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Greg
Burk - LA Weekly
Thollem McDonas, a fresh, disciplined avant-pianist
with classical chops and an attractively extreme viewpoint.
Alex
Cline, musician
Thank you once again for your remarkable
set of music. On both the level of ideas
and execution, it was nothing less than astounding.
Read
the featured article by Ryan
McDermott,
Andrea
Ferris
- Italy,
(Solo Piano - 'Nuclear Bomb, Cave
Painting')
(Translated from italian)
Somewhere I've read Mcdonas mixes many different styles and influences
but at the same time he doesn't
remind one of any composer in particular and that's undeniably true. The
american performer is definitely
talented when sitting in front of his piano and that's something you hear
immediately even if your not trained in
the listening of classic or contemporary music, some fast passages as
well as some complicated structures
emphasize the skill of this composer/musician. The more time goes by,
the more I lose my interest in many
soloist performers, but apart from the obvious fact that I'm getting to
be a boring lazy fart, McDonas' work is
really interesting. After several listenings the quality tends to emerge
by itself, it doesn't take so much, it's just
that there are so many classical and "un-classical" (to quote
one of the most interesting series on Subrosa) styles
that at the beginning you're partially disoriented by the big aura of
colours expressed by this performer. God, if
I had to say it all, I've heard fragments of Satie, Feldman, Cage ("piano
works" in particular...obviously), Bartok,
Weill but also Ellington, jazz piano, funny sketches fused with some fragments
of serialism. This is a snapshot of
Mcdonas' ideas during the last five years and this diary is full of contrasting
pages written with irruence
(some moments of "Ancient futures"), quietness ("faithful
skepticism"), somewhere he looks for a communication
("Through confusion comes understanding"), somewhere else just
for isolation ("Mind's found an opening).
As I've said Mcdonas succeeds where many others fail.
Phillip
Greenlief, musician
Every time I've ever heard Thollem's solo music it was bursting with ideas,
all fuelled by a technical brilliance which shines
incredibly bright but somehow never draws attention to itself other than
to be the fountainhead of countless thematic ideas.
I've always found Thollem's sound concept to be consistently his own,
regardless of the format or room he's playing in.
Eduardo Chagas,
- Portugal
(Solo Piano - 'Nuclear Bomb, Cave
Painting')
“To read between the lines
and play outside them,” is the guiding principle of pianist Thollem
McDonas.
In his most recent work for Pax Recordings, it is this motto that provides
the interpretive key to an ecstatic
excursion of 47 minutes, during which we peruse the musical thinking of
this master pianist from the San Francisco
Bay Area. This, his first solo recording, flows from a long line
of experience in a variety of groups, venues
and arrangements, among which is the exceptional duo with drummer Rick
Rivera, a combo that has resulted in
two recent and excellent recordings: I’ll Meet You Halfway Out in
the Middle of It All and Everything is Going Everywhere.
Thollem’s art encompasses various genres and styles without falling
into any in particular. Strongly influenced
by the tradition of classical piano in the past 50 years, the pianist
works meticulously in the depths of the
patrimony common to both composition and improvisation, raising them to
heights not often heard. Not that the
composer/improviser tries to show off a stilted and hyper-technical mannerism
in order to juggle his complete
stylistic repertoire. Rather, the end result is the natural consequence
of being intrinsically eclectic at heart.
His inventiveness is facilitated by his highly developed virtuosity, a
tool that allows him to confer on his
music an extraordinary flexibility and dynamic variability. To
read between the lines and play outside of them….
The album, recorded between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on March 18, 2005, includes
13 original arrangements that
now are solid and vibrant, now fragile and delicate in profile. Piano
Solos is a musical journey in which a parade
of the artist’s vivid experiences of the last 5 years are simultaneously
in balance with the direction in which he
will proceed in the future. As with his prior albums with Rick Rivera,
the themes in Piano Solos promote a
direct and immediate reaction from the listener, creating an on-going
relationship guaranteed to bear the test of time.
Charles
Amirkhanian - November
The
shapes inside the chaos were very pianistic and so well executed. I was
very impressed.
Thanks for the charged performance and hope to hear more. Great job!
