Grateful for so much as my history unfolds in reverse. Summer’s first journey to my birth mother’s home, with a family whom I’m so proud of with me. Upon our return my paternal side manifested. A grandfather in the Jim Crow South. Voice on the line who shared this family’s history of migration to the… Continue reading Larger in the Past
5 Questions to Alan Pierson (Artistic Director, Alarm Will Sound)
My interview for I Care if You Listen.
1996+21: limina
limina, for two pianos and percussion (1996), was composed as an exploratory diversion between larger projects. The title, “thresholds,” is meant to suggest points of transition or spaces between categories. There are two sections; the longer and more eventful first is in duple metre and features a pop-like, four-chord progression in A major. The second… Continue reading 1996+21: limina
1997+20: WhISH
Below are excerpts from the thirty-minute score for WhISH, an interdisciplinary fairy tale performed by Liminal Gryphon Theatre (director Derek Mohamed, choreographer Tracy Renee Stafford). WhISH premiered in February 1997 as part of the Rhubarb! Festival at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto. The score was also released on cassette. WhISH was an image and… Continue reading 1997+20: WhISH
Best of 2016
Childish Gambino “Awaken, My Love!” (Glassnote) Vicky Chow A O R T A (New Amsterdam) King We Are King (King Creative) Laura Mvula The Dreaming Room (Sony · RCA) Holly Roadfeldt The Preludes Project (Ravello) Solange A Seat at the Table (Saint · Columbia) Esperanza Spalding Emily’s D+Evolution (Concord) reissues · remasters · restorations · box sets… Continue reading Best of 2016
1996+20: Coupling
“Coupling” (1996) is a section from the score to Woo: Cases of Bloodletting and Natural Selection, a multimedia work by Liminal Zoo Theatre (Derek Mohamed and Tracy Renee Stafford, co-creators). It was heard as a live mix and provided the accompaniment to silent onstage action as well as prerecorded spoken word passages. It is a drone… Continue reading 1996+20: Coupling
Linea Nigra, for string octet
Linea Nigra (2015) began as an orchestration of my piano piece Canon Chorale (2005). It is scored for string octet, in this case the same configuration as a double string quartet. Most of the structure and content of the earlier work are retained as a kind of continuo, to which newly devised material adds range… Continue reading Linea Nigra, for string octet
Best of 2015
Some great new discoveries and otherwise the usual company in abundance. John Adams Absolute Jest · Grand Pianola Music San Francisco Symphony · Michael Tilson Thomas · John Adams (SFS Media) Bang on a Can All Stars Field Recordings (Cantaloupe) eighth blackbird Filament (Cedille) Mahan Esfahani Time Present and Time Past (Archiv) Morton Feldman ·… Continue reading Best of 2015
Children’s Suite
Children’s Suite comprises a trio of three-movement works for piano I composed for my children Remi, Kenza and Tijani in the respective years of their birth. All nine movements are written in diatonic C major/A minor. The cycle opens and closes with fast movements, otherwise the music is slow to moderate. Forms and structures are… Continue reading Children’s Suite
Glass Houses for Marimba
My reviews of the launch and CD for I Care If You Listen.
EL MAHBOOB 