His last name means “deaf” in German, yet Paul Taub has the
most receptive ears of any flutist in Seattle. Has any other flutist
championed so much new music for so long?
As anchor of the Seattle Chamber Players, Taub presents music
by an exhaustive list of composers, ranging from relatively new voices
in the avant such as Toshio Hosokawa and DJ Spooky to
established stars like Astor Piazzolla, John Zorn, and
Alfred Schnittke. The flutist maintains a surprisingly
omnivorous interest in Seattle composers, too, having performed
Wayne Horvitz‘s Inside Morning just last week at the
Earshot Jazz Festival.
Released back in 2001 to commemorate his 20 years in Seattle, Taub’s
solo disc, Oo-ee (Periplum), boasts pieces by a slew of locals,
including Robin Holcomb, Janice Giteck, Jarrad
Powell, and ex-Seattle composer David Mahler. Around that
time, I saw Taub informally debut Alternate Realities, a piece
for solo flute by Stuart Dempster. Most flutists would have
balked at Dempster’s unusual notation and reliance on improvisation.
Yet Taub’s familiarity with multiple styles enabled him to deftly parse
the score; he asked Dempster a few questions and plunged in. The
slowly swirling atmospheres of the piece came to life.
To celebrate his 30th anniversary in Seattle, Taub offers a bouquet
of new and newish music (Sat Nov 14, Poncho Concert Hall at Cornish
College, 8 pm, $10–$20). Along with a reprise of Inside
Morning, Taub tackles Reza Vali‘s Kismet (Calligraphy No.
7) for multiple recorded flutes, the mournful Lied by
Hosokawa, and shorter works by Jovino Santos Neto, Bun-Ching
Lam, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, and Julie Mandel. I’m also
eager to hear Henry Brant’s Ghosts and Gargoyles for a flute octet; a pioneer of spatial music, Brant’s music
encourages (and usually requires) performers to play the entire space,
not just the stage, so expect Taub and his fellow flutists to scatter
throughout the hall.
By contrast, Harshfest (Fri and Sat
Nov 13 and 14,
Josephine, 7 pm) will live up to its name. Friday features two projects
from Denver: the grizzled, synthified electronics of Page 27 and
Blackcell, which harks back to ’80s industrial when “import”
meant the CD cost over 20 bucks and hunting down discs by Clock
DVA was a part-time job. Also on the bill: Amphetamine
Virus, bllix, XISIX, Brocken Spectre, and the
distorted drum-machine beats of In the Age of Terminal Static.
I’m intrigued by Saturday’s mix of black metal and industrial
outfits—Forest of Grey, Goly Grim, Galdr,
and Hellgrammite—with artists who focus on distorting
electronics directly: Penetration Camp, Overdose the
Katatonic, and Slicing Grandpa. Since the 1980s, rock and
noise have met at the nexus of distortion, striving to transform sonic
scars into music. 