Massimo
Ricci,
- Italy
(Solo Piano - 'Nuclear Bomb, Cave Painting')
Maybe the correct definition for Thollem's incredible,
all-genre pianism is "large-scale". In about 46
minutes you can experience a series of tripping flights through the suspensions
and the affirmations
of a technically over-advanced magician whose grip on every cognoscible
aspect of those 88 black and white
keys is as strong as a garrotte on Bela Bartok's neck. The variety in
McDonas' garden of chordal
laboriousness and melodic saltations can't receive justice from my words;
this music's longevity is
directly embossed in a genetic code which bears the stigmates of experience
bleeding with a profane
interest for what's still behind any digital discovery...and quite often
those fingers seem to know
the answer to most of the upcoming interrogatives in good advance. Intimate
and lyrical, overpowering and
broken-boned, these thirteen compositions never tell a lie to our inquiring
minds: Thollem McDonas is for
real and "Solo piano" is yet another sample of his highly entertaining
mastery.
Winthrop
Bedford ,
- US
(Thollem/Rivera - 'Everything's Going Everywhere')
Everything's Going Everywhere is an apropos title
for this album. The music is experimental, it is free. The
exploration of textures, musical motives, phrases, dynamics, can and does
go to unexpected places from
moment to moment. The album is filled with new and changing ideas.
In one moment we might hear explosions of
drum and percussion sounds, in tandem with pianist McDonas' giant sweeping
chords and clusters
spanning the range of the piano. Or we might hear that intensity contracted
into a compact range on the piano.
Both the label name, album name, and song titles on this recording by
Thollem McDonas and Rick Rivera,
communicate the expanse of the musical landscape that these creators make
the effort to traverse. The titles
range from social commentary ( 'Prisons are Neither prevention nor the
cure', and 'Waristerrorterroriswar') to
purely music-related ideas 'Tritones and howls'. Track 14 is called
'Silence' and that is exactly what occurs
for two minutes. While this music is overwhelmingly experimental, and
to some listeners might sound or appear to
be devoid of form or direction, do not be fooled. McDonas is a pianist
with highly developed technical skills at the
piano. His flourishes and runs up and down the keyboard are executed with
crystal clarity. The music may be
thoroughly spontaneous, but it is hardly without sensitive listening and
interaction between this San
Francisco-based pianist McDonas and drummer Rick Rivera. The music on
Everything's Going Everywhere
may not be the album with which you relax on a Friday night after a rough
week at work. Recorded live at The
Kuumbwa Jazz Center in San Francisco (the Executive Producer is listed
as Artist Mind Expansion Fund), this
recording requires focus and concentration, the kind reflective
of that invested by the artists who created this music.
Some of the music made me feel anxious. There were other moments on various
tracks that gave me a
feeling of peace and respite. But, as the title of the CD suggests, it
can move from one mood to an extreme other,
and in a flash. But the intent of the artists, and their abilities, would
hardly suggest these changes
are the results of faults. For listeners expecting mainstream, toe-tapping
straight ahead music,
Thollem and Rivera will provide a jolt to your system. Some might say
that some of this is music in search of
tension-producing scenes in movies or TV shows. Others of us might simply
keep an open mind to the
explorations of sounds and colors and the ample dissonance herein. If
you do that and you focus on listening to
what these two musicians are doing in the moment, you will be able to
appreciate their efforts. Boredom has
been described as not investing oneself completely, and focusing on what
is going on, in the moment. Take that
approach and you won't be bored. There are a lot of ideas, and a lot of
constantly changing sounds to
keep our attention, and make us think, or question!
- St. Louis
McDonas welds elements of jazz, and classical
music into a mighty tower of song, then shatters his construct with
the breathless bull-rush of a mystic improviser. Is this the limitless
jazz of our fathers, or the Cageian
idealism of our mothers? Yes, both, please.
