbotham: Twinned

John Heginbotham's dance work, Manhattan Research, featuring the music of Raymond Scott, premiered in August 2013 at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. Heginbotham returns to the Scott catalog with Twinned, a collaborative performance with music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, which debuts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on February 20, in New York. Heginbotham will use seven short Scott electronic works as transition music during the evening's program, which includes music by Aphex Twin, Tyondai Braxton, and Edgard Varèse.

This is a one-evening performance at the Met's Charles Engelhard Court. Tickets are available here.

Marathon Cadenzas

Last August, Dance Heginbotham, led by John Heginbotham, danced to the music of Raymond Scott at New York's Lincoln Center Out of Doors. The work, Manhattan Research, was premiered with live accompaniment by the Raymond Scott Orchestrette.

The dance world's new-found romance with Raymond continues when the Paul Taylor Dance Company premieres MARATHON CADENZAS at Lincoln Center in March. The work features choreography to the Raymond Scott Quintette's classic 1937-39 recordings of "The Penguin," "Oil Gusher," "Minuet in Jazz," "Girl at the Typewriter," "Twilight in Turkey," and "Peter Tambourine." (What—no "Powerhouse"?) Four performances are scheduled at LC's David H. Koch Theater on March 14th, 20th, 22nd, and 30th.

The Taylor Dancers will be at LC for a three-week run, which will include other repertoire. Package deals for multiple performances can be purchased here.

Marathon Cadenzas will also be performed on tour, but venues have not yet been announced.

RS Orchestrette/Ghost Train Orchestra concert videos

If you missed the Raymond Scott Orchestrette/Ghost Train Orchestra double bill at Subculture on October 26, we have video with decent audio thanks to Mike Nogami, a well-known Japanese photographer who sat near the stage. Our mutual friend, Takashi Okada, has posted 14 clips (seven of each band) on YouTube for your enjoyment. (Links below by title.) Not captured was GTO's grand finale, a spectacular nine-minute-plus arrangement of Scott's "Celebration on the Planet Mars," which closes the band's new album, Book of Rhapsodies. Incidentally, the respective RSO and GTO drummers look remarkably similar. They are, in fact, one and the same: GTO's Rob Garcia filled for the RSO's Clem Waldmann, who had a prior commitment.

The Raymond Scott Orchestrette

(all titles by Raymond Scott)

Twilight in Turkey / Oil Gusher

Tobacco Auctioneer

Peter Tambourine

Manhattan Minuet

Little Miss Echo

Square Dance for Eight Egyptian Mummies

Powerhouse

The Ghost Train Orchestra

(all arrangements by Brian Carpenter)

Charlie's Prelude (Louis Singer)

Beethoven Riffs On (Louis Singer)

Volcanic (Reginald Foresythe)

Dawn on the Desert (Charlie Shavers)

It's Silk, Feel It! (Alec Wilder)

Her Old Man Was at Times Suspicious (Alec Wilder)

At An Arabian House Party  (Raymond Scott)

Nine daffy Norwegians

If you live in the New York City metro area, chances are high you missed the MeanEnsemble's March 2013 performances of Don't Beat Your Wife (Every Night): A Tribute to Raymond Scott and the Perfect World of Commercials at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. We were there—and we didn't see you. In fact, the first night's attendance was about six (not including the band and staff), and the second night's "crowd" numbered about 15. Which is a shame for two reasons: 1) because it was a spectacular and highly entertaining show, and 2) the band hails from Norway and rarely visits the U.S. There was apparently some serious PR fail that resulted in very little public awareness of the event. Nonetheless, the musicians performed admirably and most entertainingly.

A high-quality, beautifully directed video of the entire program (as performed in a studio in their home country) will be screened on Saturday, November 23, 2:00pm, at the WFMU Record Fair, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street. I will introduce the video and provide a little context for those unfamiliar with Scott's legacy.

The MeanEnsemble vid will be followed by our friends Sport Murphy, Steve Young and Laura Lindgren's absurdist extravaganza based on their new book, Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals.

No Exit showcases Raymond Scott

No Exit ensemble will start their fifth season by focusing on the music of the legendary Raymond Scott Quintette, with concerts scheduled in Cleveland and Buffalo (see below).

No Exit's artistic director Timothy Beyer says: "We did a series of concerts inspired by jazz luminary Eric Dolphy. It proved to be one of our most popular programs and was a great deal of fun to put together. We're basically doing the same thing this time around with Raymond Scott." 

This will be the Cleveland-based ensemble's first program to consist entirely of world premiere pieces. The concerts will feature new arrangements of Scott's music by pianist Geoffrey Burleson, saxophonist/composer and founder of the Either/ Orchestra Russ Gershon, and composers Greg D'Alessio, Chris Auerbach-Brown, and Eric Gonzalez. Also on the program are original pieces by No Exit's own James Praznik and Timothy Beyer which were inspired by the music of Scott's Quintette.

