Tzadik releases new Makan recording 'In Sound'

(6/24/2008)

In Sound features both the Kronos Quartet and Paul Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band; two West coast ensembles dedicated to expanding the range of contemporary music. Being of mixed Indian and Jewish descent, Makan draws from the diverse worlds of American folk music, European avant-garde, Indian classical music, and minimalism.

Evident throughout the album is the continuum between noise and purity of sound. According to Makan, "in all of the works, there is no formal logic other than careful attunement to what the ear and body dictate." Known for being rich in detail and visceral in intensity, Makan's music "probes timbral relationships and rhythmic complexities with irrepressible enthusiasm," (Financial Times).

Both The Noise Between Thoughts (2003), an electronic sound world evoked through purely acoustic means, and Washed By Fire (2007), an examination of cultural identity, showcase the eclecticism of one of the most celebrated ensembles of our time, the Kronos Quartet.

Continuing Makan's "fascinating wedding of intellect and expressivity," (Newsday) is Threads (2002). Performed by the Paul Dresher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band, it extends the sonic boundaries of the violin and bass clarinet by combining their timbres with digitally modified samples of viola, bass clarinet, electric guitar, vibraphone and bass.

Click here to order the CD on Amazon.com.

Makan's June Premieres

Pianist Ivan Ilic will perform Afterflow at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall on Monday, June 23, at 8 p.m. Ilic performed the American premiere of this work at MIT in April 2008. Ticket Orders.

On Friday, June 27, pianist Bruce Levingston will present the world premiere performance of Makan's Three Surreal Shorts. The work is presented by Rooftop Films and commissioned by Premiere Commission, to precede films by Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali, and Josh Safdie in conjunction with MoMA's Dali: Painting and Film exhibition. The presentation is at 8:30pm on the roof of Open Road (350 Grand St., New York, NY). Information.

On Saturday, June 28, Makan's Mercury Songbirds, a work commissioned for chamber ensemble by the Mandel Foundation and the Utah Arts Festival will be premiered at 4 p.m. at the Library Auditorium of the Utah Arts Festival. Information.

About Keeril Makan

Keeril Makan writes "memorably explosive" (International Herald Tribune) music that challenges description and thwarts assumptions about what is beautiful. Current projects include commissions from the California EAR Unit and the American Composers Orchestra with electric guitarist Seth Josel. Makan was recently awarded the 2008 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome.

He has received commissions from Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Kronos Quartet, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, and Carnegie Hall. His music has received awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Fromm Foundation, Gerbode Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Meet the Composer, and ASCAP. Makan’s work has been featured at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco and the MATA Festival in New York, and internationally at the Gaudeamus Festival in the Netherlands, Le Domaine Forget in Canada, and Voix Nouvelles in France. He has collaborated with poet Jena Osman and choreographer Benjamin Levy and frequently works with emerging artists such as the Del Sol String Quartet, percussionist David Shively, and soprano Laurie Rubin.

Trained as a violinist, he has received degrees in music and religion from Oberlin and the University of California at Berkeley, and subsequently studied in Helsinki and Paris.