Shreds of Evidence is FirstAvenue's first solo CD, solo in that there are only Bill, Bryan and Matt performing; sometimes separate but mostly together. Since the formation of FirstAvenue 17 years ago, they have frequently collaborated with a wide variety of composer/performers whose experiences interpenetrate FirstAvenue's own unique sonic world and set of experiences, collectively and separately (individually). On this CD FirstAvenue presents one possible (unique) mix of those experiences; all the influences? inextractable.
"Your Honor..."
("...speaking of missions...") If one can speak of a
"mission", 
FirstAvenue is dedicated
to relevance (participation in the present cultural environment, making an art form
for the 90's). They achieve this goal with their hyper-eclectic vocabulary, a utilization
of electronic technologies! - forays into theater! - video graphics! - multimedia!
- performance!
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury..."
Radical Moderation is fed by extreme positions in search of "the center." FirstAvenue's method is also hybrid: The Performance Relying on In-the-moment Reaction/Interaction BUT Presupposed by the Rigorous Development of a Repertoire of Possibilities. Passions and calculations are subsumed into what Edward Said describes as "performance as an extreme occasion."
"Objection!"
This CD can be at best a fossil of this exceptional human expressive activity. The ineffable matrix of feedback systems (performer -> performer, performer -> audience, performer -> performance space, audience -> performance space, etc.) is lacking in the simulacrum (the mechanical reproduction) of a recording. So what does the simulacrum stand for? What would a listener glean from this recording? a lively conversation? a dark, brooding contemplation?
Start over... (iterative function)
What can a listener hope to experience listening to improvisation versus an interpreted composition? The music necessarily unfolds in a kind of intimate stream of consciousness. Does improv blur the line between interpretive performance and composition? Is the transparency of the performance made more opaque? Is (this) improv most effective, most convincing, when it leaves the listener with the impression --or illusion-- that it was composed? If so, what is the essence of this effect? confidence i.e., unselfconscious assuredness? a balance of spontaneity and pre-determinedness? Or is there a unique and separate modality of listening to (this) improvisation? What are its criteria? If there are differences, how do they diverge from the composer->interpreter->receptor paradigm?
"Objection over-ruled..."
When modernist concert music departed the land of tonality, we could say it embarked on a most speculative course. We might also affectionately contend it drifted for decades and, with the self-confidence (or arrogance) of modernism, continued to insist on its hermetic journey; its aesthetic engine fueled by the dynamic synthesis of past, present and future. A tension grew - its bridges became strained - something snapped. Suddenly, or not so suddenly, in the aftermath of the profuse whirlwind of divergent paths, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, something or someone called "postmodernism" posited the possibility (or inevitability) of an eclectic, synthetic, and more immediate vocabulary; i.e. "all things are possible, each carries its own weight, connotation, expression". What happens when we intuitively (naturally) allow ourselves to wander and dwell in a synthetic place to claim a land full of the breadth of human experience?
"If there is reasonable doubt..."
The listener is invited to stare with their ears: disconnect the conventions of expectation the same way performers must also be ready to do. The listener finds himself more nearly in the performer's position. Each subsequent moment confirms or contradicts. It represents a virtuality of tangents: the equivalent of a contemporary shopping mall. We invite you to allow FirstAvenue to guide you through this profusion, highlighting this point of interest on the left, a provocative article on the right, encouraging you to accept several unexpected possibilities to exist simultaneously.
Download sample excerpts of Shreds of Evidence
in mp3 format:
Desperately Seeking Asylum (1.8 mb)
- To Slur with Love (1.5 mb)
Tequila Mocking Bird (1.9 mb)
- Break and Enter (1.3 mb)
Read a review of SHREDS OF EVIDENCE at La Folia Online Music Magazine
check out the O.O. Disc site's Shreds of Evidence page -->
OO
#50 SHREDS OF EVIDENCE
- O.O.Discs [OOD 0013]
Recorded at Princeton University's Taplin Hall Hocus-Opus
brings together a long list of collaborators. Hocus-Opus features seventeen
'takes' ranging in length from a brash 51 seconds to extended improvisations of over
ten minutes presenting an extraordinary range of improvisations. 
The
'downtown' musicians featured as guests include the dazzling flute virtuoso Robert
Dick, the meditative accordion pioneer Pauline Oliveros, the rambunctious percussionist
Sam Bennett, with the howling sounds of Elliott Sharp on soprano sax and the brilliant
Steven Mackey on guitar.
[with special guests] samm bennett - percussion robert dick - flutes steve mackey - guitar pauline oliveros - accordion ned rothenberg - sax & bass clarinet elliott sharp - sax & guitar produced by First Avenue and Jim Mosses
Download sample excerpts of Hocus-Opus in mp3
format:
Take 60 (1.4 mb) - Take
53 (1.7 mb) - Take 69 (2.1 mb)
- Take 19b (1.8 mb)
check out the O.O. Disc site's Hocus-Opus page -->OO
#13 HOCUS OPUS
Two Suns brings together two new and distinct musical voices;
the enchanting sounds of First Avenue; and the beautiful mystical songs of Mieczylslaw
Litwinsky. In recording the CD Two Suns, all sounds were recorded live. 
Special
guest Mieczylslaw Litwinsky composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer, is a native
of Silesia Poland. He has performed extensively in Europe and what was the Soviet
Union. In 1986 John Schaefer of NPR's "New Sounds" program named him "Composer
of the Year". Featuring Kenneth Bichel, Marshall Coid, Stephanie Gelfan and
Bob Muller.
1. Gentle Riot (6:18) 2. Still Life with Harem (2:00) 3. Flutter-By Effect (2:30) 4. Comets (16:38)-by M.Litwinsky 5. Light Years From Marya's (4:58) 6. Jesu, Joy of Amazing Grace (5:04)-with M.Litwinsky 7. Newton's Idyl (3:02) 8. Strange Attractors (4:35) 9. Current Courante (5:55) 10. Two Suns (17:38)-with M.Litwinsky produced by Lawrence Kraman
Download sample excerpts of Two Suns in mp3 format:
Still Life with Harem (1.8 mb) -
Newton's Idyl (2.7 mb) - Two
Suns (3.1 mb)
check out the Newport Classic page --> Newport Classic