PostGenre - Music Beyond Category

From the PostGenre Archives

Conversations with Legends

Golden Rule: A Conversation with Sonny Rollins

Kris Davis and the Lutosławski Quartet’s ‘The Solastalgia Suite’

Tranquility and Rest to the Mind: Conversations with Wadada Leo Smith and Amina Claudine Myers

The Willpower of Notes: A Conversation with Eyvind Kang

Slicing through Silence: A Conversation with Jessica Pavone

Pablo Picasso once noted that “Without great solitude, no serious work is possible.” In music, artists can converse in ways often words alone cannot. But there is also a great power in being alone. This power is known well by Jessica Pavone. Across her two decades of live performances and unaccompanied albums, the violist has mined the depths of solo string performance. Part of her mastery in the area has been her ability to utilize electronics and extended techniques to provide a second voice – albeit one controlled by her – with which she can interact. She can essentially clone […]

Electric Connection: A Conversation with gabby fluke-mogul on ‘GUT’

Since the first electric violins hit the market in 1930, the concept of electronically manipulating the violin has maintained an aura of mystery. While musicians including Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith readily adopted amplification to their instruments over the decades, there has remained a resistance among many to change one of the most virtuosic touchstones of acoustic excellence. Arguably, such reluctance comes, in part, due to the rigorous path a practitioner must undertake to perfect their tone and the relationship they form with their instrument throughout the process. The hesitancy has seemingly applied to even some of the most ardent […]

Echoes of Chickadee Valley: A Conversation with Christopher Hoffman on ‘Rex’

When one thinks of the great artistic cataloging of North American bird paintings, John James Audubon’s name often first comes to mind. That connection makes sense given that his best-known work, the multi-volume The Birds of America (1827-1838), featured four hundred and thirty-five paintings covering four hundred and eighty-nine species. Painting that many birds was a formidable feat, no doubt, but it is dwarfed in quantity by the work of Rex Brasher. Although lesser known, the sheer volume of Brasher’s output – twelve hundred species on eight hundred and seventy-five watercolor paintings – is nothing short of daunting. But even […]

Complex Dream: A Conversation with Rubin Kodheli on his Music and Remembering Ryuichi Sakamoto

On March 28, 2023, the world lost one of its great composers, Ryuichi Sakamoto. Although emotionally powerful, Mr. Sakamoto’s work is difficult to characterize. He drew inspiration from Western classical music, including minimalism. But he was also an electronic music pioneer. In fact, it was not uncommon for his acoustic work to almost sound electronic at times. While sonic ideas from his native Japan can be heard in his work, Sakamoto also explored the music of Brazil and other places worldwide. His album Favorite Visions (Nippin Columbia, 1983) is ostensibly an avant-garde jazz recording. Above all, Sakamoto was an ardent experimenter. The […]

Ritual for the Losses: A Brief Conversation with Jen Shyu

During her recording career thus far, Jen Shyu has drawn on a deep well of song, fable, and poetry from various Asian traditions. Often these incorporate each culture’s native languages. The music on Zero Grasses: Ritual for the Losses (Pi, 2021), her extraordinary new release similarly builds upon traditional Javanese music, Japanese katari, and East Timorese chant. But Zero Grasses is also different from Shyu’s other recordings. While she generally incorporates her own experiences in her works, this is perhaps her most personal to date. Using the language of her adolescent diaries allows her to reflect upon racism, sexism, climate […]

Living Proof of the Same Cell: A Conversation with Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri on ‘Cantica Profana’ and ‘The Athenaeum Concert’

Folk music is often broadly defined as being a music “of the people.” But what does that really mean? Of course, the generally understood definition implies that it is music not of the conservatory or the upper strata of society, but from the average person, one of the commoners. But the descriptor of the music being “of the people” is inherently problematic. In the words of Louis Armstrong, “All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.” Satchmoic witticism aside, the issue of what defines human music has been increasingly muddled over the last decade. […]

Thread of Humanity: A Conversation with Lucian Ban and Mat Maneri on ‘Transylvanian Dance’

Artists inevitably bring their own perspectives and biases into their interpretation of any work. It is impossible to completely divorce current work from the tinctures of one’s background. A great example is the work of Béla Bartók. Often considered one of the most important composers of the Twentieth Century, Bartók was a founding father of comparative musicology, which later became known as ethnomusicology. He spent his life dedicated to the presentation of folk music from around the world, from his native Hungary to Turkey. Bartók found great weight in the music of different cultures, even once noting that “Folk melodies […]

