Permanently Transient
The harp is my favorite instrument, and I listen to harp music writ large from all over the world. I also have a background in jazz theory and improvisation, as well as devising from my grad school experiences. This is my attempt to put it all together.
Inspired by Alice Coltrane, I’ve worked on a collection of phone recordings of harp improvisations for meditative purposes for the past few months, which was also me learning how to play a lever harp! I then remixed and rearranged to push the boundaries of harp music.
This is the beginning of a series of projects I will do with the harp and what I’m calling “spiritually experimental jazz.”
Tracklist:
Sunshowers
Walking
Stampede
Aurora
Dusk
Fire
Frost
Gold
Comets/Stardust
Eclipse
Audio Description:
1. Sunshowers
Multicolored textures swirl in a repetitive daze, changing moods two times before dissapating
2. Walking
Ambling fingerpicking backed by appearances and disappearances of overtones blanketing the sound
3. Stampede
Rush of beating and clapping leading to ecstactic polyrhythmic circling
4. Aurora
Dusty counterrhythms crashing and shifting tones while leaving shadows of sound, before final melodic transformation toward brightness
5. Dusk
Echoing steps climbing into atmospheric fragments of sounds before colliding into rolling buildup and final explosion
6. Fire
Multioctave rhythmic playing leading to reversal
7. Frost
Cascading call and response of glittery, lightly plucked dustings. Intense storm of scratchy sound
8. Gold
Cycles of rising and remaining before fading away
9. Comets/Sundust
Unyielding pressure playing with how much to let go
10. Eclipse
Inversed beginnings with variations