¤ milky moon ¤

Yes, Ms.Wanbli, every good Narwhal knows that. And, it is another reason why I shouldn't be a Narwhal. Jordan! Oh, Jordan! Can you please let in a ray of light from the sun, and then do something about my status as a Narwhal? Maybe I should be a "plot of land", or a "paving company". I know! I know! I want to be a "diver"!

Ummm... That was weird.

By the way, did anyone happen to get a recording of the song that Glass and Fain played right before "Diver"? Or any of the other songs besides her solo songs?

I found this non-professional review, from a user called bmack, dated 25-06-2012 (11:18 PM) on the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Message Board > Non-Coachella Discussion > Music Lounge > Joanna Newsom Appreciation Thread [https://www.coachella.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-35197-p-3.html], and felt it ought to be collected here.

Joanna Newsom and Philip Glass with Tim Fain (violin).

Tonight Geezr, Pot, Wmgaretjax, Dorkfish and I saw Joanna Newsom and Philip Glass with Tim Fain. It was a benefit show for the Henry Miller library in Big Sur. They billed it as a collaborative night, and that was largely true. They started with a song from The Screens by Philip Glass, with all three of them playing. It was a bit too forward for Joanna's harp to really differentiate from Philip's piano. After that, Glass announced that Joanna and Tim would be doing Sadie. It was the first time I ever heard her perform it live, and it was my favorite thing of the whole night. Her newer, more focused vocals really lent power to the lyrics, and Tim Fain wrote a stunning fiddle melody to play over it. I was in tears, and that alone was worth the whole price of admission. After that, Glass did a solo song and then they all collaborated on another song from the Screens, which was much more successful. I may be missing a song here, but I know Joanna did Sawdust and Diamonds on her own. That was the first time she performed it in California since 2007, and it was amazing. That song really showcases her performing skills, as she completely powered through the knotty instrumental parts and nailed the vocals. Stunning. Again, maybe missing something, but the next thing I recall is Joanna and Tim doing another song from The Screens, which Glass introduced by saying, "This was intended to be a trio, but when I heard Joanna and Tim play it, there was no need for anyone else." He was right, as they were completely locked in. Glass came out on his own, and told a story about how he and Allen Ginsburg had collaborated once, with Glass writing music to all of Ginsburg's poems in one manic session. Wichita Vortex Sutra #3 was one that he really enjoyed, and they performed it live quite a bit. When Ginsburg couldn't show, Glass would play a recording of him reading it. After Ginsburg died, Glass didn't play it for a long time, but he slowly returned to it with Patti Smith reading the poem, until he realized that he had the tape. He performed the song, and it was a really fun pairing of two different media. Fain and Glass then did a take on a song called Pendulum, and Fain again showed how incredibly talented he was with his instrument, blasting out so many notes that it seemed inhuman. Joanna's response was "Wow! pendulum..." and then she played the new one. We all agreed it's probably something along the lines of Diver's Tale, as she frequently references a diver. Drew and I both agreed that her harp playing was even more nuanced and dense than on prior tracks, and the lyrics went the same way. It wasn't a return to Ys style writing, but neither was it a continuation of Have One on Me: there were parts when the rhythm seemed to be the center of the song, rather than the melody. I can't wait to hear it recorded.

They did an encore where each played a solo track. Glass did one of my favorite of his works, Closing from Glassworks. Tim Fain then did a solo from Glass' classic opera, Einstein on the Beach, which was a close contender for song of the night. At times he would be doing arpeggiated fills on the high strings while beating out a dense rhythm on the low bass string. As Joanna put it, "I've seen him play that four times, and it's still amazing." She played On a Good Day. It was the first time she'd ever done it in California, and it was even more beautiful than on the album. She inserted a little melodic solo before the third verse, something I'd never seen her do before.

Overall, it was a fantastic night.

Setlist (from what I can recall)

? (A Philip Glass song from The Screens)- Joanna, Philip, Tim
Sadie - Joanna, Tim
? (I think it was the cadenza from the Canyon, but I can't recall) - Philip
The Orchard - Joanna, Philip, Tim
Sawdust and Diamonds - Joanna
The French Lieutenant's Dream- Joanna, Tim
Wichita Vortex Sutra #3 - Philip, Allen Ginsberg
Pendulum - Philip, Tim
Divers - Joanna

Closing (from Glassworks) - Philip Glass
Solo (from Einstein On the Beach) - Tim Fain
On a Good Day - Joanna Newsom

And here's the SF Weekly review, linked by Wanbli back at the time, ending with a more authoritative setlist than the one above...

Live Review, 6/25/12: Philip Glass, Joanna Newsom, and Tim Fain Team Up for the Henry Miller Library at the Warfield Posted By Ian S. Port on Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 8:52 A; [pictures by Christopher Victorio - not reproduced here]

Joanna Newsom and Tim Fain at the Warfield.
Philip Glass, Joanna Newsom, and Tim Fain

Benefit for the Henry Miller Memorial Library

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Warfield

Better than: Your last experience at a concert with assigned seats and a program.