Music at the Heart: A Conversation with Erik Friedlander

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the cello established itself as a mainstay in Western European classical music due to its capacity to provide both an intimacy to small chamber ensembles and grandeur to large symphony orchestras. The instrument’s appeal in this space is undeniable; few can listen to Bach’s Cello Suites, specifically the prelude, without being moved. But the cello has always provided access to a palette wider than its classical lineage suggests. Solo, it can access the whole sonic range from bass to soprano. As such, it should come as no surprise that improvisation-based music has its own […]

Weaving: A Conversation with Janel Leppin

As an art form, weaving requires different threads to combine into one to create a sturdier whole cloth. How the threads are combined affects the characteristics of the end product. It is appropriate that cellist Janel Leppin is also a weaver by trade, as one can hear a direct application of the concepts from her textile work into her music. This is particularly evident in her two newest recordings. The first, New Moon in the Evil Age (Cuneiform, 2024), out under the name Janel and Anthony, a collaboration with her consistent musical partner (and husband), guitarist Anthony Pirog. It also […]

Hearing Voices: A Conversation with George Lewis

While many organizations present contemporary classical music, the International Contemporary Ensemble has stood out since its founding twenty-two years ago. The Ensemble’s success has come largely due to its stated goal of cultivating a musical ecosystem that honors diversity while focusing on equity, belonging, and cultural responsiveness. The organization’s openness and consideration of all musical ideas starkly contrast a status quo that often marginalizes or outright ignores the compositional thoughts of anyone other than a white man. Emphasizing increased inclusiveness and diversity allows the Ensemble to present more compelling pieces than most. This ethos also partly explains the group’s April […]

Narrative Freedom: A Conversation with Anthony Davis (Part One)

When one looks beyond the jokes about “the fat lady” singing or baseless accusations of the form being boring, one can find operas sharing some of the most intriguing stories ever told. These tales present the full range of human emotion, from devastating loss to insuppressible joy. Often overlooked, however, are these works’ political overtones. Mozart’s Don Giovanni (1787) celebrates the collapse of aristocracy, while Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea (1643) and Handel’s Giulio Cesare (1724) share lessons learned from the Roman republic. But these messages are often ignored by contemporary audiences unaccustomed to the story or language used. The general homogeneity of compositional voices only […]

Trusting Fate: A Conversation with Brandee Younger

Across cultures and ages, the harp has long been associated with peace and tranquility. Its light tones are painted as a ray of light shining down from the heavens. But there is so much more to the instrument. As George R.R. Martin provided in the literary antecedent to the show Game of Thrones, “a harp can be as dangerous as a sword, in the right hands.” As a result, it should come as no surprise there are artists like Zeena Parkins and Jacqueline Kerrod who explore the strings’ outer sonic edges. In reality, most music lies between the extremes of […]

Channel to the Future: A Conversation with Elliott Sharp on ‘Die Grösste Fuge’

Throughout the ages, some of the greatest composers have gifted to the world pieces not meant for their time. Often such artists are unappreciated until decades after their death. In other cases, the artist recieves recognition, but their controversial work is written off as some wild aberration. In both cases, however, time often proves the true master of brilliance. One can find a great example in Ludwig van Beethoven’s ‘Die Grosse Fuge’, a single-movement work for a string quartet. A quarter of a millennia after Beethoven’s death, Elliott Sharp’s opera, ‘Die Grösste Fuge’ – which will have its American premiere at […]

Review: Okkyung Lee’s ‘Yeo-Neun’

Cellist Okkyung Lee is best known for her visceral attack and extended techniques, which can be heard on past albums such as Ghil (Ideologic Organ, 2013). On Yeo-Neun (Shelter Press, 2020), she embraces the delicacy of chamber music, leading a quartet including Maeve Gilchrist (harp), Eivind Opsvik (bass), and Jacob Sacks (piano). Lee has not lost her experimental edge – she can bend the cello to her will in such a manner that sometimes it’s impossible not to focus on her. However, even though she composed the entire album, Yeo-Neun is never solely about Lee. Each tune puts the onus […]

Days in December: A Conversation with Jacqueline Kerrod

Historians believe some form of the harp existed as far back as the beginning of ancient Egypt’s “Old Kingdom”, 2500 BC. Even as early as 4,500 years ago, it was commonplace for a harpist to give solo performances. Across the ages, the instrument adapted and changed to meet the musical needs of the time. Despite this, the magic of a lone artist plucking its strings has remained. Jacqueline Kerrod continues this tradition with 17 Days in December (Orenda, 2021) by not merely revisiting that which came before her. To a large degree, Kerrod’s solo debut obliterates any preconceptions one may […]