I lied (about not being able to post, that is)

I would be remiss if, at a minimum, I didn't pass along a note of praise for my friend Chris' "new music" group, the Great Noise Ensemble, which I had the good fortune to hear this past Friday (11.17.06) at the Sumner School.

During the performance, they performed:

• a ritornello centered on variations on late-16th- and early-17th-century sacred music composer Michael Praetorius' "Puer Natus in Bethlehem";
• a concerto with 10 movements - each featuring a different instrument or instruments - by GNE tubist Blair Goins (second and fourth movements featuring banjo and cello and piano, respectively, available for online listening);
• a four-movement piece by violinist Heather Figi entitled "The Softest Bite," which draws heavily from Satie (his "Gymnopédies" are among my favorite "classical" works) and the vamping of jazz bassist Avishai Cohen (I didn't pick these components out - it was in the program); and
• a post-modern classical fusion extravaganza called General Electric, which, to my mind, evoked the pomposity of ELP, the sonic density of Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins, the symphonic ambitions of The Moody Blues (circa 1967), the Kraut-electro-rock of Tangerine Dream, and the Americana of Copland (these, I picked out, but have not had confirmed nor denied).

It's true that the type of music GNE plays is not for everyone (I'll admit to having a bit of difficulty with some of the work myself), but if you're a bit adventurous and appreciate musicianship in a very pure form (and you live in or around DC), you should definitely give them a listen.

*** out of ****