11111-----..--..-� · �·-· contemporary European experimental scene w,11 wan! (la Legende des Vo11, 21 rue 8 Ma, 1945, 37270 Monllouis, France) ·· Seo!! lewis t MATT "GUITAR" MURPHY: Way Down South I'm sure the memory mos! have of Mall Murphy ,s as lhe second guitar behmd Siu Brothers John Belushi and Dan Aykroy he ,rony of that whole execrable mess w that ii overshadowed a couple of decad worth of line work, including a stint in M dy Waters' m1d-'60s band. So I was shock and stunned to find this lo be Murphy's Ii st solo ettort -­ and ,rs real cool. Low key, bullshit, 12-bar laments and shuffles, i s a wonderfully understated recording th features Murphy's shng1ng, Albert Collins-s led guitar slinging (check out "Buck's Bo gie" and "Thump Tyme") and a wonderlufl supportive backing band. W hat makes this pecial, however, is that Murphy is recordi g with. his brother Flcyd for the first time sin e they were session cats in the '50s, and th six-string sibling 1i,alry seems to bring ou the best in both of them. Matt's soloing cuts 'ke a broken beer t>ottle; Floyd's cleaner, fol ier, but no less enthralling. Since Matt's no the most com­ manding blues vocalist (trut is, al his best moments he's merely serviceab ), the accent . is on instrumentals, and wh they get motorvatin' on stuff like "Matt's Gut r Boogie 12,'' they can really create a ruckus. fine record by a quiet long overlooked t nl !Antone's, 2928 Guadalupe, Austin, TX 787 - John Dougan t MUZSIKAS: Blues For Transylvania Al• though a part of Romania since 1919, Tran­ sylvania was under Hungarian cootrol for a millenium before that, and Hungary's folk music has remained there, despite decades of brutal repression by Romanian regimes. Although Muzsikas is based in Budapest Transylvania is their spiritual home, and on their third American release they render traditional tunes from that region and Hungary with their typical intensity. If you like very traditiooal Eurofolk (e.g. Celtic), this shouldn't be hard for you to appreciate, even though it's a bit more dissonant and primarily modal not much harmony to speak of. The musician­ ship is exemplary and vocalist Marta Sebes­ tyen as compelling as ever. Instruments include violin, viola, bass, tamboura (sounds like a low-pitched mandolin), hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, and the oboe-like b ombard. There's lots to discover here; for example, on some of the tunes they seem to be playing behind the beal Throws you off at first then it grows on you. That's true for Muzsikas in general. I don't know If this album is more accessible than the others, or if t'm just getting used to Hungarian folk, but the more I listen, the more I like il (Hannibal, 100 Jersey Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901) - Bart Grooms • NEUMA: New Mullc Serles Vol. 2 This collection of compositioos lor solo instruments (excepting one guitar and harpsichord duel) is an interestingly varied piogram that car­ tainly makes demands of listeners. The composers work from an academic ar t background (they nearly all have university connections) and ol them, Luciano Borio is the best known name. His "Sequenza II" for harp avoids ethereal clouds of music in favor of an earthy, dissonant mood. The most striking work, though, is Giacinta Scelsi's "Five Incantations," which consists of five short (slightly over two minutes) movements of alternately turious and meditative piano that achieve a kind ol arrogant mysticism. Robert Cogan's "Utterances" is an unordered collertion of quotes from various writers that a sop,ano vocalist arranges belore tackling thetr wildly varying music. Digital sound ,s put kl good use for the lengthy silent passages in Nancy Barney's "Strings of Light" or the exlroroo volume changes of B11en Ferney• hough's !lute workout "Cassandra's Dream Song" l 1\1� is a strong collect10n ot contem. porary music Illa! rarely gets the attention ii deserves. luture volumes 1n the series will locus on piano and flute music. (Neuma. 71 Ma con, M - Lang • THE NEW ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP: The Future Is NOW This colleclton ol six compos1. lions is nol actually by the Vancouver, B.C.­ based Workshop, but rather by groups led by NOW mernbers, making it something· of an anthology ol the improvisalional music scene in western Canada. II contains two pieces inspired by Ornette Coleman: "Harmolodic Highlander,'' by Lunar Adventures, is a sort of folk melody pushed along by Ron Samworth's slide guitar; and the group Unity's piece, "Lookout,'' owes its inspiration to Coleman's Double Quartet days..¼Jam�n Teacs of Joy and Sadness:· by the band Chief Feature, which opens with a brief melodic statement from trumpeter Bill Clark and tenor saxophonist Bruce Freedman, slides into a free improv section, and then goes into a slow, bluesy march. This disc shows that Van­ couver has a rich improvisational music scene, the NOW doing lor western Canada 1 what groups like the AACM and BAG have , done in American cities. The one bummer,.' about this disc is that its packaging requirei quite a bit of detective work to find out who's playing on which compositions. (9 Winqs;'Box 10082, Beverly Hills, CA 902q) � John · -···-· Baxter • THE EW-'lORK.C.QMPOSERS ORCHES­ TRA The NYCO is/was a fluid assembly of jazz musicians and composers, featuring such luminaries as Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Bobby Previte, Marty Ehrlich, Tim Wieselman, and Ray Anderson. They invite comparisons with NYC's Zorn/Sharp axis, for while Zorn, Sharp, and their ilk favor slabs of raging decoostruction, the NYCO's tendency is toward brainy, intricate reconstruction. Not that there's anything ettete about the music; it just aims for something other than the jugular. The opening track is illustrative. Based loosely on a rift from the Reverend Wilkins' "Prodigal Soo" (later ripped off by the Rolling Stones), it sets up a swirling, hypnotic 'counterpoint that quietly tries kl turn itself inside out The oosemble voicings are decep­ tively conventional, but this is like no big bend music that you've heard before. The group's treatment of the old pop-blues warhorse "Fever" is also edifying. I cringed when I saw this one listed, but the arrangement mostly hints et the original, wilhou1 ever losing it entirely. Holcomb's "Nightbirds: Open 24 Hours" is characteristically haunting, strange, end vaguely European. Horvjtz' "The House That Brings a Smile," dedicated to the late Richard Manuel of the Band, suggests the depth and breadth of his influences. A truly splendid collection. (New World, 701 7th Ave., NYC 10036) - Bill Tilland • NEW YORK NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE: V1riou1 Worits The New York New Music Ensemble has distinguished itself as one of the more prominent contemporary chamber ensembles around, with O'ler 100 lirst per10!· mances to its credi� Including numerovs commissions. It's not surprising, then, that they are represented here by three works composed for them by Charles Wuorinen, Joseph Schwantner, and Susan Blaustein. In "New York Notes" Wuorlnen displays his usual lormal rig01, with the COl1V1'111ional fast­ alow-fast aeqvence of movements echieved not by varying tempo bu1 by changing note values. He pairs related instruments - flute/ clarinet and violin/ cello - for duets that ere set off by vir1uoso 1olo flights for dramatic effect. Schwafllner's "Music ol Amber" is the most evocative ol the three, with haunting winds over a toy piano ostinato doubled by tuned metal percussion. T he rhythmic cells YIUI nHLVJ. lllt �n11u1111� ,1\,\UIIY """''lh "uinil1dight, milt, and tlw, riw< o/ tncJ1l\ ,,., ti,, Mt tlvood, """"' mo�,.._, by !ht !