Reviews/Responses

Excerpts from profile in March 2011 Signal To Noise by Tom Djll:
McDonas took the audience for such an exhilarating ride, leaving us gasping to keep up. It had been some time since I’d heard piano playing so nonstop intense that wasn’t done by a dude named Cecil Taylor. Thollem’s hands were like ten pounding steam-pistons, his urgent ostinati and wildly careening rouládes ringing out clearly, starkly; brilliant, bursting pearls in the astonished air.

...takes the taut, swirling trills of de Falla and flaming chords of Scriabin and multiplies them into a supercollider centrifuge of innumerable disasters, a churning black caldera bespattered with beautiful madness. It seems beyond the capacity of one human being to contain so much densely-packed creative energy — putting aside for the moment the perplexing question of how Thollem manages to put out all that donner und blitzen on the keyboard without smashing himself and/or the instrument to bits. Oh — and it’s all improvised.

On Thollem’s numerous recordings (he’s published at least twenty since 2005) one hears in the pianist an urge to create, and then stay in, hugely resonant spaces. His sound ecosystem is wet, like a rain forest dripping with life and death: shadowed in darkness but nourished by hot sunlight, teeming with crouching predators and bright birds exploding from the trees, their raucous bellows resonating and echoing through hollow canyons and caverns choked with chordal undergrowth. It’s a crowded place.

"Thollem has that rare gift of soulful equilibrium, which he alternates with digital dexterities that have few equals on the
current scene. 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."
- Massimo Ricci, TouchingExtremes (Italy)

Thollem McDonas does what few can: He combines extreme imagination with terrific post-classical chops
and an ability to communicate through melody a fresh, disciplined avant-pianist with an attractively extreme viewpoint."
- Greg Burk - LA Weekly (U.S.)

"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...the result is the natural consequence
of being intrinsically eclectic at heart. "
- Eduardo Chagas, TomaJazz (Portugal)

"With each piece McDonas creates a universe of its own...very original... a fresh voice"
- Dolf Mulder, VitalWeekly (Holland)

"McDonas welds elements of jazz, blues and classical music into a mighty tower of song, then shatters his
construct with the breathless bull-rush of a mystic improviser."
- The River Front Times (St. Louis)

"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."
- Winthrop Bedford, Jazz Improv Magazine (U.S.)

"McDonas' piano are Defalla (driving rhythms and Iberian modes), Schoenberg (unresolved dissonances a mile high),
the collapsing/expanding tempi of Nancarrow, and splatterings of Cecil Taylor..."
- Tom Djll, Signal to Noise (U.S.)

"Thollem McDonas is simply one of the great improvisers of today".
- The Detroiter (U.S.)

Thank you once again for your remarkable set of music. On both the level of ideas and
execution, it was nothing less than astounding."
- Alex Cline

"Very powerful"
- Nels Cline

"The strongest pianist I've ever seen."
- Ladonna Smith

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!
- Charles Amirkhanian, OtherMinds (S.F.)

"In 25 minutes Thollem summed up the entire 20th century of piano music."
-Matt Ingalls, (Oakland)

That this is a meeting of virtuosos is quite evident, as both Thollem Mcdonas and Stefano Scodanibbio need no introduction to affirm that their reputation of master improvisers is totally deserved. A mix of restraint, lucidity, sudden bursts of fervour and scents of earlier eras defines the duo, making us forget about the merely technical aspects of this union. Play the CD one, two, ten times, and each experience is going to be revealing for a series of reasons. First of all the type of recording, which does not exactly focus on the minute details, privileging instead a sort of “omnipresence of the natural reverberation” which attributes an absolutely magic aura to the interplay. Scodanibbio’s nonconformist, and yet so “classic” incursions in the mechanisms and most internal responses of the double bass is still an awesome listen, and an essential object of observation for students. His ever-alert, albeit serene arco sapience rides through Mcdonas’ implausibly elegiac legerdemain, light touches and unlocked cascades of chords and notes at the basis of an improvisational system which was “devised for the occasion” by the pianist. Add the special flavour given by the utilization of an instrument once played by Claude Debussy (now preserved in Brive-La-Gaillarde, France), and what you’ve got is a record that starts as nearly impenetrable but slowly grows to expose a work of art, a case in which the spirit of the music prevails on anything else: when the first seconds of the heartrending “Dreaming Of Dreaming” materialize, everything connects.
Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

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 fueled 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 jazz e arredores- 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

Massimo Ricci, TouchingExtremes - 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, JazzImprov - 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!

River Front Times- 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.- 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, VitalWeekly - 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, KFJC - 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, jazz e arredores - 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, VitalWeekly - 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 likeGuus 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, TouchingExtremes - 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, jazz e arredores - 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, VitalWeekly - 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, TouchingExtremes - 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.

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, Rotcod Zzaj - 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, Zdrastvootie
(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..
Miles Stryker - Bay Area Artist
(Thollemsolo)

"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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