Nate Wooley — Moths (CD)
Tracklisting
01.Moths (43:48)
Format CD in wallet with insert
Catalog Number EV014
Press Release (PDF)
About
The score of Moths begins with an initial musical gesture chosen by the musician and four "wing-tips" that contain parameters of change - harmonic motion, articulation, extension, and physicality -and act as terminals of flight. The player presents their chosen gesture before plotting a course to one of the four outlying areas, modifying repetitions of their initial cell using the parameters of the "wing-tip" that they're moving toward.
Musicians (Eric Wobbles, Laura Cocks, Madison Greenstone) are asked to concentrate on small increments of parametric change, creating a version of stop-motion music as each concurrent iteration of the material develops at the slowest possible pace. The musicians essentially "show their work" as they travel from the initial version of the material to one that is totally changed, slowing the process of evolution so player and listener become caught up in the rate of development rather than the where the music begins or ends.
This is where the joy of Moths becomes audible as we become aware of the them negotiating the question: "At what moment does an aggregate of sand become a beach?" One musician may move more quickly to this existential tipping point by relying on larger, more audible, changes, while another may add just a small hint of voice or a growing multiphonic to their repetitions over the course of minutes. The result is an ever-shifting mosaic of repeated sounds that challenges the listener's perception: "When did that voice come in?" "At what point did that single pitch become an overblown multiphonic?"
Artist Bios
Nate Wooley (b.1974) was born in Clatskanie, Oregon and began playing trumpet professionally with his father, a big band saxophonist, at the age of thirteen. He made his debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic at the opening series of their 2019 season. Considered one of the leading lights of the American movement to redefine the physical boundaries of the horn, Wooley has been gathering international acclaim for his idiosyncratic trumpet language. Wooley moved to New York in 2001 and has since become one of the most in-demand trumpet players in the burgeoning Brooklyn jazz, improv, noise, and new music scenes. He has performed regularly with John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Éliane Radigue, and Annea Lockwood. Wooley received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award in 2016. He was the recipient of the Instant Award for Improvised Music and the Spencer Glendon First Principles Award in 2020. He is a 2022 NYSCA/NYFA Fellow and is the 2024 composer-in-residence at Mills College in Oakland, California.
Credits
released February 16, 2024
Composed by Nate Wooley
Performed by Laura Cocks (flute), Madison Greenstone (clarinet), and Eric Wubbels (piano, autoharp, and voice)
Recorded October 4, 2022 by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Studios
Produced by Nate Wooley and Jordan Dykstra
Mastered by Al Jones at Laminal Audio
Design and layout by Jordan Dykstra
35mm film stills courtesy of Vito Rowlands, from the film "Ovid, New York"
© fourwordseamusic (BMI)
℗ basilitabonitapublishing (BMI)
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