RFK,
- USA
(Solo Piano - 'Nuclear Bomb, Cave
Painting')
What we have here is a collection of
thirteen solo piano pieces, all of an unpredictable and experimental
nature. McDonas is an excellent player with oodles of technique practically
oozing out of his pores --
someone get that man a hanky! -- but he's no stodgy slave to form, as
evidenced not only by his wild piano
runs but in titles like "death is our only deadline," "the
poor are canaries and prophets," and
"living is the strangest thing i've done" (amen to that,
brutah). His playing skills are sufficiently
advanced enough that at times he sounds like he's playing speed metal
on a grand piano, with enough
force that you can just imagine the keys flying in all directions... but
even when he slows down, it's
obvious that his sensibilities lie in the avant-garde and sudden shifts
in direction. It's nice that the
recording is good enough to capture not only the mad rush of keys taking
flight, but also the lingering
reverberation of sustained notes and chords (such as the more important
moments of "death is our only
deadline"). It would be interesting to see him play, to actually
see what he's doing, because it sounds to
me like he's making some bizarre leaps around the keyboard at times; there
are many, many moments when
it sounds like his two hands are working completely independently, with
each hand blazing through totally
different melodic progressions that nevertheless somehow manage to hang
together. At other times it
sounds like his hands are working in tandem to complete progressions that
are dizzying in their
technical complexity. No matter what he's doing, however, he remains firmly
in control of the keyboard,
clearly articulating all the notes even at terminal velocity -- sloppy
he ain't. He is also capable of
truly disorienting pieces like "i know that i think that i feel," where
he manages to play totally
different progressions with each hand moving at wildly different speeds.While
technical virtuosity
is obviously a requirement here, none of it sounds stuffy or forced --
in fact, he frequently sounds like he's
having a lot of fun, especially when he's executing complex runs and progressions
that sound like they
shouldn't even be humanly possible. The sound he gets is highly reminiscent
of the brilliant (and brilliantly
obscure) Thymme Jones album WHILE, although the intent and final
sound of that album is radically different.
The thirteen improvisations here are evidence of a really different approach
to the piano, to say the
least. The cats at Windham Hill would probably cringe in horror at what
he's doing here, but Sun Ra would
have liked this guy. Highly recommended for those interested in hearing
the extremes of possibility when
one man with unusual ideas sits down to beat the hell out of a piano.
Dolf
Mulder,
,
Holland
(Solo Piano - 'Nuclear
Bomb, Cave Painting')
With the release of 'Solo Piano' Thollem
McDonas knocks once more very determined on our door. In a
relatively short period (2004-2005) he recorded and released three CDs.
On the third CD we have
McDonas playing solo on piano. With the release of this third CD an impressive
and creative eruption
seems to come to an end. But I hope (and expect!) another one will take
place sooner or later.
All three CDs are mature crystallization's of a clear compositional vision
and carry a strong
personal stamp. Besides the music is performed with great skill and verve.
The compositions of
McDonas are not over the top experimental, but do have many characteristic
but unexpected moves
and twists that are sometimes beyond my logic. Surprising changes of mood,
style and intensity pass
by. Intimate lyrical passages are followed by extravagant gestures of
more rhythm-based sections or a
cascade of notes, etc. McDonas is not seeking experiment just for the
sake of experiment. No each piece
is like a meditation or a reflection. This is also illustrated by titles
McDonas choose for the compositions,
like 'Death Is Our Only Deadline', 'Gone Beyond Reason To Find One', "Living
Is The Strangest Thing I've
done'. He must be a philosophic natural. As said in earlier reviews McDonas
makes use of a diversity of
musical styles and genres. His sense for experimentation is not of a post-modern
deconstructivistic
kind. But he is seeking constantly for unexpected and undiscovered corners.
This is the case for example in
the opening track "Ancient Futures". During the 5:26 minutes
it takes, it is as if the piece starts a
new from time to time, starting from a different idea, approach or mood.
As if he does not know where to
start or where to go. This has an intriguing effect. On the other hand
you can sense there is an
underlying unity which shows the integrating power of McDonas, compositional
talent.
In the 13 compositions that are on this album McDonas shows many faces,
often with humor and irony
without being superficial. They all breathe the same atmosphere of adventure
and joy and are played by a gifted
musician with a heart. Chapeau!
