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Wonderful flight – the whole time radiant sunshine.
Arrival – party with the Zappa family on Mulholland, first meeting between Europe – America. The invitation “come to my house and visit my swimming pool” is not meant literally. Listen to his synclavier pieces in the basement studio, which is full of master tapes and video recordings of his shows, and normal, everyday American television
life.
Next to that a room full of largely unplayed orchestral scores and arrangements. Next day: first rehearsal in Joe’s garage near the Hollywood city airport – pretty uninviting neighborhood.
The studio is well protected through high, electric metal gates.
A ghetto-like area – largely Latino – otherwise factory buildings.
Organized to perfection: there is a professional around the clock who takes care of everything (Zappa’s guitar equipment, electronics, coffee, clean-up).
Zappa puts out music: “This is a test” – Hindemith-like composition: getting musically acquainted.
Then improvisation exercises, which he conducts with seven famous hand gestures (how to make music with an audience within a TV show, Sydney, 1970s).
The next days – improvisation exercises, everything is digitally recorded or sampled on his synclavier.
After about 10 days move into a full professional studio in the attic of his house on Mulholland Drive – with recording room and solo booths for percussion instruments and voice.
In addition a digital mixing console purchased especially for this project.
A computer and recording technician who works for Universal studios is available all day.
The ensemble is sampled on the synclavier in small groups – woodwinds, brass, strings, etc. –
p.s. Zappa is extraordinarily friendly the whole time, no demands, focused on what is possible.
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( 3 / 633 )Ok, it's not exactly like Alex Ross came out and said that Ojai was doing everything right, but to our ears, it's awfully close. Check out this part of his recent lecture at Wigmore Hall.
"Perhaps concerts should become, in a way, more old-fashioned — more local, communal. By this I don’t have in mind superficial matters of dress or etiquette. Rather, institutions might work on strengthening the bond between performer and public—remarks beforehand, gatherings afterward, and, certainly, a relaxation of the Rule. I’m with
Emanuel Ax when he says, 'I think that if there were no rules about when to applaud, we in the audience would have the right response almost always.' David Robertson has much the same attitude: he sometimes invites listeners to applaud when and where they wish. At the same time, I feel that the prevailing atmosphere is too humdrum, too perfunctory. We fail to do justice to the music’s uncanny presence. There are too many opportunities for distraction. I’m always disheartened when I see people around me burying their heads in program booklets. Perhaps it would be better to lower the lights in the hall and train the spotlight on the musicians."
and
"One encouraging trend in contemporary classical performance is to bring musicians out of their accustomed, 'official' settings and place them in more intimate environments."
With his appreciation of "intimate settings" and greater artist/audience interaction, not to mention his reference to two recent Ojai artists, it certainly sounds like an endorsement of the Ojai approach. I'm happy to connect those dots for you, Mr. Ross.
We concur with your statements completely.
- Christiana Thomas
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( 2.9 / 657 )Tom Morris and I spent a few days together last week. Yes, Tom made it out of the historic winter storms on the East Coast last week--only delayed by a day! We spent time in Ojai refining the Festival schedule (you'll see that we will be moving the Friday symposium a little earlier than originally planned to accommodate the artists' schedules). Tom and I then flew up to Oakland to meet with a friend of ours, Matias Tarnopolsky, who recently assumed the responsibility of running Cal Performances from the legendary Robert Cole. Tom and I have always been interested in the idea of collaborating with another organization on our programs and giving these programs another performance outside of Ojai; we thought that we might want to explore this idea with him. In short, the three of us are all very enthusiastic about the idea and are now in the process of seeing if this works for the artists that we have booked starting in 2011. More to come as details unfold!
While I was in Berkeley, I also enjoyed meeting with board member, Russ Irwin, at the famous landmark Cafe Strada. We talked about the recent San Francisco Contemporary Players concert featuring Brad Lubman, who will of course will be in Ojai this summer! He also talked about his excitement about talking with George Benjamin while he was in residence at the SF Symphony. I also enjoyed catching up with former board member Sara Sackner, who is now Director of Development for the Berkeley Art Museum and the Pacific Film Archive. While at the museum she shared with me the exhibit by James Castle -- well worth seeing . We then enjoyed a nice lunch at Adagai across the street. I had a few extra minutes to explore the area and was pleased to find one classical CD store/cafe that still exists, The Musical Offering. Of course, I had to support them and buy some CDs!
- Jeff Haydon
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( 3 / 809 )One of our amazing BRAVO! Artists in Residence, Judy Piazza, came to the office today. We know her primarily as a tremendously engaging teacher, but her professional musical career is in world music, specifically percussion. So since I had her attention, I asked her what she could tell me about ragas.
I had been watching this mesmerizing raga video, but even after a few viewings, I was still utterly unable to comprehend what I was seeing. Despite a robust and advanced study of music, I was adrift. I got that it was beautiful, and it certainly sounded complex, but I couldn't quite piece together what was happening in the music.
Judy said, "I think Indian music is a unique challenge for Western ears," in an effort, I suspect, to make me feel better.
I started the video (below) which features Aashish Khan on sarod (Khan is on our 2010 program) and a young Zakhir Hussain on tabla (drums). Judy was amazed.
"Zakhir Hussein is the most famous tabla player ever. Surely you know who he is."
I didn't.
As the music played, Judy confirmed what I had suspected - the raga is largely improvised, but with very strict music theory rules. A raga is a bit like a mode in western music. Of course the people who really get Indian classical music would say that I'm wrong about this, that it's actually much more complex, and while I'm sure that's generally true, one has to start somewhere.
I asked what I could listen for, and Judy mentioned the tihai, which is a melodic pattern repeated three times to signal the entry into a new section of the raga. I was delighted to discover that they are relatively simple to hear in the selection below.
Judy also talked about the tala. The tala is the rhythm of the piece, typically complex meters. Apparently when she was traveling in India, Judy attended performances where the audience would keep time with the tabla player by counting on their fingers, and the whole room would "arrive at the one together." I'm not totally sure what that would entail, but it sounds really beautiful and interconnected, doesn't it?
In case you're curious, the woman in the back is playing the drone, which is not just one note, but several played in a repeated pattern. I couldn't ever quite clue into what she was playing, but perhaps you can.
So this is a quick and exceedingly basic intro to Indian music. As we learn more about the world of ragas, we will continue to share it here.
- Christiana Thomas
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( 2.9 / 704 )
The Festival family lost a dear friend last weekend. Marty Fujita, who spearheaded the first ever Ojai Festival Green Initiative died of complications from cancer. Her loss grieves so many in the Ojai community, who will always remember her great energy, and the passionate commitment that she had for environmental and health causes. The Festival family will continue to honor Marty's memory by working to keep the Festival green, and by pushing ourselves (as we know she would have pushed us) to continue to do more to make our program environmentally sustainable.- Christiana Thomas
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( 2.9 / 764 )
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