Steve Ball

Steve Reich in NYT

TravisH keeping me up on music news that matters. Great to see another personal hero of mine getting the attention he so deserves. I've received so much energy from the music of Steve Reich over the years. It all begain, as I've mentioned before here, in Sept of 1981 during my first day of Music Composition class with David Liptak at U of Illinois where "O Superman" and "Octet" were presented.

-----Original Message-----

From: Travis Hartnett
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 10:00 AM
To: Steve Ball
Subject: Reich in the NYT

At 3 Score and 10, the Music Deepens
By ANNE MIDGETTE

Published: January 28, 2005

Steve Reich was sitting in Starbucks: a logical enough place to meet a man who has been described as the most caffeinated individual in New York. Around him, ambient noise recreated the atmosphere of his 1994 piece "City Life," which incorporated recordings of pile-drivers, snatches of speech and other downtown New York noises. He was talking about his latest piece, "You Are (Variations)," which had its premiere in October in Los Angeles.

"There are four movements, four texts," he said. "The first text is from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, the most magnetic and mystical of Hasidics. One of his sayings was, 'You are wherever your thoughts are.' The second movement is in Hebrew, from the Psalms: 'I place the Eternal before me.' It's a suggestion for concentrating your thought. And whereas in the first movement, harmonically it goes all over the map, the way our minds do, the second movement basically works with four chords, and that's it. The third movement is Wittgenstein, 'Explanations come to an end somewhere.' "

This idea led him to a brief exegesis on the course of scientific thought: "First there were just atoms, then there were protons and neutrons, then there were quarks, and now we're talking about string theory. It seems like every 20, 30, 40, 50 years a trapdoor opens and another level of reality opens up."

"And the last movement goes back into Hebrew," he concluded. "It's sort of a proverb: 'Say little and do much.' "

This may not be the most apposite proverb for Mr. Reich - at least not the "say little" part. His ideas emerge in a swift current of words, formed by the crisscrossings of different streams of thought - not unlike his music, in which ideas are introduced, examined, juxtaposed, pursued, rediscovered.

Not that those ideas always move in the directions people expect. His explication of his new piece was his way of answering how he felt about the approach of his 70th birthday, in October 2006.

It's a time when a person might be expected to wax valedictory. Mr. Reich is being honored with a couple of miniretrospectives this season: a three-concert series at the Metropolitan Museum (the second is tomorrow; the last, on April 2), and a Composer Portrait at the Miller Theater (March 25), which will include a performance of one of his best-known works, "Drumming," by So Percussion. (A recording of the piece by the group will be released on March 11.)

And all of this is just a warmup for the 70th-birthday festivities. "New York Counterpoint: New York Celebrates Steve Reich" will involve some of the city's major presenting organizations: the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, each relying on its particular strengths. Dance performances by Anne Theresa De Keersmaeker and Akram Khan will open the Next Wave festival at the academy. `Carnegie will offer a workshop with Mr. Reich and his ensemble coaching young musicians, and present the Kronos Quartet and other instrumentalists at Zankel Hall. Lincoln Center will focus on the vocal music, including "You Are (Variations)" in its first New York performance.

This is all very nice for Mr. Reich, and he certainly isn't one to dismiss his old work. But it's the new works that really have his attention: especially, "You Are (Variations)."

"It's a piece that I'm extremely happy with," he said, breaking into a chuckle of delight.

In a way, explaining his newest piece is the best answer to a question about retrospectives. All of Mr. Reich's work, directly or indirectly, grows out of the work that has come before. His present, you could say, is his past.

"I think Steve is the most focused composer on the planet," said David Lang, himself a composer and a co-founder of Bang on a Can. (Mr. Reich will be the composer in residence at Bang on a Can's summer music institute in North Adams, Mass., affectionately nicknamed Banglewood, in July.)

"The things he is doing now are the logical continuations of the ideas he started with 40 years ago, reimagined and sometimes startlingly recombined," Mr. Lang added. "There are abstract musical things he has always wanted to do, and he keeps finding new ways to do them."

* * *

Thinking again on David Whyte and the power that words and our definitions of them have in framing the boundaries we set for ourselves when deciding what is 'real' and what is possible.