Outlier,
- California
(Thollem/Rivera - 'Everything's Going
Everywhere')
Adventurous, articulate, precise and lyrical
expression. Thollem is a native Bay Area composer/pianist virtuoso
with shades of Bill Evans, Glenn Gould and Mose Allison. Pieces range
from playful/bouncy to elegant/forceful,
beautiful waltz to meditative fantasia. Unique is not adequate to describe
the rich, priceless tones and clusters
Thollem commands from all 88 with perceptive, percussive accents from
Rivera. This isn’t piano bar music and
Thollem doesn’t want the chump change from your bar tab. Rather,
he wants to induce contemplation of our world
with sounds conveying urgency and incisiveness like political essays transcribed
to music. The sounds
can set your heart racing or cool you out. CLASSICAL JAZZ GENIUS
Eduardo Chagas,
- Portugal
(Thollem/Rivera - 'Everything's
Going Everywhere')
As with his previous I'll Meet You Half Way Out
In The Middle of It All, in this second disk in a series
with Rick Rivera, Everything's Going Everywhere (Edgetone Records), Thollem
dives headlong into fascinating
unforeseen and bold musical adventures that make him one of the most interesting
pianists of the current
improvised music genre. A third CD of piano solos, to be published by
Pax Recordings, is forthcoming.
Thollem composes harmonically dense and complex music, rigorous in its
rhythmic and chromatic variations,
interspersed with sudden pauses, reflective silences, then returning to
its initial liveliness. Nevertheless, the
accentuated dynamic variation balances nicely with a sound extremely fluid
yet accessible. Culturally rich,
the degree to which Thollem's piano irreverently synthesizes contemporary,
jazz, rock, blues and cabaret makes
use of an uncommon vocabulary and expressiveness. New music and new jazz
happily are strongly represented.
This is music of the highest quality played by musicians endowed with
a strong sense of time and space.
The information set forth above may raise the question of why a pianist
of this caliber has not had the opportunity
to be discovered and appreciated by a wider audience. Taking as given
that this problem will become moot in the
future, Edgetone Record's foresight and willingness to take the risk of
producing this type of music must be
recognized. Criteria other than those of the music industry (forcefully…)
are behind this CD of piano and drum,
“in divine concomitance.” Positive energy for the ear, it should
be taken regularly, as an apple a day.
Satisfaction guaranteed.
Dolf
Mulder,
,
Holland
(Thollem/Rivera
- 'Everything's Going Everywhere')
McDonas and Rivera are both musicians from the bay
area. Allthough both are involved in numerous projects, their
names didn't cross the ocean untill very recently. They started an impressive
cd-offensive. Their first one had Thollem
playing piano and singing, and Rivera on drums (see for review: Vital
460). Their new one, "Everything's going Everywhere",
is an instrumental cd just for piano and trap set. A third CD is already
announced through Pax Recordings and will
contain solo recordings by Thollem McDonas. So we are witnessing here
a true outburst of creativity, that hopefully will
put this duo on the map. Like the first cd it is clear that McDonas likes
to integrate a great diversity of musical influences.
Constantly I find myself decoding and guessing, trying to identify the
specific theme, style or whatever. This may suggest
that his music is nothing more than an entertaining puzzle, but that is
far from the truth. I feel it is of much more importance
to let you know that we have an artist here with a strong musical identity
and voice of his own. Using a rich vocabulary
and a great technique McDonas tells the story he wants to tell. I'll take
the risk for sounding pathetic here, but McDonas
is in touch with life and the world we live in. It's the music we need.
Music with great purity. And don't be afraid, McDonas
make his statements with humour and with a wink. In the middle of 'Everything's
Going Everywhere' McDonas knows
where he has his place and the path he wants to follow. And as a dutch
listener I can't help but compare his music with that of piano players/composers
like Guus Jansen and Michel Braam who also use a wide spectrum of idioms
treated with irony and humour.
What I like in McDonas' piano playing is that even in his more serious
and complex compositions, he is able to preserve
a fresh and lively touch, that gives his incredible technique a very human
splendour. A wide range of moods and tempers
pass by. Some of them politically inspired like "War is terror, terror
is war"(with lyrics also on their fist CD) or
"Prisons are Neither prevention nor the cure". The album closes
with three live recorded bonustracks. The first one
"Kuumba free" catches McDonas and Rivera in a live improvisation,
as most other pieces on the cd are composed.
To conclude, again it's a very rich cd these two musicians deliver, not
to be missed by those interested
in new music and new jazz and everybody else. Convincing and delicate
music
Massimo Ricci,
- Italy
(Thollem/Rivera - 'Everything's Going Everywhere')
Picture a strange, good-natured piano freak whose
brain is half forged by 20th century classical music while the remaining
part shakes minimalism, jazz and (preferably silent) movie soundtracks;
add a sensitive drummer, capable of following
lead themes straight into inevitability or sharing more than a few moments
of silence in a marriage of simultaneous surrealisms.
