Nathan Hubbard
(compositions 1998-2005)
Circumvention Music CS121 (2006)

 

 

 

 

Christopher Adler - Ward Baxter - Greg Buhlert - Jarrod Chilton - Kelley Coker - Ty Constant - Jay Easton - Brian Eisenberg - Lee Elderton - Darren Evans - Marcos Fernandes - John Freeman - Jon Garner - Curtis Glatter - Justin Grinnell - Christopher Harrison - Damon Holzborn - Angela House - Nathan Hubbard - Brandon Jagow - Don Nichols - Gascia Ouzounian - Alex Panos - Leah Panos - Sam Rabourn - Orion Rapp - J.P. Reed - Jason Robinson - Stephanie Robinson - Al Scholl - Gabriel Sundy - Jon Szanto - Isaac Tubb - Steve Vertigan - Scott Walton - Ellen Weller - Molly Wilmot

Disc 1:
1. Structure I (7:51)
2. Discrepancy In Flow II (for John Cage) (4:00)
3. departing landscapes (holding on desperately to memories i'll never keep) (3:59)
4. In The Year Of The Lion (for Wadada Leo Smith) (9:07)
5. Structure II (7:15)
6. a secret no one knows I (8:22)
7. for DPH (14:42)
8. Shards Of Memory (for Morton Feldman) (8:06)

Disc 2:
1. departing landscapes (holding on desperately to memories i'll never keep) (4:01)
2. Spectrum/Zeitgeist II (7:36)
3. Song Cycle I (5:18)
4. Resonance (9:32)
5. Painting On Glass (for Oscar Fischinger) (30:21)
6. sundials II (6:03)

Over four years in the making, (compositions 1998-2005) is a collection of notated works showcasing a variety of ensembles and performers. Hubbard utilizes a wide array of notational possibilities to bring together acoustic instruments, voice, amplified instruments, sampled material, electronic processors and tape to create a unified sound world for each piece. This recording differs greatly from Hubbard’s previous solo or group recordings in the fact that each piece functions as its own entity. With pieces ranging from solo realizations to large groups of 16 and more, it is hard to categorize these pieces. However, it is easier to discuss Hubbard’s general approach - even the simplist pieces show a multi-layer investigation of line, harmony and melody. One also hears Hubbard’s acute sense of color and balance, as well as the importance of pacing and flow to his work. A collection of works shooting in all directions but always leading home.

purchasing - Circumvention Music - Bandcamp

 

 
reviews of Nathan Hubbard (compositions 1998-2005)
 

Nathan Hubbard (compositions 1998-2005) Ragazzi  - translation from german courtesy babblefish