Interesting conversations this morning with VladS regarding roles required in a successful product development team. Interesting to notice the similarties of the Legistative, Judicial, and Executive branches compared to the Development, Test, and Program Management roles in many software companies. Also interesting to notice the functions of an executive mgmt team and associated complementary 'services' each provides in a balanced team:

CEO (why - determines business need and provides guiding motivation for doing what is done)
CFO (when - manages resources against the calendar to make sure required 'energy' is available)
CTO (how - determines how to do what is required to meet business needs)
COO (what - determines what must be done to meet the business objectives)
HR (who - determines who is able and willing to do the necessary work to meet business objectives)

Interesting to consider that Money is simply a form of social energy. With food, I can provide the 'fuel' my body needs to get out of bed and do stuff. With money, I can provide a team of people with 'fuel' they need to work together to transform resources into something useful for other groups of people. Pretty basic, even obvious, ideas -- but interesting to notice in myself how thinking of money as energy dramatically changes the way I 'invest' and manage it. Also, perhaps even more interesting to examine those who are 'not interested in money' and contrast their motivations and behaviors with those who seem naturally 'interested, even obsessed, w/ money.'

One step further, in my first college physics class, I experienced (not just 'learned') the idea that power is simply energy over time. Interesting to translate this into human or social terms where the idea of 'power' is not generally understood or expressed in such a literally physical metaphor.

How much energy you spend over time is a measure of your power.

* * *

The Three Marriages

A long, long day full of twists and turns, ups and downs at work. Also had a meeting with some old friends from BootlegTV days who run a well-known music distribution company -- a few of them have become fans and they are placing some SB Box Set songs into a number of national retail locations. I'm told to be listening for "Just What I Needed" in regular rotation at, among others, Eddie Bauer stores across the country during the month of Feburary.

Evening: an exceptional get together with Pat and Kristy Rodden and the Whidbey Island clan. Tonight's event, a 2nd annual dinner at Le Pichet and David Whyte presentation at Benaroya Hall. Pat and Kristy are good friends of David's -- what a treasure to ingest the physically emotional intelligence that pours from his hypnotic voice and the deep, multi-layered currents that flow through his poetry and prose.

The theme this evening: "The Three Marriages: Work, Self, & Other"

Some excerpts from David's work:

"Most of us must sustain three marriages in our lives: The marriage with our work and society, the marriage - official or not - with our partner, and the deeper marriage with our emerging selves. To choose between these relationships is to impoverish them all. Work-life balance means creating a real conversation, a live frontier between all three commitments that enriches each area of our lives, allowing it to be simultaneously troubled and emboldened by the others."

"There is not work without struggle. But if your work is all struggle, then you’re actually damaging yourself, and probably your world and those around you that you love, too. We need a sense of the eternal in our labors, in our work, a sense of spaciousness where we’re not waking up into the great "to do" list of life, but we’re actually at some kind of spacious frontier where time is growing from your experience. It’s what Blake would have called "a moment of eternity." Blake also said there’s a moment in every day that Satan cannot find, and that’s your moment, that’s your moment where you feel like you belong, and you’re doing the right thing in the right way for the right people. And so, in order to garner that for yourself, you must have some form of courageous conversation running like a thread through your work. In order to break out from the imprisoning forces that are enormous around work, you must constantly and cyclically visit this frontier of courage in which you must make yourself visible, speak out, and through that conversation transform your arrangements, your life, your career, the people you work with, the organization you work for."

Reading this does not even come close to capturing the presence and gravity in his voice. For me, witnessing David speak is like going to church - inside his voice, within his words, I can feel a 'fire in the song.'

Last year, Pat and Kristy went on a retreat with David in Ireland that, as described, sounded very much like a Guitar Craft course. As I related to Pat this evening, I realize that there are three significant people I have known (each from the U.K.) who have deeply impacted my life with the power, poetry, and economy of their words. One of them was gracious and generous enough to accept me under his wing for a considerable portion of my youth. Another, has only recently made contact -- his voice and words were the energizing, motivating, non-sequitur soundtrack of my youth.

