Francis James: A Postmodern Symphony and Four Poems (no label)
Purchased for $2.50 at The Exchange
Oh, Francis, Francis, Francis....
Francis James (Lackey) was an important part of the local arts scene at one time. Involved in the Pittsburgh Filmmakers (RIP), poet, the Cold Warrior. I was talking about Francis with Mike Seamans recently, how Mike had basically been offered archives of Francis' work, and record collection.
I'd dare say that this CD, from 2000AD, was the last local press attention Francis received. (Or anywhere?) He released this CD of his so-called Postmodern Symphony, making a big deal about having realized the entire project digitally. It's a symphony orchestra, but he did it all on a computer. Amazing, right?
Even at the time, not so much. I'd be more impressed if he could press his way into an actual orchestra, convince them to play his "new" music. I write "new" because, well, what is this? It's almost determinately unmemorable. The symphony just sort of rambles, cells of ideas popping in and out. A clarinet phrase that repeats exactly, but at irregular intervals. High trumpet notes that obviously sound sampled. Events come and go, recognizable, but unmemorable.
And for crying out loud, he added thunderous applause at the end of the final movement.
I can't rule out the possibility that Francis could come across his blog post. I'm sorry and I do not mean insult. If I seem harsh, I'm at least as dissatisfied with many of my own recordings. Francis seems to have totally broken with his past though, leaving his archives and even his full name behind. I wish him well.
I played one gig with Francis, with the original Morphic Resonance trio. It was at Carnegie Mellon U, in....whatever that room we played was. I can't recall the name. Francis came on at the end of the gig to recite "Beatsickness", one of the poems on one of his two 7" EPs.
Francis did what I dislike about working with poets generally: he speaks, we respond, he speaks, we respond, etc. In other words, don't you dare step on my words. And part of me says, yes of course. That's what the poet brings. But it's one sided, isn't it? No give and take, no conversation. It's monologue with responding accompaniment. Chris Koenigsberg's wife Yun was the same: don't interfere with my texts, you're secondary to me.
I find that relationship boring. I'm perfectly willing to play an accompanying role when called for. In Thoth Trio, I like the idea of the saxophone or clarinet playing a supporting role to the bass or drums sometimes. Being the lead voice all the time is, again, boring.
John Cage comes from a different aesthetic. I like his approach to the Indeterminacy piece, of one minute stories with indeterminate David Tudor support: it's okay if the music/sound sometimes overtakes the voice. Events don't need to be so strictly stratified.
But then, if there's an art form for which I have a blind spot, it's poetry. Or at least, I know when I think it's bad, but not much more.
The CD ends with four poems recited by Francis, with more of his MIDI-based accompaniment. They just don't do anything for me.
How obscure is this CD? There's no discogs.com listing for it, as far as I can tell. Here's an image of my autographed copy, which reads: "To Jeff, Our real love is Cinema. Best wishes, Francis".
2 comments:
Have you heard the work that poet Steve Benson did with the Splatter Trio?
A little. I have one Splatter collection that Steve appeared on. That seemed like a fruitful collaboration, that they were attuned to one another.
Post a Comment