Thollem McDonas and Rick Rivera confirm and reinforce the great impression
they made with their debut CD, thanks to
this series of canon subversions which sound absolutely natural in their
wayside view. Thollem has that rare
gift of soulful equilibrium, which he alternates with digital dexterities
that have few equals on the current scene; there
are a couple of improvisations here where one can't avoid sticking to
the names (Taylor, Kuryokhin, Nancarrow) nevertheless
it's really all McDonas. On his part, Rick's drumming can be elusive at
times - but when the siren of the protagonism calls,
transcendental flipouts and marches funebres mix with fractal Rock inOpposition
scansions and old fashioned blues
patterns in complex mutations of contingencies. Only the last track, "Prisons
are neither preventions nor the cure", features
Thollem's vocals: it's a Batman theme-like progression sung by a John
Cale clone...
Time to get famous for these guys.
Eduardo
Chagas,
-
Portugal
(Thollem/Rivera - 'i'll meet You...')
From the fringes of the various musical genres comes
great music; that is a fact of common experience. It is not less true
that,
when the artists are talented, the results are able to exceed our highest
expectations. Our anticipation that this is true for the
present case is based on two factors. First is the source of the original
product: the San Francisco Bay Area in California, the
land that, through the independent music scene that has flourished on
the West Coast in the last ten to fifteen years, has
brought us a wide variety of musical projects disconnected from the strictures
of large recording companies. The other
reason stems from the fact that this disk uses only piano, voice, and
drums, a combination sufficiently simple and with
past results that have been sufficiently interesting that it provokes
an irrepressible curiosity to know what new
thing Thollem McDonas and Rick Rivera have brought us in "I’ll
Meet You Half Way Out In the Middle of It All,"
which is billed as a combination of World, Pop, Punk and Jazz music. In
truth, that which comes immediately to the
ear is the energy and intensity of rock, as well as the rebel attitude
and sweet/ sour voice of McDonas, who sings
verses woven between a complex mesh improvised from piano and drums, all
of which is minutely precise and
yet remains totally free and unexpected. A very impressive work!
It is not enough to recognize the pressured sense of drama of the songs.
Each one is a small original work
harmonically, melodically and rhythmically minimalist, not in the musicological
sense of the word, but in the sense
of disposing with all that is not essential for a direct and effective
communication with the inner ear. The simple
play between words and music (and it is so difficult to make it simple!)
render all elements in a happy combination:
great class, freshness, inventiveness, and impact. A recording such as
this should have ample publication through
adequate avenues of distribution; the opposite is actually the case. Lamentably,
it will only be known by a small circle
of a few happy devotees, which elect fortunately includes me.
Dolf
Mulder,
,
Holland
(Thollem/Rivera
- 'i'll meet You...')
From time to time a name pops up completely out
of nowhere that grasps you by your throat. That is what
happened to me when I put this cd in the player not knowing what to expect.
This one heavily knocks on your door.
It had an overwhelming effect on me. Coming back to my senses my first
question was who is this Thollem
McDonas? There is not that much information available about him I found
out. He is a composer and pianist from
the San Francisco Bay Area. He performed solo as well in groups over many
years, in many different musical
contexts. That's about it. I'm not sure whether "I'll meet you..."
is his first solo album. If so that's a little late for
such a talent. On the other hand 3 more cd’s are planned in the coming
months. Anyway, "this album is a
representation of some of the many directions I have taken throughout
my life as a composer", Thollem soberly
explains. And this not by accident I suppose, but it’s meant so by
McDonas. So it’s no wonder that this cd
impresses because of the richness of musical ideas. In the 13 songs McDonas
took inspiration from many different
musical styles and idioms (jazz, classical, pop, caribean music, new orleans
style, theatre, etc.). Too many to mention
and often transformed beyond recognition into something very unique and
enjoyable, somewhere "in the middle of it
all" and very much McDonas. So it's absolutely no eclectic potpourri
that wants to impress: hear what I can do!