"I don't want to embarrass Mr. Glass, but I think this is the happiest day of my mom's life," said Joanna Newsom last night, giggling from behind her towering harp. It was somewhat unusual territory for the acclaimed San Francisco singer-songwriter, whose records are puzzled over and adored in the indie world. But Newsom appeared comfortable and more than capable sharing a stage with Phillip Glass, one of the world's most famous living composers, and his young violinist friend, Tim Fain, in what was a stunning benefit for the Henry Miller Memorial Library. (The library, an outpost of high culture amid the foggy ridges of Big Sur, will soon be forced to close if it doesn't raise enough money to make federally required building improvements.)

With no program announced beforehand, and no information on what would be played in the paper program given to the audience, each performance was a surprise. The only hints about the music for the evening where those Glass dropped in interviews last week. As it turned out, the musicians alternated performances, with everyone performing solo and in every combination possible.

Newsom's solo performances were the only parts of the program that wouldn't be considered classical music, although calling them pop doesn't quite seem accurate, either. Even given the clear country influences in "Sadie," for instance, Newsom's performance felt more like art music on last night's stage. She played a sped-up version, with Fain adding fiddle-esque exclamations on his violin, soaring into the upper registers with plenty of Appalachian swing. Perhaps it was the formal setting -- seats on the floor of the Warfield, an older, richer crowd, etc. -- but "Sawdust and Diamonds" also felt like more of a "piece" than a "song," a long tale set to music, rendered with the unflappable rasp of Newsom's mighty mite of a voice.

Glass' performances were haunting and powerful, of course, from the solo piano of "Metamorphosis Two" to his jaw-dropping collaboration with Fain on "Pendulum for Violin and Piano," a piece written in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the ACLU. Rather than minimalism, the works Glass performed last night demonstrated his ability to evoke motion with music. Maybe I've seen Koyaanisqatsi too many times, but Glass' repeating musical phrases, speeding up and slowing down, rising and falling in volume, seem like the fluttering motions of a heart valve, or the hi-rev precision of a hummingbird flapping its wings. His pieces seem to have a working mechanism at their core, one that Glass sometimes showed in plain view -- as on solo works like "France" -- and sometimes obscured under, say, bright flashes from Newsom's harp, or long, moaning phrases from Fain's violin.

Fain got some of the show-stopping moments of his own, with his evocative playing on "Pendulum" and a thrilling performance of the ultrafast violin solo from Glass' opera Einstein on the Beach. (You should just watch that and have your mind blown.)

Oddly, though, one of the highlights of the night came from someone who wasn't even onstage: Glass performed "Wichita Vortex Sutra," the spare, dramatic music he wrote to accompany Allen Ginsberg's anti-war poem of the same name, and played along with a recording of Ginsberg reading it. Written in about an hour as Ginsberg streaked across the plains in a car, the poem is an ecstatic, optimistic work about the effects of war on the psyche of a nation. "Let Congress legislate its own delight!" Ginsberg's voice exclaimed in warm, welcoming tones, prematurely declaring the Vietnam War over. Glass here truly felt like the accompanist, his deep, oceanic chords getting a bit lost under Ginsberg's excitement.

Glass introduced the piece by explaining that after Ginsberg's death in 1997, he had trouble performing it, as it reminded him his poet friend was no longer alive. The work fit perfectly in last night's program, though, emphasizing Glass' connection to the line of American literary dream-chasers whose legacies and loves -- Henry Miller announced Big Sur as actual paradise upon discovering it, then quickly moved there -- this concert aimed to preserve.

Critic's Notebook

When the lights go out: There were men asleep in my row before the music even got started. Pretty sure they woke up when Joanna Newsom walked out onstage, though.

Program

1. "France" (Glass, Newsom, Fain; from Glass' The Screens)

2. "Sadie" (Newsom and Fine; from Newsom's The Milk-Eyed Mender)

3. "Metamorphosis Two" (written and performed by Glass)

4. "The Orchard" (Glass, Newsom, Fain; from Glass' The Screens)

5. Partita for Solo Violin, Movement 1 (Fain; written by Glass for the soloist)

6. "Sawdust and Diamonds," (written and performed by Newsom)

7. "The French Lieutenant Dreams" (Newsom and Fain; from Glass' The Screens)

8. "Wichita Vortex Sutra" (words and recorded voice by Allen Ginsberg, music by Glass)

9. "Pendulum for Violin and Piano" (Glass and Fain; written by Glass)

10. "Diver[s]," a new, unreleased Joanna Newsom song, in its live debut

Encores:

1. "Closing," (from Glass' Glassworks)

2. Violin solo from Einstein on the Beach (Fain, written by Glass)

3. "On a Good Day" (written and performed by Joanna Newsom)

See also:

* Q&A: Philip Glass on Collaboration, Minimalism, and His Henry Miller Library Benefit Show with Joanna Newsom - located at http://archives.sfweekly.com/shookdown/ ... nna-newsom

I repeat the text of that article below ...

Q&A: Philip Glass on Collaboration, Minimalism, and His Henry Miller Library Benefit Show with Joanna Newsom

Thanks for dredging that one up, Steve. It must have been a pretty cool time for JN.