![]() Seated in the audience at some of these events was Jim Osterberg, also a teenager, en route to becoming Iggy Pop. He featured as a pianist, playing songs by Ives and Sheff’s own youthful compositions such as Ballad, Meditation Nine and Diotima were programmed alongside pieces by luminaries of the avant garde such as Cage, Ashley, Nam June Paik, James Tenney, Toshi Ichiyanagi and Earle Brown. While still a teenager, Sheff took a leading role in organising events on the fringe of the legendary ONCE Festivals, promoting innovative and radical approaches to music. In 1962, Sheff enrolled at New York’s Juilliard School, but soon opted to follow Krumm to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where they got to know Gordon Mumma, Robert Ashley and other artists involved with The ONCE Group. Sheff teamed up with him to present, at a local art institute, concerts of iconoclastic compositions by Cage, La Monte Young, Philip Corner, Yoko Ono and Richard Maxfield, along with some of their own work. By the start of the 1960s Krumm had entered into correspondence with John Cage, and members of the emergent Fluxus group. A few years later, at Jefferson High School, another enlightened teacher called Raymond Moses introduced Sheff to Philip Krumm, a former student who was no less passionately enthusiastic about Ives and his experimental legacy. That moment of illumination proved crucial and enduring. ![]() Hughes sent the 11 year old home after his first lesson carrying recordings of music by Charles Ives and Harry Partch. It was that rare combination of apparent ease and evident brilliance, whether sight-reading or improvising, that led Kyle Gann, writing for The Village Voice, to cast analytical moderation to the wind and declare, “God plays piano though this man.”īefore he had entered his teens, Sheff took composition classes with Frank Hughes at San Antonio’s Trinity University. Starting early, Sheff studied the piano formally and in depth, yet he also displayed virtually from the outset natural flair and versatility, which never deserted him. He grew up being Robert Nathan Sheff, that name taken from his adoptive parents. “Blue” Gene Tyranny, who left this world, peacefully in his sleep, earlier this month, was born Joe Gantic in San Antonio, Texas on the first day of 1945. Highest possible recommendation from WOE.“Music is my way of being in the world.” The words of “Blue” Gene Tyranny, spoken in Just For The Record, David Bernabo’s recently completed documentary film on the life and work of the pianist and composer. If you buy nothing else this year, buy this. "Are they really out there, Blue?" Yes, all the way and back again. A 25-min+ symphonic odyssey featuring a turn from Peter Gordon and Kathy Morton's wonderful narration of a sprawling letter to Gene himself that extends from informal greetings into a magical philosophical meditation that I actually find incredibly emotional. ![]() The closer, ‘A Letter From Home’, is sent from a different dimension and, in its own unique way, is a near-perfect new age spiritual. As stand out as that song is, it doesn't tell the full story of the album. ![]() What comes after that and extends past the eight minute mark is a remarkable thing - the tempo shift is one of those moments in music that demands repeated reloads. A kind of cosmic country jazz-inflected romantic epic, led by a Patrice Manget vocal so compelling the track would be afforded GOAT status if it were to end at the four minute mark. Opener, "Next Time Might Be Your Time" is the bonafide all time classic that's contributed most obviously to Out of the Blue's hallowed status - consider it BGT's "Aaj Shanibar" if you like. Originally released in 1978, "Blue" Gene Tyranny's Out of The Blue is a personal favourite of mine, and one I've habitually returned to again and again after first discovering it a few years ago. It is finally here! If there's a better reissue this year, I want to hear it. ![]()
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