Not at all, the compositions are very ingenious and come from a very idiosyncratic
composer who has something
to tell. With each song McDonas creates a universe of its own. Here we
have a composer with ideas! Impressive is
also the great playing by Thollem himself on piano and Rick Rivera on
drums. Piano, drums and voice go wonderfull
together. Both musicians are able to generate lots of energy. Happily
they chose for a live recording of the songs
which strengthens this effect. They were recorded in 2004 at AC Studios
in San Francisco. To mention a negative
point, McDonas is not the greatest singer, though it fits perfectly with
the atmosphere of the songs. I can't help
it, but this is really a very original CD by a fresh voice.
Massimo
Ricci,
- Italy
(Thollem/Rivera - 'i'll meet You...')
It is my great pleasure introducing you to a truly
great record, played by a couple of the
finest musicians I've come across in years: Thollem McDonas (piano and
voice) and Rick
Rivera (trap set). These 13 songs contain myriads of influences, all sandwiched
into a
completely personal idiom that Tollem throws around like a Santa Claus
does with gifts to
kids; his piano figurations, highly skilled and rhythmically challenging,
constitute a scintillating
harmonic skeleton to a voice that gathers Adrian Belew and Jim Carrey
in singing pungent,
acute lyrics. Rick's drumming is on the same level: articulated and fantasy-full,
he puts a
twisted spin even on the (just) apparently easier sections. Their interplay
reaches more than a
few snowy highs in this beauty of a CD, where Van Dyke Parks, Kurt Weill,
Captain Beefheart,
Thelonious Monk and Tom Waits are just a few of the many spiritual godfathers
guiding the
hands of this exceptional author. My favourite moments doing my reviewer's
job are like this,
the very instant when you come across a genius and are among the first
ones to realize and
tell the world.
Arrington
deDionyso, Musician
(organizer, Olympia Festival Of Experimental Musics)
(Thollemsolo)
"You've
got to get more exposure in the world. i think you have an underground
classic."
Alisa Clancy,
KCSM
- San Mateo, CA
(Thollemsolo)
"...so I pop the CD into the deck and sit down
to read my e-mail,
40 minutes later I still haven't opened a note, and realize I REALLY
need to go to the john but I can't stop listening... your piano playing
is
to die for!...some of the more creative stuff i've ever heard."
Dick
Metcalf,
- Olympia, WA
(Thollem/Rivera
- 'i'll meet You...')
If you're looking for something truly "fresh"
(not "punk-oid", but brash with
class), you'll enjoy this excursion/incursion by (our friend) Thollem
McDonas
(piano & vocals) & Rick Rivera (trapset). I fell in love with
Thollem's brand of
musical insanity th' first time I listened to him at the OLYMPIA EXPERIMENTAL
MUSIC FESTIVAL. He handed me this CD (along with another, which I'll be
reviewing
later) during this year's fest (in which he gave a splendid performance),
& I was
immediately attracted to it, Because of the drums... & it makes for
a TOTALLY
NEW dimension for McDonas. His vocal antics are a most pleasant experience,
serving (in many ways) as a rhythmic counterpoint to Rivera's drums...
imagine
a sorta' jazzy Jim Croce & apply that "Junkyard Dog" atmosphere
in a form of
classical hip-hop,if your mind is that free. As with (all) other albums
of his we've
reviewed,it is impossible to lump this playing into any pigeonhole...
just when
you think you've got his classical roots identified & you're about
to classify
his as neo-magnon, he jumps orf into some Mississippi mud boogie(track
8)that
would make (either) Jelly Roll OR Doctor John might-ee proud. Absolute
talent
and creative energy unbounded here, but if you're "expecting"
some(particular)
"thang" - move ON! From our odd ears, this gets a MOST HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED,
& the "PICK" of this issue for "most creative piano
& rhythm".
" frightening technique and great
structures, very refreshing."
Damon Smith, Bay Area Musician
(Thollemsolo)
You got the best tone out of that piano i think i have ever heard.
yes, believe what I said,
Julie the sound woman at Kuumbwa said pretty much the same
thing and she has seen everybody on that piano. Your playing is special.
