“With Messiaen, all is prayer.” Penned in 1931 by the now-forgotten
composer Charles Tournemire, that five-word distillation of a promising
22-year-old organist proved prophetic. Olivier Messiaen
(1908–1992) married his fervent
Catholicism to some of the
most radical, entrancing—and surprisingly accessible—music
of the 20th century.
With titles like “Apparition of the
Eternal Church,” Three
Small Liturgies of the Divine Presence, “Monodie,” and Quartet
for the End of Time, Messiaen may seem like a pious, doe-eyed naif.
Yet at heart he was a surrealist who, like Dalí, comprehended
the joyous beauty and malignant terror of the divine.
“If you define surrealism,” declared
Messiaen in 1946, “as a
mental vantage point where visible, natural realities and invisible,
supernatural realities are no longer in opposition to each other and
where they cease to be perceived as contradictions, then I am a
surrealist composer.” He continued, tartly skewering the disciples of
surrealism’s godfather, André Breton, who “wanted passionately
to have on earth a state of the beyond. It did not occur to them to
have that through faith.”
Messiaen’s organ music encompasses quiet monodic lines, ambient
blocs of sound, and roaring, time-freezing fanfares that herald an
imminent galactic apocalypse. While his contemporaries in the
avant-garde all but bleached rhythmic pulsation and luxurious melody
out of their compositions, Messiaen grandly deployed transcriptions of
birdsong and Hindu rhythms. A master of the organ—Messiaen served
as church organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in
Paris for over six decades—he wrested an astounding variety of
timbres, from divine, crystalline tones to banshee chords scarred by
quivering burrs of harmonic distortion.
This fall, the cathedral organists at St. James and St. Mark’s team
up for a season-long survey of Messiaen’s organ works. At the inaugural
concert, Joseph Adam tackles the seven-part Les Corps
Glorieux. Clint Kraus plays a clutch of shorter pieces,
“Apparition of the Eternal Church,” “Monodie,” and “Diptyque.”
Subsequent concerts in the series include The Celestial
Banquet (Mon Oct 6), the stunning L’Ascension (Fri Oct 24),
the Livre du Saint Sacrement (Fri Nov 7), the epic
Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte
Trinité (Fri Nov 21), and La Nativité (Sun Dec
7). Any one of these concerts will blow your mind. 
Catch the inaugural concert of the Messiaen organ cycle Fri Sept
19, St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Ave, 382-4874, 8 pm, $15 suggested
donation/students and seniors pay as able.
Thurs 9/18
THE HEADHUNTERS
Famed for backing Herbie Hancock on the 1973 LP Head Hunters,
this outfit helped electroplate the synth-funk classic “Watermelon
Man.” Continuing to expand the nexus of funk and jazz, the Headhunters
soon spun off into their own group with the rare groove Survival of
the Fittest in 1975; you’ve probably heard the sampled-by-everyone
bass and guitar lick from “God Make Me Funky,” however the Headhunters
transcended mere groove-mongering with substantive solos and crafty
arrangements in tunes like “Here and Now” and “Mugic.” This
reconstituted lineup features core members Mike Clark on drums and
percussionist/ethnomusicologist Bill Summers along with new additions
Donald Harrison on saxophone and the remarkable arranger, composer, and
keyboardist Geri Allen. Also Fri Sept 19. The Triple Door, 216 Union
St, 838-4333, 7:30 pm, $20 adv/$25 DOS, all ages.
TUNING THE AIR
I can’t decide what is more impressive about Seattle Circle: their
collective precision or the seating arrangement of eight guitarists
surrounding the audience. It’s like being inside a giant zither;
strums, chords, and melodies not only sail over your head, but tilt and
rotate around you. The music ranges from winning covers of “Kashmir”
and Brian Wilson’s inconsolable lament “In My Room” to pieces
influenced by the classical guitar tradition, flamenco, and progressive
rock. Arrive early for a plum seat in the center. Every Thurs through
Dec 18. Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 4272 Fremont Ave N, 789-8481, 8
pm, $10.
Fri 9/19
BAROQUE NORTHWEST
Whimsically billed as “Louis Louis,” this concert showcases music
from the courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV by Marin Marais, child
prodigy Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, and one of the first
French composers to use “sonata” when titling his chamber music,
François Gregoire de la Ferté. Preconcert talk starts at
7 pm. Trinity Parish Church, 609 Eighth Ave, 920-3822, 7:30 pm,
$10–$25.
BONNIE WHITING SMITH
Finding a photo of Whiting Smith playing a bunch of flower pots
reminded me of a wonderful, sometimes strange subspecies of
percussionist: Willing to tap, strike, hit, or stroke just about
anything, musicians like Whiting Smith consider every solid object a
potential musical instrument. Here, she couples music by Cage, Rzewski,
and Vinko Globokar with texts by Homer, Whitman, Ginsberg, and other
poets. Fourth floor Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center,
4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 789-1939, 8 pm, $5–$15 sliding scale
donation.
VICTOR NORIEGA TRIO+2
Following up on his 2006 disc Alay, which eloquently
transmuted Filipino folk songs into jazz, the pianist celebrates the
release of his new disc, Fenceless (Pony Boy). With
trumpter/flügelhornist Jay Thomas and Mark Taylor on alto
saxophone. Tula’s, 2214 Second Ave, 443-4221, 8:30 pm, $15.
Sat 9/20
ZIGGURAT QUARTET
Saxophonist Eric Barber and pianist Bill Anschell front an edgy,
eruptive quartet inspired by the serpentine time-stretching of South
Indian classical music. Fourth floor Chapel Performance Space, Good
Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 789-1939, 8 pm, $5–$15
sliding scale donation.
Tues 9/23
ED REED
This up-and-coming gem of a singer has a classic jazz biography:
early, serendipitous contact with a legend (“I learned to sing chord
changes from the man who would become jazz master Charles Mingus while he was minding his sister’s kids across the street from my
house.”); jail time (with fellow inmate saxophonist Art Pepper) abetted
by drug addiction; and a late-in-life autumnal redemption, which led to
recording his first album at the age of 77. Reed’s mellifluous tone and
emphatic (but not overdone) vibrato evokes Kenny Hagood, though without
the latter’s rubbery vocal undertow. Backed by the Peck Allmond
Quartet. Also Wed Sept 24. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729,
7:30 pm, $23.50, all ages.