November concerts are scheduled in Cleveland and Buffalo:

Nov. 15 at Spaces, Cleveland

Nov. 16 at PAUSA Art House, 19 Wadsworth Street, Buffalo, NY

Nov. 18 at Cleveland State University, Drinko Auditorium

Beyer: "Scott was a truly brilliant guy whose genius couldn't be contained within a single medium. He was one of the early pioneers of electronic music — some of which will be featured on the program along with pieces inspired by his jazz Quintette — and developed many early devices for composing and creating electronic works. He had his own unique sensibility, a very singular vision as to how music should be and didn't seem too concerned with what everyone else was doing. Just a remarkable artist who throughout his prodigious career always seemed to be doing something all his own."

Beyer adds: "There has been a big resurgence of interest in Scott's music over the last decade or so. While Raymond Scott may not yet be a household name, most folks have heard his music whether they know it or not. I'm certain that there will be many people at the concerts thinking to themselves, I've heard that tune before!"

No Exit on Facebook

QUESTLOVE & others present live concerts titled "ELECTRONIUM: The Future Was Then"

Ahmir “QUESTLOVE” Thompson (THE ROOTS) returns to the Brooklyn Academy of Music with an all-star mash-up that celebrates pioneering works of electronic music. From the press release: 

The production’s title references the first electronic synthesizer created exclusively for the composition and performance of music. Created by composer-technologist Raymond Scott, the Electronium was designed but never released for distribution; the one remaining machine is undergoing restoration. Complemented by interactive lighting and aural mash-ups, the music of Electronium: The Future Was Then honors the legacy of The Electronium in a production that celebrates both digital and live music interplay. 

R&B singer-producer Tom Krell (How to Dress Well), avant-R&B outfit Sonnymoon, beatboxer Rahzel, guitarist Kirk Douglas (The Roots), DJ-composer Jeremy Ellis, and conductor Andrew Cyr & Metropolis Ensemble join Grammy Award winner Questlove to sample and deconstruct seminal recordings by everyone from RAYMOND SCOTT and Bob Moog, to Stevie Wonder and George Clinton, into a feverishly modern new playlist. Old-school blips and beeps, sine waves, and analog synth solos mix with live vocals and contemporary electronics in this ecstatic riff on the analog revolution that paved the way for our music today.

TICKETS & DETAILS: here

Raymond Orchestrette & Ghost Train OCT 26

Illustration/design by James Weinberg

The Orchestrette boards a Ghost Train

Raymond Scott Orchestrette gigs have been few and far between (they have a lousy—cough, cough—booking agent). Now, following their triumphant August 8 Lincoln Center Out of Doors stint accompanying the John Heginbotham dance ensemble, the RSO has been invited to open for the Ghost Train Orchestra's CD release party on October 26. The GTO also features Raymond repertoire (along with Alec Wilder, John Kirby and Reginald Foresythe), so the evening offers a double shot of Scott. The concert takes place at a new downtown Manhattan venue, SubCulture, at 45 Bleecker Street.

GTO is led by Brian Carpenter, who has been studying Scott scores and creating new arrangements over the past five years. His previous band, Beat Circus, released a 2008 CD entitled Dreamland, whose cover was illustrated by Orchestrette multi-instrumentalist Brian Dewan.

Would Daffy Approve?

The New York Times reviews the Dance Heginbotham/Raymond Scott Orchestrette collaborative choreographic premiere of Manhattan Research at Lincoln Center Out of Doors this past Thursday.

Excerpt:

Mr. Heginbotham — who founded his company, Dance Heginbotham, two years ago — comes with his own associations, primarily the 14 years he spent in the Mark Morris Dance Group. As a choreographer, his most obvious connection to Mr. Morris is a fidelity to music. With antic groupings, Egyptian arm bends and vaudeville steps, “Manhattan Research” doesn’t just capture the spirit of [Raymond] Scott; it makes visual the music’s form and offers an apt move or gesture for nearly every sound. Also, Mr. Heginbotham is funny.

Our take? Brilliant, exciting, vivacious, animated. We look forward to further collaborative projects between Heginbotham's young troupe and the RSO.

The Scott works performed by the RSO were: "Manhattan Minuet" (premiere), "Powerhouse," "Snake Woman" (premiere), "Blue Blue Blue Blue Blue," and "Siberian Sleighride."

LINCOLN CENTER presents Free Concert

Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park Bandshell

LINCOLN CENTER Free "Out Of Doors" Concert Series Presents:

Dance Heginbotham creates highly structured, technically rigorous, and theatrical choreography, frequently set to the music of contemporary composers. Along with signature pieces "Twins" and "Blown Away," Dance Heginbotham will present a world premiere of "Manhattan Research," a new work based on the music of midcentury maverick Raymond Scott. Best known for his Loony Tunes ditties, the composer, bandleader, and musical inventor’s spirit — leaping from zany to sultry — lives on thanks to The Raymond Scott Orchestrette, whose dynamic performance of pieces like “Powerhouse” will provide the spark for Dance Heginbotham’s trademark vigor and humor. Athletic, meticulously rhythmic movement will run alongside cool, witty nods to the subject matter in Scott's melodies, instrumentation, and song titles. Admission is free. Details: here

"Manhattan Research" commissioned by Lincoln Center for "Lincoln Center Out of Doors."

