thollem/rivera
Everything's
Going Everywhere - bombs, bones, birds
piano/drums
ModernClassicalWorldPunkJazz
Available
on:
Edgetone
Records
PrisonsAreNeitherThe
PreventionNorTheCure
thollem/rivera
plays both fully composed pieces and organized improvisations, absorbing
ideas
from many different sources and mixing them up until they often no longer
resemble their original state.
This music is of the world, a result of, and as interaction in it. Nuclear
bombs, modern classical music, free
jazz, cave paintings, gamelan and West-African drumming ensembles, flowers,
weather patterns, Chinese
and Hindustani music, cracks, lies, enzymes, punk, wind, traffic, whispers,
chants, and chance, among infinite
others, all play some kind of a role in the develpment of this music.
Each piece is derived from its own unique
set of principles, partially with the goal of making every piece distinct
in both concept and character. Sometimes
this music is fast and intricate, other times it is expansive allowing
the complete decay of sounds. It is heavily
rehearsed
and spontaneous acoustic music. Utilizing only piano, percussion, and
sometimes voice, you will
still hear a tremendous amount of variety, an incorporation of an eclectic
grouping of sounds and ideas.
-thollem
Winthrop
Bedford ,
JazzImprov
- US, July 2005
(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!
Outlier,
KFJC
- California, april 2005
(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, april 2005
(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, feb., 2005
(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,
TouchingExtremes
- Italy, March2005
(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.