this is how it's FUCKING done

when I say that a performance like this "makes mere virtuosity seem commonplace" I meant this:

That she was not just expertly displaying a set of extremely polished skills with breathtaking vigor and ease: Her hands dancing on the strings with jaw-dropping mathematical precision, so that every half note, quarter note, eighth note and the tiniest of nuances in each off-note pluck, and each bow just so very slightly askew, is pronounced with clarity and finesse. The stark contrast between elongated ethereal passages like some magical lake you stumble upon in the woods, and fast, abrasive clusters of angular notes like lightning, was only a lesser thrill compared to their masterful integration. The richness of the bass tones and evasive slivers of resonant highs made compelling images at once seductively sensuous (in an otherworldly kind of way) and gave a distinct sense of sharpened apprehension which made the mind awake and the body alert: this is dangerous territory.

But it was more than all of that; this next bit might sound trite but I really do get the sense, while watching her knitted brow and closed eyes which were for sure seeing more clearly than the hundreds of open ones before her, that she was literally, directly, channeling the music from some distant part of the universe. A part access to which is denied to most.


frances-marie uitti, solo cello, played mid period works (mostly 60s) by Scelsi

part 2

if the first night's performance was marked by focus, rigorousness, and precision, last night's performances were largely wild, expressive, and improvisational. she played a solo piece, with all the compositional intrigue and technical agility one can expect from such an accomplished performer. the double bow technique is my personal favorite: 1 above the strings and 1 under... producing rich double tones. and when she does this it's for the sustained, horizontal parts of the composition... these can last for an hour and they'd be too short.

next a san francesco sound artist who did a little tribute to Steve Lacy with analog touch-pads and laptop (triggering Lacy samples with fingers - which was really great) did a collaborative improv set with Uuiti. the first part he supplied long sombre tones of charcoal gradations, over which her cello flew, sometimes cooperative, sometimes antagonistic. but the second part he brought the steve Lacy samples back - this strange cut-up bass loop, fucked up DSP damaged drums, and gorgeous snippets of the "straight horn" - and it was great to see Uuiti in jazzy form, for a minute actually mimicing the playing of Lacy himself on her cello, playful, bright and airy stanzas of melodies that sound like some wintry bird singing all to himself above leafless trees.

at the Selah gallery, downtown Los Angeles.

and I should mention that the New Music Program at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) which brought Uuiti around, is in its last season of its last year.

This is a program that began in the 1930s, the home of many world premier productions, and countless visiting artists such as Uuiti. Yet because of budget cuts, and a Neo-Con board of directors and their reactionary tastes, after this autumn, it will be cut completely. The Classical Music Program stays. Jazz on Friday nights stays (mostly irrelevent). but the New Music is going.