Steve Reich and Musicians, Live 1977
Live Reich recordings that recall the excitement of the music back then
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Steve Reich
Label: Orange Mountain Music
Magazine Review Date: 13/2005
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: OMM0018

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Six Pianos |
Steve Reich, Composer
Bob Becker, Piano Glen Velez, Piano James Preiss, Piano Russell Hartenberger, Piano Steve Chambers, Piano Steve Reich, Piano Steve Reich, Composer |
Pendulum Music |
Steve Reich, Composer
James Preiss, Percussion Jay Clayton, Vocalist/voice Russell Hartenberger, Percussion Steve Chambers, Piano Steve Reich, Composer Steve Reich, Tape operator |
Violin Phase |
Steve Reich, Composer
Shem Guibbory, Violin Shem Guibbory, Violin Steve Reich, Composer |
Music for Pieces of Wood |
Steve Reich, Composer
Bob Becker, Percussion Glen Velez, Percussion James Preiss, Percussion Russell Hartenberger, Percussion Steve Reich, Composer Steve Reich, Percussion |
Drumming |
Steve Reich, Composer
Bob Becker, Percussion David van Tieghem, Percussion Gary Schall, Marimba Glen Velez, Percussion James Preiss, Percussion Jay Clayton, Vocalist/voice Russell Hartenberger, Percussion Steve Reich, Percussion Steve Reich, Composer |
Author: Ivan Moody
Bang! This is essential listening for any Reich enthusiast. We kick off with an absolutely vibrant Six Pianos that makes you realise just how exciting all this must have been heard live back then. It is followed by a wonderful version of Pendulum Music, from 1968. That wonderful creaking effect from the swinging microphones could only have been imagined, one feels, by a musician with Reich’s attention to colour. Stephen Vitiello, The Kitchen’s archivist, hits the nail on the head when he writes of the work’s ‘dark energy’, whose resolution is yet peaceful. Violin Phase could almost seem an anticlimax afterwards but there’s something remarkable about this version for solo violinist (Shem Guibbory) and pre-recorded tape – it naturally has a palpably different atmosphere, even on disc, from the version for four violinists that The Kitchen’s audiences had been used to.
As if this were not enough, the disc finishes with an outstanding Music for Pieces of Wood and a Drumming that sounds perhaps more African than I have ever heard it, at least until the entry of the voice, when it suddenly transforms itself into a multi-mirror reflection of a jazz club. As I said at the beginning – Bang! Not only an essential recording for anyone interested in Reich but a hugely exciting, varied recital. The only thing I miss is the applause.
As if this were not enough, the disc finishes with an outstanding Music for Pieces of Wood and a Drumming that sounds perhaps more African than I have ever heard it, at least until the entry of the voice, when it suddenly transforms itself into a multi-mirror reflection of a jazz club. As I said at the beginning – Bang! Not only an essential recording for anyone interested in Reich but a hugely exciting, varied recital. The only thing I miss is the applause.
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