Label: Horo Records – HDP 15-16
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold cover / Country: Italy / Released: 1978
Style: Experimental, Free Improvisation
Recorded Rome, November 15 and 16, 1977, Mama Dog Studio.
Antonio Ortolan / art direction
Sandro Lodolo / cover art
Maria Tereza Tannozzini / cover design
Raul Matta / graphic design
Aldo Sinesio / producer
Gianni Gualberto / assistant producer
Raimondo Caruana / recording engineer
Joachim-Ernst Berendt / liner notes
Matrix / Runout (Runout Area Side A): HDP 15-16 - 2 A
Matrix / Runout (Runout Area Side B): HDP 15-16 - 2 2
Matrix / Runout (Runout Area Side C): HDP 15-16 - 2 3
Matrix / Runout (Runout Area Side D): HDP 15-16 - 2 4
side 1:
A - Via Della Luce (Richard Teitelbaum) ............................................................... 23:24
side 2:
B1 - Fox (Steve Lacy) .............................................................................................. 9:43
B2 - Cross Over One (Karl Berger) .......................................................................... 2:25
B3 - Slugging Rocks (Garrett List) ........................................................................... 6:48
side 3:
C1 - Psalm (Alvin Curran) ...................................................................................... 14:07
C2 - What Is Freedom? (Frederic Rzewski) ............................................................. 5:25
side 4:
D1 - Dewline (Steve Lacy) ....................................................................................... 7:54
D2 - Cross Over Two (Karl Berger) .......................................................................... 3:14
D3 - Cross Over Three (Karl Berger) ....................................................................... 3:06
D4 - Sea Line (Steve Lacy) ...................................................................................... 5:25
Musicians:
Frederic Rzewski – piano, electric piano, composer
Alvin Curran – synthesizer, piano, vocal, flugelhorn, composer
Richard Teitelbaum – synthesizer, shells, composer
Karl Berger – vibraphone, piano, electric piano, melodeon, composer
Steve Lacy – soprano saxophone, composer
Garrett List – trombone, composer
One of the most mythical experimental groups of all time, Musica Elettronica Viva was formed in 1966 by a group of American composers in Rome, its nucleus comprised of pianist Frederic Rzewski, sound improviser Alvin Curran, and the improvisatory keyboardist Richard Teitelbaum. Taking cues from John Cage and David Tudor, MEV employed open, limitless structures, using found instruments, toys, a homemade synthesizer, and the first Moog to reach mainland Europe. Improv and critical listening practices aimed to liberate listeners from the constraints of bourgeois capitalism and as their sound evolved, forms of Jewish mysticism and surrealist automaticism pointed to transcendent potential.
An abortive US tour in 1970 split MEV into three units, but the Kabbalistic Dixieland band later reformed with Rzewski, Curran, and Teitelbaum joined by saxophonist Steve Lacy, trombonist Garrett List, and keyboardist Karl Berger. The resultant double album United Patchwork, a return to classic form for MEV – after some of the more tripped-out experiments of the early 70s, recorded in November 1977 at Mama Dog for Horo Records, captures MEV in all of their discordant, improvisatory glory, from Teitelbaum's side-long opener, "Via Della Luce", to the honking noise of Lacy's "Fox", the excessive keyboard meanderings of Curran's "Psalm", Berger's vibraphone folly, "Cross Over One" and Rzewski's ponderous "What Is Freedom".
But, the whole album is, thanks to a very freewheeling sense of improvisation, a stunning mix of free jazz and electronics.
But, the whole album is, thanks to a very freewheeling sense of improvisation, a stunning mix of free jazz and electronics.
If you find it, buy this album!