And David Whyte, very much like both of the others, has a clear connection to an exceptional world that, while always present, is not easily accessible from the noise and 'normalcy' of our average day to day state. David eloquently described this state this evening as 'being near the edge' --- another obvious and resonant connection to a work that, to this day, informs my musical sensibility: Close to the Edge.

So, coincidences and communications have me a bit sleepless and energized even amidst exhaustion from relentless juggling and groundshifting at work. Even within the groundshifting, I feel steady as a rock and, once again, like I have both prepared and waited all my life for this moment.

* * *

"I Must Have Waited All My Life

...for this Moment." How wonderful to hear the poetry in this phrase, spontaneously uttered, in the speaking voice of the one who sang this so well all those years ago. It sent chills up, then down my spine; still does even twelve hours later when I replay it in my mind. More planting seeds for future collaborations and realization that difficult work of 2000-2004 leading up to this year was worth the effort. One voice mail yesterday and a brief follow-up phone conversation today may be enough to kick-off and energize this next seven-year stretch.

* * *

A Phone Call

A day worth mentioning: a long surprising voice message on my phone today, a call I've been waiting for, in a way, since John Haugland gave me a copy of Relayer in 1978 and influenced the entire course of my life. More as possibilities evolve and unfold. Thinking of Fernando Samalea for some strange reason this evening.

For those waiting, I will catch up on the music portion of this Music diary this weekend and fill in some of the musical gaps of the past few weeks.

* * *

In the meantime, so much that could be said -- massive movements on many fronts, and yet, I'd rather fill these pages (and your time) with music. That said, wise friend and hyper-gigging bandmate, Travis Hartnett continues to occasionally fill my inbox with incredible wisdom; this one I could not pass up, so sharing it here. It is well worth the read, despite the length:

-----Original Message-----

From: TravisH
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 11:37 PM
To: SteveB
Cc: WalterH
Subject: Bad Gigs, by Tuck Andress (of Tuck & Patti)

BAD GIGS

What can go wrong? By Tuck Andress (of Tuck & Patti)