Arnold Eidus (1922-2013)

Raymond Scott and Arnold Eidus, 1950

With sadness we note the passing on June 3 of world-renowned violinist Arnold Eidus, at age 90. With pride we note his Raymond Scott connection: in 1950 Eidus performed in a duet setting at Carnegie Hall the only 20th century public recital of Scott's Suite for Violin and Piano. The five-movement Suite was Scott's only known "serious," classical composition, and we've heard anecdotal accounts that it was composed specifically as a showcase for Mr. Eidus. Though he was only 27 at the time, it was not the first time Eidus had appeared at Carnegie Hall—he had performed there as soloist on Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole at age thirteen!

A rehearsal recording of the Suite was discovered in the Scott collection at the Marr Sound Archives, and was released last year on Basta, coupled with a 21st century recording by Davide Rossi and Ramon Dor.

While researching liner notes for the CD, I interviewed Eidus by phone at his Boca Raton home on August 24, 2011. He was a gracious man, and while he could not recall recording or performing the Suite ("I've done thousands of sessions over the years"), he did remember Scott—fondly. "I got along well with him, never had a problem," Mr. Eidus recounted. "I had a pleasant time with him." Unlike a number of musicians who worked in the 1940s and '50s under the demanding bandleader, Eidus said, "I can't say anything bad about him." (Not that we were asking.) The 1950 disc did not indicate the identity of the pianist, but subsequent research revealed it was Carlo Bussotti, who had accompanied Eidus at the 1950 Carnegie concert.

Eidus enjoyed a storied career as a studio accompanist in the jazz, classical, pop, and Latin fields. His session logs include dates for Sinatra, Perez Prado, Wes Montgomery, Lena Horne, Cal Tjader, Doris Day, Freddie Hubbard, and hundreds more. Among his other professional pursuits, Eidus facilitated the hiring of musicians for various projects. When Scott was named conductor on TV's Your Hit Parade in 1950, he needed a string section. Eidus contracted a half-dozen players, and landed a violin chair in the YHP orchestra himself for a year or two. He also recalled touring briefly with Scott, and launched his own classical record label, Stradivari Records, in the 1950s. A busy man, now eternally at rest. Condolences to his family.

Dance Heginbotham: Manhattan Research (August 8, 2013)

Dance Heginbotham, led by choreographer John Heginbotham, creates highly structured, technically rigorous, and theatrical dance works. On August 8, at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the troupe presents the world premiere of Manhattan Research, a new work based on the music of Raymond Scott. LCOD describes the performance:

Best known for his Loony Tunes ditties, the composer, bandleader, and musical inventor’s spirit—leaping from zany to sultry—lives on with the Raymond Scott Orchestrette, whose dynamic performances of works like “Powerhouse” will provide the spark for Heginbotham’s vigor and humor. Athletic, meticulously rhythmic movement will run alongside cool, witty nods to the subject matter in Scott's melodies, instrumentation, and song titles.

The free concert takes place Thursday, August 8, 7:30 pm, at Damrosch Park Bandshell.

Hear the Orchestrette's album Pushbutton Parfait on Soundcloud.

War Dance for Tap, Tabla, and Tuba

Hungarian-born composer/percussionist Gábor Tarján, who lives in the Netherlands, arranged Scott's "War Dance for Wooden Indians" for an unusual ensemble. He recently provided us with video of a June 2010 performance, and the following notes:

The group does not actually have a name (as yet). I brought these musicians together for a project entitled "Tap 'n Tabla." The video was recorded at the Vredenburg Concert Hall, Utrecht, Netherlands. I'm playing marimba.

Scott's music has been an inspiration ever since I heard a recording of "Siberian Sleighride" on the radio years ago. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and fell in love with the music right away. It's a very controlled sort of chaos, and I love that Scott is basically just playing with all these notes. The music also has an openness. I can imagine many of his pieces being arranged for a wide array of different formations. The possibilities are endless!

Next week, I'm trying out a new (perhaps a bit bizarre) arrangement of "Powerhouse" for female vocals, marimba, bass guitar and tabla.

The others players in the video are Sandip Bhattacharya (tabla), Peter Kuit (tap dance), Yamila Bavio (sax), Frans Cornelissen (tuba), and Rembrandt Frerichs (piano).

Invasion from Norway!

• Click image above for larger view •

The amazing Mean Ensemble are coming from Norway to perform their Raymond Scott tribute show for the first time in the USA. The Mean Ensemble are the only band since Raymond's original 1930s Quintette to perform the maestro's tunes without reading sheet music — video evidence of this feat: here. The 3 concerts will be in New York City on March 11th & 12th — details & ticket info here. Preceding the shows, an introduction will be presented by Jeff E. Winner (me) of the RS Archives.