i've always enjoyed your stuff

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The first few seconds really captivated me and didn't really let me go until
the end, which incidentally was the only thing I didn't love. It didn't seem
to have the epic, vibrant ending I had come to expect after the colorful
journey. It was a bit too weak and sudden, somehow, for my taste.

Otherwise a very graphic and colorful journey.

Fav & DL!

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Thanks. I'm glad you liked the journey. A river can seem endless, until it dilutes
itself by emptying into a lake or ocean, sliding under a sunset or just narrowing
beyond the next bend; I imagine the ending to be that sort of finish, where
you've been running along side the boat, only to run out of gas as the music
recedes and you just can't quite keep up until the end. A wave goodbye. I like
playing those sorts of endings (it is easier on the wrists).

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Nothing synthetic about this. This has a real 70s jazz feel to me,
reminds me of the band Oregon. I especially enjoyed listening to all the
percussion, which seems to dominate the piece. Very nice, odd mix of
instruments and rhythms. Delightful!

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Oregon was one of my favorite bands. I loved their use of percussion, double
reeds, lute, piano. Such a great band. I still listen to them. It was tough coming
up with a jazz track that seemed to fit a violin. I think this was Martin's first
foray into jazz ensemble. He did marvelously following all our changes, as did
Bill. My favorite moments are the percussive spots where Dane expresses
himself so exuberantly; and the way the violin finishes the phrases. I still hear
new percussion phrases even after all these listens. Thanks for your comments.

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A very rich assortment of improvisational performances
which never get repetive and weave in and out so well
with each other (a true mark of good musicians). The
beginning has a very definited celtic flavor which gradually
yields to a more eclectic or world jazz sound (for lack of a
better description). All of which is very cool and alive. And
that percussionist... he makes this piece with his layered
playing of all those "noisemakers" : ) And always nice to
hear a good clarinet player... such a clean tone.

Good jorb, fellas...

Jack


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Yes, describing the percussion instruments as an assortment of "noise makers"
is quite accurate. He used legume pods, scratching things, bundles of sticks, all
sorts of organic thingies, as well as African hand drums. I loved watching him
as he grabbed stuff from his pile of choices. I always believe in letting real
percussionists lose to do whatever they hear, cuz they always hear cooler things
than i could ever score or suggest. he was limited only by how much he could
carry to the recording site. As for the Celtic moniker, I do have 1/8th Welch in
the midst of my Germanic jazz genes, so I felt comfortable choosing the genre.
Thanks for your comments.

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...about the song, it has such a cool graphic I'm going to give it high
numbers anyway... I REALLY like that image...

This reminds me some of the band Nightnoise, and...can't
remember...another of the Windham Hill bands....with Daryl Anger...

I like the use of the hand percussion that isn't too perfect... And the
piano has a human quality to it, too...

I hear the Celtic quality in there, which in my book is a good thing...

Ed

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Thanks for the comments. The image is a detail from a Vladamir Kush painting,
a surrealist from Russia who is still painting and doing sculpture there. I love
his stuff. He has a marvelous book entitled "Metaphorical Journey" that has a
ton of great color images with poetry and other annotations, very nice.

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This is just amazing. All of the instruments are played so beautifully, and weave together perfectly. If Oregon sounds anything like this I've got to check them out. And I entirely agree with Ed about the artwork, which is great.

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What vivid images came to mind listening to this. I found myself on a river made up from images seen on TV or something from the Lord of the Rings. Swirling around without much control over where the boat would turn next.

Great performances by all.

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..and I'm curious about the artwork, which is really great:) Who is the artist?

---
Imagination is more important then knowledge!
- Albert Einstein.

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I traveled.
It was invited to this music.
Wonderful travel.
Travel of sound.

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that defines description.....oregon comparisons are fair tho.....the
percussionist is playing djembe. talikng drums(armpit held drum hit by a
stick on its head) while the piano, viloin and clarinet have a
discourse....how kool can this be.....hehhhe....i like the balance beteween
delicateness and the driving percusssion.... the melodic lines swoop and
sweep acrosss the soundscape......what a delight!!!! 10-10-10-10.....great
musicianship, composition and arrangement!

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This makes me want to do modern dance again. It has an infectious
sense of movement that pushes on throughout the song. I absolutely
love the surrealist artwork. I am definitely going to check out more of
Kush's work. 10s from me.

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Nightnoise indeed. I do like this a lot! I think of it more as Jazz than
Celtic, so the genre police could come around and slap the cuffs on you,
but it's really great. The fiddle is really well done, as is the clarinet.
Incredible how this sounds like you were all in one room, a testament to
the players I guess.

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and of course the music is nice. The piano provides a terrific backround
to the violin. Like the clarinet as well.

Like the free style as well, like that modulation with the violin caring the
lead into that.

Good going

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...the first time I listened, I found myself paying most attention to the
percussion, no offense to the rest of the awesome performances, but the
perc is just all over the place. Lots of interesting sounds and rhythms. The
whole thing just has such a light, joyous feel. So much fun and energy. It
doesn't just feel "live" it feels "alive."

