2013-01-28 - 4:20 p.m.
A new video from Didier using a GI-IC pieces Another video from Didier using a GI-IC piece Some new pieces have found their way onto the Widget - they are Turbine, Chunky Kyle, Ladysmoker and Broadly Each of Two Ways. Today a CD of Katherina Wolpe playing her father, Stefan's, piano music arrived. Digging around led to some excellent material about SW's involvement with jazz musicians in NYC in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The big names that he taught are Gil Evans and Eric Dolphy. He knew Charlie Parker and towards the end of his life Bird said that he wanted to study with SW. Gerry Mulligan's pianoless 4tet of 1950s was both influenced by SW and also prompted him to write a saxophone 4tet. There is also some interesting material about SW's involvement in the Black Mountain College liberal arts experimental college where he was on the faculty at the time that Cage and Cunningham organised the first happening. Apparently SW had organised something similar at the Bauhaus in the 1920s. He didn't agree with Cage's approach to using the time dimension in music and they would often debate the point. There is a direct connection to Jimmy Guiffre as well. Another close contact was David Tudor who played Cage's Music of Changes.
Another video from Didier using a GI-IC piece