DAVID FIRST // THE WESTERN ENISPHERE 7/20/2017 & 3/15/2018, by DAVID FIRST

DAVID FIRST // THE WESTERN ENISPHERE 7/20/2017 & 3/15/2018

by DAVID FIRST

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1.	Seven Twenty Twenty Seventeen 38:24	info
2.	The Consummation of Right and Wrong Part 1 (Scenes 1-8) 41:50	info
3.	The Consummation of Right and Wrong Part 2 (Scenes 9-15) 32:45	info

about

"The pieces on this page, at least for now, and for different reasons, only exist here, and in this form. I’m glad they do.

The earlier of the two, “Seven Twenty Twenty Seventeen” from July 2017, was considered by me at the time to be merely an experimental warmup—a working out of some new ideas I’d been thinking about that I sketched rather quickly (for me). The occasion was a reconvening of the ensemble after a few years off and apparently I was so sure that the music involved would be ephemeral, I didn’t even come up with a title for it—something that I always take great pleasurable effort in doing when crowning “official” pieces. But when I listen to it now for the first time since (it was performed just the one time), I realize, along with some fantastic playing by the group members, there are at least a couple of compositional strategies that deserved a more thorough examination. Ideas I pretty much dropped the ball on and probably should’ve developed further. Now, perhaps I will. Documenting performances is a good thing, I reckon.

The version of The Consummation of Right and Wrong heard here is from March 2018. It was only the second time we’d performed it (just the first of its two sections was played that night), and I was still tinkering with the formatting. Subsequent to this, whenever we played it, and eventually went into the studio to record it (Important Records 490), I separated the 15 “Scenes” into discrete movements—with various types of beginnings and endings and silences employed. I have to admit, hearing it as a continuum once more does reveal some charms that I miss a bit in the latter versions. Ultimately, however, I think each approach highlights a different way of listening to, and playing the material. Having the option of either/or is nice. Again, documenting=good.

Thanks to Che Chen for his curating efforts and for making this recording happen. And special thanks to Ruth Kahn for creating and maintaining Outpost Artists Resources—one of my favorite places to play and hear music." David First, May 2021

"The Western Enisphere was begun in the spring of April 2012 with the intention of developing a body of hyper-minimalist, microtonal works steeped in First’s concepts of Gestural Improvisation, which he defines as a set of procedures that isolates those musical elements traditionally considered ornamentation or aspects of expression and elevating them to the level of most significant extrapolative detail. It is a virtuosity of slowness and safecracker focus, with the goal of both resonating with, and attempting to subvert, the laws of nature. Simply put, GI is the process of rubbing two sticks together until sparks occur, then attempting to create a scale of dynamic values inherent in those sparks." David First, June 2017

credits

released May 5, 2021

1.
"Seven Twenty Twenty Seventeen"
David First // The Western Enisphere
Jeanann Dara - viola
Sam Kulik - trombone
Will Stanton - laptop
David First - ebow guitar/harmonica/composer

Recorded at Outpost Artists Resources, July 17, 2017

2. & 3.
"The Consummation of Right and Wrong (Section 1/Scenes 1 -15)"
Originally intended to be heard as one continuous piece, "Consummation" has been split into two parts here due to Bandcamp file size limits. Those who have purchased downloads of this album may contact David First via his page if they would like the complete, uninterrupted file.
davidfirst.bandcamp.com

David First // Western Enisphere
Jeanann Dara – viola
Sam Kulik – trombone
Danny Tunick – percussion, conductor
Will Stanton – laptop
Ian Douglas-Moore – guitar
James Ilgenfritz — upright bass
David First – composer, laptop programming, guitar, harmonica, slide whistle, conductor

Recorded at Outpost Artists Resources, March 15, 2018

On all tracks:
Live sound and recording: Ethan Primason, David Weinstein
Front of house: Mia Wendell-Dilallo, Ruth Kahn
Mix, Design, Series Producer: Che Chen
Additional audio cleanup on track 1: David First

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about

Fire Over Heaven Queens, New York

Fire Over Heaven is a monthly concert series at Outpost Artists Resources in Ridgewood, NY organized by Che Chen. This Bandcamp page, started during our nearly two year pandemic hiatus, features selections from the 80+ sets in our archives. All funds will be used to expand the archive, commission new recordings and support our live programming. ... more

outpostartistsresources.org

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