Borrowed guitar, different string spacing, bridge or nut sliding during string bending or vibrato, wrong strap length or strap breaking during solo, unwound guitar string used as backup strap gradually cutting through shirt and shoulder, sleeve snagging on bridge suddenly locking up hand, wrong pick, dropped pick, broken pick, no pick, pick stuck between strings, finger caught between strings, wrong strings, dead strings, sticky strings, blood on strings, broken strings, no extra strings, jar of honey spilled all over strings, vintage L-5's gig bag shoulder strap breaking immediately before album release concert for 5,000 people causing guitar to fall on concrete and creating crack from tailpiece to neck which gradually splits apart during performance with action getting higher and higher, amp too far away, amp too close, amp broken so play through bass amp or P.A., tone all wrong, overdrive bypass switch broken, cymbal in ear, band too loud, audience too loud, band downstairs too loud, bad monitors, no monitors, in-ear monitors broken so Patti is heard acoustically but Tuck is heard only through house PA 50 yards away resulting in Tuck being unavoidably out of sync with Patti by 1/6 second for whole show, guitar buzz, RF from nearby transmitter louder than the music itself, brownouts making organ pitch fluctuate randomly over an octave range, power outage, equipment plugged into 230 volts immediately before show, earthquake during show in high-rise, outdoor desert performance at 131 degrees with sand-blasting winds, sub-freezing outdoor mountaintop performance with snow storms and 40 mph winds, high altitude dizziness, no sleep, no food, too much food, wrong food, food poisoning, fever, locked bathrooms, way too many liquids before long show, nagging suspicion that zipper is down, contact lens falling out during moment of peak concentration, compromised hand position due to repeatedly sliding full width of stage while trying to keep playing but not collide with Patti on yacht in rough Finnish Gulf of Bothnia, charts blown away by wind, charts on thermal fax paper, charts in wrong key, charts without bar lines, charts with bar lines all displaced by two beats, charts in bass clef or C clef, chord charts with do/re/mi (France) instead of C/D/E and everything else in Portuguese, realization that Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, George Benson, Chaka Khan, Bobby McFerrin or Steve Gadd just walked in, drunks falling on stage, drunks disrobing on stage, drunks grabbing instruments or band members, band members falling asleep during song, pigs frolicking in sawdust-covered frat house knocking over band equipment, thinly veiled animosity between bride's and groom's families erupting into violence during heartfelt version of My Romance, nightly juggling of playing and operating the lighting console/footswitches and talking to audience members and trying to reign in tempos and egos of various fellow top-40 band members, arrival at duo gig with unbelievably loud, aggressive fuzz-wah hard rock bass player to discover that assignment is to back up elderly white-haired and white-suited gentleman singing unfamiliar country songs to unforgiving patrons, crowded upscale happy hour dance floor unraveling into pandemonium as normal-looking customers all collapse to the floor and writhe around on each other while astonished saxophone- playing duo partner walks out leaving helpless solo guitarist playing The Hustle for 25 minutes, funk bass player imprisoned in lounge band insisting on popping strings throughout sensitive ballads, accidental imprisonment of Patti in wine cellar out of earshot during guitar instrumentals, onstage and on-instrument living creatures with varying numbers of legs, belligerent drunken bowling alley lounge customer demanding that funk band play Debussy's Clair de Lune while remainder of band looks expectantly at guitarist, drummer watching ball game on portable TV with headphones throughout performance, guest singer repeatedly changing keys at random moments, realization that the people who have just boldly picked up instruments and are unexpectedly sitting in are Herbie Hancock and Wah Wah Watson, guns drawn at rehearsals to settle disputes about form of song, marginally famous singer resorting to the dreaded "Do you know who I am?" line, drummer and delusional would-be front man jumping off the drums in the middle of a song and mistakenly chanting "We don't need no drummer to keep that funky beat" to a dance floor packed with suddenly hostile former dancers, unstable band member deciding that it is his responsibility to educate the audience over the microphone, bass player playing random notes and rhythms because he is not a bass player at all but nonetheless booked the gig, drummer announcing that he killed somebody just before the show, swimming pool party turning into orgy with splashing on inexperienced solo electric guitarist sitting beside pool doing his first solo gig and fielding endless requests for the same song he had just played yet again, bride's and groom's special song evaporating from mortified solo musician's mind at the crucial moment, band member disappearing suddenly when his chair falls backwards off riser, unstable enormous man peaking on LSD brandishing artificial limb removed from his companion at audience and threatening band to "sing with this", mirrors on back wall of club causing introspective young guitarist to question meaning of his life at early stage in career.
-Tuck Andress

* * *

Much That is Not Said - Vocal Version

Late Evening Work: Much That is Not Said - Vocal Version (3.2M mp3).

much that is not said

silent night
wholly unquiet
stillness sealed in a half-frozen riot
slowly these syllables lost in the word
the second hand, stopped, is now coming in third
deaf ears can't believe the last sound they've just heard
the meaning inside has now died, disappeared

silent dark
circling shark
wash this pain down the drain
uncrossed t's and eyes dotted with red
silence shouts so much more than is said
sleeping, heavy in pieces
sleeping now, heavy in pieces

* * *

Afternoon Work: fun and fruitful work playing with TravisM and PaulO.

Early Evening: received news confirming pending major changes and now on track for an early morning meeting tomorrow to confirm what will soon be.

Tomorrow Evening: BTV reunion dinner with a fab five.

* * *

Remembering the Future - Vocal Version

Evening work: Remembering the Future - Vocal Version (5.9M mp3).

remembering the future

remember
remember me
do you remember me
do you remember where
do you remember where we
do you remember where we met
do you remember what
do you remember what we
do you remember what we said?
remember

remember
remember me
do you remember
do you remember me
do you remember what
do you remember what we
do you remember what we did
do you remember how
do you remember how we left
do you remember how we left the door open?

* * *

Long day of CEO meeting(s). Baby steps forward after much preparation. Also, great to be in touch w/ CVB who is now at MS, three years after BTV. Coincidentally, I heard details about a project today that essentially addresses the same need that the BTV 'Media Booster' was designed (and funded) to solve -- still a need out there, obviously.