Scott Stobbe,
(Thollem/Rivera
Kuumbwa Jazz Center)
"...each idea is very strong and to the point then
on to the next and the ideas are interesting
which makes it even more engaging. the drums are
fantastic, i never realized how full just piano,
drums and voice could sound. overall, it's an
exciting CD. a lot of variety to it which makes
me want to listen again when it's done.
Justin Krause, Musician
(Thollem/Rivera
- 'i'll meet You...')
"The
sun don't wait is one of the most ingenious musical philosophical hyperdimentional
natural creations I've ever eaten."
John Press, Author
(Thollem/Rivera
- 'i'll meet You...')
it
was a magnificent concert - absolutely blown away by the depth and
expansiveness of your inventiveness and talent. All the pieces fit seamlessly
together -
like editing a book of poems - where the whole is as wonderful as the
parts..
- Bay Area Artist
(Thollemsolo)
"In 25 minutes Thollem summed up the entire 20th century of piano
music."
Matt Ingalls, Bay Area Musician
(Thollemsolo,
Jazz House, oakland)
"Arrington (reeds) and thollem. piano is nicely flexible, intense
at the same time, makes for a
great diversion, assuredly SMOKIN' ...Arrington goes off into some TUVA
talkin' into the
bell of the horn & they W-O-W the audience... a simply brilliant improv
duo, total spontaneity
& a real "grabber" for audience ears!"
Dick Metcalf, Music Critic, Musician
(Olympia
Festival Of Experimental Musics)
"Intensity and passion!"
-Rudy Furlan, Los Boleros
On
April 29 of 2003 I had the privilege of attending a concert by pianist
and composer
Thollem McDonas. McDonas performed a series of original compositions,
introducing each
composition with an informal explanation about the origin and aim of the
piece. These
introductions added to the interest and enjoyment of the pieces for me.
I should probably
preface more abstract observations by stating immediately that I was struck
by the skill of
McDonas as a pianist. Many passages were quite complex--involving, for
example, a
concurrence of different scales and times between the hands. In addition,
the pieces were
played with physical energy and undisguised emotion. Yet each piece was
played with
precision. I never detected the type of subtle flaw in performance that
saps a passage of its
hold upon the ears. It is well that McDonas is in possession of such prowess
for his
compositions follow challenging aspirations. For example, on one level,
many of McDonas’
pieces aspire to a pure mathematical explorations of premises—an
unfolding and refolding
of a single premise, or frequently of a juxtaposition of premises. Such
compositions must
be free to move where the premise will move; such compositions would fail
if the mind
were to falter in sympathy to the fingers, but McDonas requires that his
skill keep
pace with the impulse of his exploration. Yet the deeper challenge of
such exploration is
not that the mind will falter at the challenges of performance, but that
the mind will
falter at itself, or shy from leaving places of comfort. On this front,
McDonas composes a
significant number of his pieces at least partly to force his mind into
unfamiliar areas, thus
compelling his music to grow. These considerations might suggest why my
experience of
the concert was dominated by two impressions— creativity and courage.
Yet I do not think
that these considerations alone were the reason that I felt I was hearing
music of creativity
and courage. It is here that McDonas shows the greatest of his promise.
He will not subsume
his compositions to any challenge of the mind, yet he will yield his music
to his heart.
When these moments come they are the more precious by the rigours from
which they
emerge, as are movements of the heart that are made with the intellectual
eyes opened.
At these moments during the evening, McDonas’ music touched the sublime.
I carried away
from the evening the sense that McDonas is still journeying toward his
potential. For example,
I will contrast two pieces McDonas performed during the concert. One was
an exploration in
the expansion and then decay of a motif. The piece was delightful. As
the notes dropped out
one by one, the mind sprang alive to the creation of the absences. During
another piece,
the pleasure was more complex, consisting of more mixtures of tension
and resolution, of
cacophony and melody, and of intellect and emotion. Somewhere in that
passage the music
attained a level of beauty that moved me.Now I see McDonas on some future
April night.
An idea of more even more profound beauty is growing in him as he bends
over keys or paper.
A moment comes during composition that asks for …I do not know for
what it will ask,
because it will not have been asked before. But I think that when the
music asks, it will be
the palimpsests of myriad compositions such as the first that will allow
McDonas to reply.
And it is because I have heard compositions such as the second that I
want to hear the reply.
-Tim Wolf, Author
(Thollemsolo)
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