“Whenever we listen carefully,” writes composer John Luther
Adams in The Place Where You Go to Listen (Wesleyan), “we
come to hear that music is around us all the time. Noise is no longer
unwanted sound. It is the breath of the world.”
Many composers write books—these days, it seems to be a job
prerequisite—but few write well. Richly mixing technical
speculation and spiritual inquiry, The Place offers insight into
the upcoming concert (Sat Nov 21, Chapel Performance Space, 8 pm,
$5–$15 sliding-scale donation) of Adams’s masterly cycle for solo
percussion and electronics, The Mathematics of Resonant
Bodies.
While composing Mathematics, Adams writes, “I had to resist
the temptation to employ
[software-based] pitch shifting… I was
determined to find the essential resonance of each instrument and let
nature take her course.” Instead of unleashing an ultraprocessed
fanfaronade, Adams uses electronics for sonic condensation: Like when
your breath fogs a window and reveals a new and evanescent view of
light, a humble noise in Mathematics—a stridulating
buzz, a stray rattle, or an echoed murk—not only indicates a
tiny detail but refocuses the ears to hear a poetic, harmonious
whole.
Also, the uproarious Reptet celebrates (Thurs Nov 19, Tractor
Tavern, 9 pm, $8, 21+) the release of Agendacide (Monktail). Pressed on red vinyl, the 7-inch single has two fine
compositions by trumpeter Samantha Boshnack; I slightly prefer
the title track, which unexpectedly veers into a section with a
slithery bass clarinet and closes with a hand-clapping chant that would
be at home on a late-era Sun Ra record. KEXP DJ Darek
Mazzone and
Balkan-influenced brass-and-drum banshees
Orkestar Zirkonium round out
the evening.
My favorite coda to the marathon
Earshot Jazz Festival is the
Ballard Jazz Walk (Fri Nov 20, various venues, 6 pm,
$20 adv/$25
DOS, see www.ballardjazz
festival.com for details). Among 18 groups
ensconced in a dozen clubs, perennial favorites such as Greta
Matassa (Leif Erikson Hall, 7:30 pm) and saxophonist Hadley
Caliman (New York Fashion Academy, 7:30 pm) remain sure bets. But
don’t miss drummer Todd Bishop’s Pop Art 4 (Resolution Audio, 7
pm); their new disc, 69 Année Érotique (Origin), serves up a boozily louche take on the music of Serge
Gainsbourg. And make sure to catch vocalist Jeff Baker, who
shares the bill with Matassa. Much like Kurt Elling, Baker
radiates a melancholy grit, though with a bit more vulnerable
tenderness.
The following night, Hardcoretet gigs in Wallingford (Sat Nov
21, Seamonster Lounge, 2202 N 45th St, 10 pm, free). After spending a
day with their self-released disc Experiments in Vibe, I look
forward to hearing them live: Count on funk-filled improvisation framed
by tight arrangements. 