Work continues to get more intense, and fulfilling, if that is possible. Same old equation holds true: two out of five days, the place is intense, aggessive, and extremely difficult. Three out of five it is an amazing blessing.

* * *

And also great to hear from Jill Marett via email, somewhere in Chicago -- she found me on the web recently. I believe she was nine years old last time I saw her and her family. She shared some quick news and stories about how and where my old family friends, the Marett's (Jim, Joan, John, Jody) have spread out across the country. And more to follow, I'm sure.

* * *
Found the following quote in a diary from 1982:

"The old man still held the collar of the boy's jacket; he was trembling and his face was earnest and bright and wild. 'For six years now I have gone around by myself and built up my science. And now I am a master. Son. I can love anything. No longer do I have to think about it even. I see a street full of people and a beautiful light comes in me. I watch a bird in the sky. Or I meet a traveler on the road. Everything, Son. And anybody. All strangers and all loved! Do you realize what a science like mine can mean?' "

A quick search reveals this quote is from a short story called A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud. by Carson McCullers. Not sure how I stumbled upon this (or was reading this in 1983.) How much has changed in 22 years. And re-reading from a 22 year old diary, even more amazing how much is remarkably the same.

* * *

Everything Means Something To Me

Evening work: part III of what began as 'backbone' then evolved to 'backward' and now is Everything Means Something To Me (5.8M mp3).

I won't fight the candlelight
kettle's on but all's not right
hear your voice but heard you're gone
that can't be your voice is on
wait a sec -- I know that song: ben affleck or matt damon?
unknown guys with knowing script
voice seems strong but ill-equipped
I could swear I know these lines
gentle singer's northwest whines
songs with shadows stains and signs
is it possible to blame slim's ironic label name
who thought you'd be built then spilled
hunting's darling rockstars killed
can't explain the circumstance
at least celine was trained to dance
margaret said you’re pre-disposed
heart wide open, case is closed
everything means something to me

I won't shed a drunken tear
drown my loss in corporate beer
though you're gone it's like you're here
there's your voice, it's on the air, in that soundtrack, everywhere
keep your needle, keep your hay, nothing left to sing or say
none could hold a light to you: courtney, kurt, or mary lou
you'll join heaven's greatest band or play hell's endless one night stand
trade in all your songs for knives and empty words of wasted lives
everything means something to me

* * *

The Flat Horizon

Evening work: The Flat Horizon (5.3M mp3). Ten days later, finally, some wetness follows a bit of a dry spell. This is now a song built on the previous "skeleton" which is one of five improvised instrumental song sketches recorded a couple of weeks ago with Greg Meredith and Paul O'Rear.

I have written and re-written these lyrics about twenty times, and I still have not found what I'm looking for. But here is a snapshot of a work in progress, despite the obvious flaws.

the flat horizon

don't believe in me
don't believe in you
don't believe in what we do
don't believe in you
don't believe in me
don't believe in what I see
raisins in the sun
bullets in the gun
everything is upside down
curtains on the door
window in the floor
everything is turned around

sun is gone away
darkness here to stay
sudden as a metronome
sinking in the sand
drinking up the land
broken like a brittle bone
knee deep in the mud
lord, here comes the flood
sucked up by a suction cup
hand stuck through the glass
head stuck up the past
falling down while sucking up

rest your eyes on the flat horizon
there's a light guide you
something straight and right to ride in on

nothing left to lose
nothing left to choose
nothing left to fall apart
mountain full of fears
ocean full of tears
nothing left to break my heart
falling under your spell
fallen under your spell
fallen into your well

don't believe in me
don't believe in you
don't believe in what we do
don't believe in you
don't believe in me
don't believe in what I see
don't believe in land
don't believe in sand
don't believe the earth is round
don't believe in rocks
don't believe in shocks
don't believe in solid ground

one foot on a wave
one foot in the grave
one hand wipes an eye
one hand waves goodbye

who is here to hear these prayers
who will help to dry these tears
make some sign if you’re here

* * *

A day of absolute hibernation before a busy week peaking with a meeting full of CEOs.

* * *