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more traditional with flickers of AfroCelt. So colorful and moving. Tell me...is this the same BBarner that created his tunes on the metro in N.VA? Just wondering.
Loved every minute of this song. Something to aspire to (in my case, in another lifetime)

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Yes, it's bbarner from Northern Virginia. I've posted some tunes to Macjams and there are more at http://homepage.mac.com/bbarner.

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Complex and challenging (well, to me anyway!) - lots to like here, but I
suspect "Celtic" is not the rght genre - "World Jazz" sounds right to me.
A lot of the percussion was fragmented, as you would normally hear on
top of a drum kit rather than instead of the kit. To me a live drum
track would round this out nicely, and hold it all together more.
Having said that, there is no doubt that everyone played beautifully
and that the piece is very well written. The "liveness" makes you feel
like you're listening in a club. Also loved the art!
Neil

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This has been a fantastic virtual ensemble experience and I'm very
grateful to Tobin for letting me have shot at this. It's pleasure to 'work'
with such fine musicians.

I've seen Oregon mentioned in some of the comments above and that's
very flattering - what a terrific band to be compared with!

KK

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Now, how delightful was that? Simply delicious!

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Love the superimpositions of classical and world/tribal sounds. The flute
and the congas juxtaposed on the decidedly classical piano background
gives this a rather adventurous style and a rugged theme yet smoothly
rendered texture. The somehat syncopated rhythm, and twists and turns
paint a picture of the swirling currents of emotions, just like the raging
waters depicted in the artwork, which is very well-selected by the way.

Downloaded for my further learning and appreciation.

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spoke to me. Actually, so did the rest.
cheers and thank you
Happy New Year!


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Best track I heard so far (sorry Cameron!)
Great compsition, "Masterlymastered"

:)
Q:Authored by: K.I.S.KISMET on Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:20:24 -0600
more traditional with flickers of AfroCelt. So colorful and moving. Tell
me...is this the same BBarner that created his tunes on the metro in
N.VA? Just wondering.
Loved every minute of this song. Something to aspire to (in my case, in
another lifetime)

I have never heard "AfroCelt"
like that word


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KISMET might be talking about the Afro Celt Sound System.


http://realworldrecords.com/afrocelts/


They make great music!

---
<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/16698">Fists of Righteous Harmony</a>

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Ok, so I hate joyful, or distruct joyful, and this track says Joy Joy joyfully Joyous all over it and I tried to distrust it but try as I might it won me over. I'm glad it ended without a flourish since I might not have kept trusting it since joy almost never ends in a flourish. A "wave goodby" maybe. Better than nice. Next time I see someone walking down the street with a suitcase, I'll wonder if it is some guy carrying shakers and pods. Or hope at least.

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So much going on, but doesn't sound too cluttered... very
energetic and rich... needs to be listened to multiple times to fully
comprehend. I really enjoyed the combination of various
instruments/styles.

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piano sounds excellent, clarinet and violen additions work well w/ the
song. thoroughly enjoyed listenting. great picture as well.

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your write i was confused as to whether it was more world jazz than traditional celtic.............................lol
the change to the piano is awesome....does sometime sound like the percussion is hit for the sake of being hit rather than to create interesting and earthy poly rhythms and thus makes things sound confusing and too busy sometimes.......

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Most people think of gloomy mournful music when the celtic genre
comes up (which I personall enjoy) but this is a good example of the
many upbeat celtic songs. good job.


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I'm thinking a Tobin composition and everything else falls in place.
What a delight to listen to. This is above and beyond any skills I
posses and just goes to show me what an outstanding group of
musicians collaborated here.

Regards,
John

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It has an infectious feeling of fun/play running through it. Love the
opening; strangely enough, the first few violin notes reminded me of
Toots Theilman, the great jazz harmonica player. The low drum (might
be a conga; it comes in only on one of the first few bars then becomes
slightly more active) is pitched in such a way as to form a dissonance
with your repeating pedal note (E), and this bothered my ears a bit--
not sure if anyone else would feel the same way. Maybe it's just got
some overtones that clash or something. Not sure what it is.

I like the section changes, and the transitions between them. They all
work really well. I especially like the piano transition/modulation that
occurs at about the 40% mark.

I also think the violin could take more breaks from playing than it
does. It plays steadily almost all the way through (except that
transition I just mentioned). The violin sounds great; it's just that it
assumes the role of primary importance here, and it'd be nice to have it
back off a little more often to let the others shine.

Finally, I think it'd be nice to vary the texture even more. This relates
to my previous comment, but basically, if you ever do this again (and
there's no need to; sounds great as is), consider sections for just piano
and percussion, piano and clarinet, clarinet and violin, etc. Lots of
permutations possible.

Very nice work by all.

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such stream of emotions there ..alot of pictures
telling stories there ... wonderfull ...just so Huge
well Done ..! !

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This is a really good offering of world-fusion w/ a celtic twist. Somewhere between Fairport Convention and Orb-era Boiled-in-Lead (only not as loud). Wonderful experiment. Yes! "Delightful and energetic" sums it up for me also! Bravo and encore!

Be well!

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dancing and light, each part with its own voice and vibrant personality! Thanks!
Doug

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that I got invited to the party. I am grateful you posted under Celtic, which may be my most favorite music. Otherwise, I might have lost my way. Wonderful. All 10's.

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