The Squid's Ear Magazine


Shiurba, John: Triplicate (Spool)

Composer John Shiurba with an impressive West Coast octet including vocalists Lara Bruckmann & Morgan Guberman, trumpeter Tom Djll, drummer Gino Robair, and bassist Matthew Sperry, &c. conducting them through five twisted compositions.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Lara Bruckmann-voice

Morgan Guberman-voice

Matt Ingalls-B clarinet

Dan Plonsey-alto saxophone, E clarinet, oboe, violin

Tom Djll-trumpet

Tom Yoder-trombone

Matthew Sperry-contrabass

Gino Robair-percussion, marimba, analog synth


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.




UPC: 778224179221

Label: Spool
Catalog ID: SPA402
Squidco Product Code: 15056

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2002
Country: Canada
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Recorded by Myles Boisen at Guerrilla Recording on February 10th, 2002.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"This is a stunningly rich and powerful release, the kind you will immediately hate or fall in love with. John Shiurba has assembled an impressive West Coast octet, featuring vocalists Lara Bruckmann and Morgan Guberman, drummer Gino Robair, and bassist Matthew Sperry (among others), and conducts them through five of his tortuous compositions.

Hearing the violent, sharp outbursts, jagged edges, complex contrapuntal lines, and eerie use of operatic vocals in the opener, "Adobe," the listener is immediately reminded of Frank Zappa's orchestral writing on 200 Motels. Further listening reveals how true the resemblance is, but also how insufficient it turns out to be. Shiurba's writing pushes this side of Zappa's oeuvre into deeper territory, exploring instrumental textures ("Rita"), phonemic nonsense ("Short Reels"), and lyricism. Bruckmann and Guberman deliver a riveting performance throughout the set, their technical virtuosity completed by genuine passion for the material and, in Guberman's case, an in-your-face approach strongly reminiscent of Phil Minton's interpretations.

Each piece is a collaboration with a different lyricist, adding a certain variety to Shiurba's otherwise homogenous approach. Some will interpret the previous sentence as a reproach, but the similarity of these five pieces actually makes for a constantly thrilling listen. Several other composers have attempted this kind of music, but very few have been able to match Zappa's flair and make it sound like more than an academic exercise. With Triplicate, John Shiurba certainly did."- François Couture, All Music


Artist Biographies

"Tom Djll studied electronic music with Stephen Scott at the Colorado College, working with the EMS Synthi 100 system at Packard Hall. In 1978 and 79 Djll studied at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY, with Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith, George Lewis, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Karl Berger and many other giants of new music. He spent the years 1981-1993 working with the Serge Modular Music System before enrolling in Mills College Contemporary Music Program, where he extended his quest to develop and integrate an idiosyncratic trumpet language into an electronic sound environment, while also pursuing advanced improvisation studies, formally, with Pauline Oliveros, and, informally, with Jack Wright. While at Mills, Djll concentrated on microtonal composition, split-tone trumpet technique, and computer music. He also worked extensively with Chris Brown, resulting in contributions to Brown's recordings LAVA (Tzadik) and DUETS (Artifact).

Further refinement of trumpet languages and free improvisation with his band GROSSE ABFAHRT was undertaken from 1999 - 2010, published on the Emanem, Creative Sources, and Setola di Maiale labels. Beginning in 2012, Djll gradually re-introduced electronics into his sound-set. The results are heard in projects like hackMIDI (extreme electro-mechanical piano music), piano + analog electronics in TENDER BUTTONS (with Tania Chen and Gino Robair), delicate environments in EUPHOTIC (with Cheryl Leonard and Bryan Day), austere acoustic spaces with KOKUO (Kanoko Nishi-Smith, John McCowen, Jacob Felix Heule, and Kyle Bruckmann) and ongoing sessions and performances within the lively and ever-evolving Bay Area scene, including: Tim Perkis, Amanda Chaudhary, Jordan Glenn, Clarke Robinson, Suki O'Kane, Matt Ingalls, Tom Nunn, bran(...)pos, and Karen Stackpole.

Obligatory list of famous musicians Djll has played and/or recorded with:

Roscoe Mitchell, David Toop, Fred Frith, William Winant, Rova Saxophone Quartet, Pauline Oliveros, Ava Mendoza, John Butcher, Vladimir Tarasov, Le Quan Ninh, Tania Chen, Wobbly, Frank Gratkowski, Miya Masaoka, nmperign, Tatsuya Nakatani, Vijay Iyer, and Zeena Parkins."

-Tom Djll Website (http://tomdjll.com/)
4/2/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Gino Robair has created music for dance, theater, radio, television, silent film, and gamelan orchestra, and his works have been performed throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. He was composer in residence with the California Shakespeare Festival for five seasons and served as music director for the CBS animated series The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat. His commercial work includes themes for the MTV and Comedy Central cable networks.

Robair is also one of the "25 innovative percussionists" included in the book Percussion Profiles (SoundWorld, 2001). He has recorded with Tom Waits, Anthony Braxton, Terry Riley, Lou Harrison, John Butcher, Derek Bailey, Peter Kowald, Otomo Yoshihide, the ROVA Saxophone Quartet, and Eugene Chadbourne, among many others. In addition, Robair has performed with John Zorn, Nina Hagen, Fred Frith, Eddie Prevost, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Myra Melford, Wadada Leo Smith, and the Club Foot Orchestra.

Robair is a founding member of the Splatter Trio and the heavy-metal band, Pink Mountain. In addition, he runs Rastascan Records, a label devoted to creative music.

As a writer about music technology, Robair has contributed to Mix, Remix, Guitar Player, and Electronic Musician (EM) magazine, where he was an editor for 10 years. He is the author of two books, including The Ultimate Personal Recording Studio (Thompson; 2006)."

-Gino Robair Website (http://www.ginorobair.com/bio.html)
4/2/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Adobe 8:59

2. Trainging Long Hauling-Dazed 7:12

3. Short Reels 13:26

4. I Knew You Falling 12:22

5. Rita 13:45

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
West Coast/Pacific US Jazz
Unusual Vocal Forms
Free Improvisation
Octet Recordings
Instant Rewards

Search for other titles on the label:
Spool.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-2025, Squidco LLC


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