An atmosphere of bonheur and celebration permeated SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium for the second program of the 20th edition of the Other Minds Festival. Of the three nights, Saturday’s was the most light-hearted one. Friday featured tributes to the late Lou Harrison and Peter Sculthorpe (who had been scheduled to appear at this edition of the festival in person, before his passing in August of 2014), whereas Sunday’s program confronted the sobering issue of the Armenian genocide.
The theme for Saturday, in addition to Other Minds’ expected embracing of eclecticism, was “Improvised (According to Plan),” highlighting musics that take various approaches to playfulness.
Other Minds director Charles Amirkhanian (whose music, exceptionally, appeared on all three programs, in celebration of his 70th birthday) was the first to take the stage, delivering a rhythmically and phonetically dazzling trio of sound poetry compositions for live and pre-recorded voices. Infectious rhythms and enticing word-play (often displaying the semantic disintegration that happens through repetition, alliteration, and rhythmic displacement) constituted the common surface appeal for all three pieces, but each also tackled a deeper, structural issue.
“Dumbek Bookcase IV” (1986) incorporated speeches by Presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge, and was used by Amirkhanian and his wife Carol Law in Veto, a theater piece denouncing American abuses in the Iran-Contra scandal. Amirkhanian’s fascination with classical Hawaiian language (and its stratagems to circumvent the presence of only seven consonants) supplied the impetus for “Ka Himeni Hehena” (1997), whereas his experiences as a radio fundraiser contributed to the breathless pace of “Marathon” (1997).
Just when the composer/director/performer thought his job for the evening was done, he was forced to remain onstage by the sudden entrance of Errollyn Wallen who sat at the piano to deliver a brief and newly composed birthday tune for Amirkhanian, titled “Charlesy,” accompanied by and violinist Azat Fishyan. Pairing sincerity with levity, this moment captured the spirit of the evening perfectly.
Wallen returned to the stage to deliver a set of seven songs from her Songbook. Though mainly active in the realm of “concert” music (never has this distinction seemed more meaningless than at an Other Minds Festival), Wallen had been composing songs in a refined songwriter style, mainly — by her admission — for her own enjoyment, until the songs caught Amirkhanian’s ear. Wallen presented her songs at the 1999 Other Minds Festival, and they seem to have taken on a life of their own since, appearing in a variety of media and settings, including a NASA space mission.
Wallen’s style is appropriately syncretic, the piano accompaniments evoking lounge bar atmospheres, late-Romantic virtuosity, and the occasional Caribbean rhythm, while her melodies float high above and take unexpected, unpredictable harmonic turns. Ranging from the personal (including two songs composed while in residence at the Djerassi Resident Artists' Program, “About Here” and “Road”) to more abstract matters (the deliciously nonsensical “What’s up, Doc?” and the more somberly esoteric “Daedalus”), the set was enhanced in the final three songs by the appearance of the Del Sol Quartet, which further highlighted the depth of Wallen’s compositional craft.
After intermission, an unusual game of three took place between the (unprecedented?) combination of two accordions and one Japanese koto. Pauline Oliveros’s Twins Peeking at Koto, commissioned by Other Minds for this Festival, and performed by the composer, accordionist Frode Haltli, and Miya Masaoka on koto, unfolded as a loosely structured improvisation, as each player alternatively listened to, imitated, or engaged with the others. At times meditative, rambunctious, and mercurial, the piece provided unending opportunities, as the listeners were enticed to follow whichever of the many timbral, rhythmic, or textural threads caught their fancies. The instruments, which at first glance share little musical common ground, were brilliantly brought together through the use of extended techniques (a scratched accordion bellows sounds surprisingly similar to a scratched koto soundboard) and carefully managed choices of intonation.
At times meditative, rambunctious, and mercurial, the piece provided unending opportunities, as the listeners were enticed to follow whichever of the many timbral, rhythmic, or textural threads caught their fancies.The night was brought to a close by a rousing set, courtesy of the Don Byron Quartet, featuring Aruàn Ortiz on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and John Betsch on drums. Byron’s phrasing switched effortlessly from sinuous lines to sudden registral extremes, sometimes transcending into guttural exclamations when the instrument did not suffice. The band didn’t leave us wanting, either—Ortiz was especially inspired in a couple of angular, ruminating solos. In what Byron called an unprecedented twist for a new music festival, the quartet even launched into a rousing rendition of Hank Williams’s “Lovesick Blues,” with the bandleader demonstrating some very convincing yodeling.
Such is the spirit of Other Minds, after all—one of inclusion, exploration, inspiration, and the joy of music-making. As Wallen had wished from the stage at the end of her set, may there be another 500 iterations, at the least.