Nathan Hubbard supplies creative impromptu music his/its compositions under the motto. How that is to be understood? However, composition and improvisation are two different things!? Especially since some of the Tracks contained on the 2 CDs were played in without his/its help…
Nathan Hubbard composed spontaneously quasi the reason-structure of the Tracks, mixed the Samples and Field Recordings, actually composed during the Einspielung. But Hubbard composed the pieces, in which he/it is not involved, and free hand left the interpretation. So in the opening piece of the first CD, "Structure I" of 1999, that Scott Walton plays the piano. An amazingly active, excited and abstract composition. Scott Waltons game, that is not Einspielung, still is newcomer music classically embossed jazz, maybe something between it. Very dynamically, virtually schnatterhaft, with excellent disharmonies and rhythmic breaks.No further piece on the CDs is a solo-piano-interpretation. Field Recordings, at the computer of Nathan Hubbard, Jason Robinson and miscellaneous further musicians gesampelt and mixed, laconic jazz-motives, the basic data of the further Tracks are free improvisation between introverted new music and composed jazz with much intuition and feel for the temper of the moment."In The Year Of The Lion" sank immensely in itself, melancholy music, whose deep and balanced mood doesn't get lost also in the arousal of the motive. The composition starts as newcomer music and turns into slanted jazz without changing the pulse beat.
Perkussionist Nathan Hubbard plays miscellaneous instruments: Piano, Marimba, vibraphone, drums, he/it picked up Field Recordings, sounds gesampelt or the ensemble, that plays his/its work, conducts. No style wins the Überhand on that occasion. The surprising and refined interplay of the different music-types, that at all freely considered Verflechten of the sounds and harmonies, the basic idea of the songs and the art, that to create so, is grand.
An electronic anthill seems time in confusion to wuseln, once, saxophones like a whole duck-yard quack that abysmally dim moods peel from the mix of the Field Recordings with radio-sounds, voices, a lot of incomprehensible sounds and vital modern Improvised jazz. How did Nathan Hubbard get the idea to write one piece for improvising trio (ts, ss, acc-b, Dr., vib, perc) and Tape? "Structure II" from the year 2002 immediately is producing medium" a composition for "any type of sound. Christopher Harrison has himself her/it (written?, in the conversation conveyed?) Grade assumed and produced meditative, harsh sounds with voice and computers. There is not a melody at itself, the swell-sounds and further sounds don't have any comprehensible, nonstop structure. How therefore did the music-idea from Hubbard come (and what changed on that occasion) to Harrison?
To hardly believe, that the mild harmony of the slanted jazz-silence will play in big jazz-ensemble in "Shards Of memory" of a Big bond. Intoxication same like a shadow is the piece, it, funny, soporific, sounds, harmonizing like dreamed. Slanted disharmonies, quite mild and sweet. Quaint!
The climax of both CDs is the 30-minütige "Painting On glass" on CD2 well. Two octets, that Nathan Hubbard parallel conducted, once a jazz playing ensemble and once Bläser and electronics, Samples, laptop and CD-Player (!) sing the piece. And so completely distant to good and angry is not the work. The 16 musicians have much intuitive feel for the common-sound, give room for Soli to individual instruments and don't take back itself, writes poetry and, to play loud (jazz -) structure.
Not only esoteric purchase-stores let rinsed in the present day and age of soft-rinsed Ambientsounds through her/its/their areas, all places is strunzdoofer to hear low-sound. Nathan Hubbards compositions are worlds from it off. And however also they have this calming, calming character, certainly with some excitement and disharmony in itself, and that is the big art with letting the "slanted" sounds sound hearing-simple. In purchase-stores, that would play this album, the people probably would stop enraptured and concentrated in the corners in order to listen to the strangeness of these sounds.
My recommendation goes also at people, who are afraid of slanted noise and harsh avant-garde sounds. What is harsh here, lays down hearing-kindly in skillfully arranged disharmonies. Necessarily pure-hear!
 
All About Jazz Italy - Vittorio Lo Conte
The two last recordings of Nathan Hubbard, operating artist on the West Coast, are respective a pair with the percussionista Curtis Glatter and a collection on CD of its compositions of the last years, executed from various ensembles with all the possible combinations orchestrates them, from the quartet of sassofoni to that one of percussions passing for pianoforti it prepares to you and orchestras with it arches. Two jobs that document the fertile inventiveness of the Californian vanguard, always available to recepire ferments of all the types, musical and not. Hubbard, in fact, lets sedurre from coming from inspirations from the cinematographic and pittorica art, così to give to its works a connotation that goes to of là of music in how much such one. Moreover, with its instruments it invents to you in order to create sounds and situations, and then destroyed and recomposed in order to come it res-use to you in the same way before.
The collection of compositions on a double CD obviously può not to introduce the coherence of Rivulet, for the eterogenità of the been involved musicians and the chosen brani. � an optimal testimony of what Hubbard has signed in the last years and a documentation of what happens on the coast orients them. The dedications to operating musicians in various territories - John Cage, Leo Smith, Morton Feldman - and along "Painting on Glass" for Oscar Fischinger, one of the protagonists of the cinematographic and pittorica vanguard of the 1900's, still testify of the eterogeneità of the sources of inspiration of Hubbard. They are all interesting brani a lot, in which stilemi jazzistici they emerge, like the quartet of sassofoni of "To Secret Not One Knows", in means to examples of concrete music, for voice and computer: "medium Structure II" for any sound producing or puttinges entirety, like in "For DPH", for trio with sax tenore/baritono/flauto, contrabbasso, the percussions of Hubbard and one diabolic source of electronic noises. An immense musical source field, that they come month under the disc of a valve of blowup of Hubbard, straniate and recomposed to wake up the minds of who listens.
The point centers them of the collection è the gia' cited composition "Painting on Glass" (for Oscar Fischinger), for two ottetti and magnetic tape, in which the author it assumes the conductor role. It would have deserved alone a disc, but, seen the capienza of the digital support them, very it comes accompanied from other material. The long one maratona of the orchestra è very congegnata and structured from the author, than dà space to melodie, camerismi of stamp classic, brilliant vibrafono a swingante one to the beginning of the brano. A way to join various worlds, to recall the practical one of the collage pittorico, to create paintings and colors that vanish one in the other leaving bewitches to you, in which they can dull sgembi assoli of guitar electrical worker and rievocazioni of blues or other. A job that it has in eterogeneità the own force, and that just for this it appears coherent during the execution.
Music for objects, ensemble, computer of Nathan Hubbard demands a pò of habit before being able to be recepita for its continuous one to ramble from a musical way to the other: a anything goes on which it succeeds to impose the own unmistakable company.
These two works could wake up the interest of coreografi and directors and serve like unusual sonorous column for their works.
 
Nathan Hubbard Compositions 1998-2005 2xCD (Circumvention/Trummerflora)
Unlike his album with Curtis Glatter reviewed above, this set sounds, well, composed. Recorded at times with an almost orchestra-sized ensemble, this sizable set really provides a fine insight into Hubbard's mind. I have to admit, I like these more structured works. Hubbard has a really solid handle on how to bring unconventional ideas into accepted musical theory. Important listening. - Aiding and Abetting
 

Part retrospective, part hodge-podge, this two-CD set rounds up several unrelated composition projects by West Coast percussionist Nathan Hubbard. The scope of the material presented here is very large, in terms of durations, instrumentations, and styles, making it nearly impossible for one listener to enjoy it all. The main picture arising from the whole set is one of eclecticism, from 60-second songs for mezzo-soprano and vibraphone (Song Cycle I) to a sax quartet, a percussion quartet, and a half-hour long piece for two octets and tape (Painting on Glass). Some of these pieces are very strong and deserve notice, especially the ones for larger ensembles. Dedicated to Morton Feldman, Shards of Memory for orchestra is a highlight, thanks to its carefully unfolding structure and unusual voicings. The same applies to the second arrangement of Departing Landscapes (Holding on Desperately to Memories I’ll Never Keep), which features pipe organ, horn, violin, two electric guitars, harp, and acoustic bass, all processed and mixed dub style to make this strange instrumentation all the more stranger. Despite a few redundancies, the aforementioned Painting on Glass dominates the set, and not only because of its duration. It contains many ideas, from Feldman-esque landscapes to free jazz breaks, all coherently organized. Song Cycle I with Molly Wilmot and Structure I with pianist Scott Walton are the best picks among the smaller-scale pieces. That leaves a handful of rather ordinary trios and quartets that tend to dilute the impact of the ensemble pieces. A single CD devoted solely to the latter category, with Discrepancy in Flow II, Shards of Memory, the two versions of Departing Landscapes, Painting On Glass, and the beautiful Sundials II as a closer would have rivaled Hubbard’s Skeleton Key Orchestra album in quality and creativity, but as it stands, (Compositions 1998-2005) is a mixed bag. - François Couture/All Music Guide