Arts & Life The Clarion \ January 26, 2007
Bar 17: No bar none—Acceptable.
by Zack Harding
Arts & Life Editor
Bar 17
Trey Anastasio
Rubber Jungle Records, 2006
jcjcjcit
I picked up Trey Anastasio’s
new album Bar 17, and after a
somewhat mediocre first impres
sion, it keeps getting better with
each hsten.
Though Anastasio is known for
his work in the band Phish, which
emphasized lengthy instrumental
improvisations, he is capable of
writing well-orchestrated studio
material also. Bar 17 does have a
couple of tracks that stretch past
the six minute mark into j am band
territory, such as the excellent and
beautiful title track, but for the
most part the album is simply a
collection of well written and oc
casionally experimental songs.
The core of Bar 17 revolves
around lightly played mid tempo
jazz-rock pieces with a couple of
more rocking tunes. The two rock
oriented tracks, “Dragonfly” and
“Mud City” sound like they could
have come out of the 70’s, the lat
ter sounding a bit like an Allman
Brothers blues tune.
The other tracks sound pretty
similar to Vhiih's, Farmhouse disc
with Anastasio’s high vocals be
ing sung softly over passive chord
progressions. There is a little bit
of experimentation vocally, espe
cially on “Shadow,” which fea
tures layers of different vocals
weaving in and out of each other;
one female vocal on the track
sounds very much like Fiona
Apple, though it isn’t.
Speaking of guest appearances.
Bar i 7 is full of them. There are
over forty different musicians who
appear on the album, which was
recorded and written over a pro
cess of several years. The drums,
bass and other accompanying in
struments have a much different
feel on almost every song on the
album. Jon Fishman and Mike
Gordon from Phish also make an
appearance on the album, no doubt
pleasing Phish “phans.”
One of the more surprising
tracks is the closer, “Cincinnati,”
which has a lengthy swing style
horn, arranged by Anastasio, that
works very well into the song.
Some Critics have claimed that
Bar 17 has a lack of cohesion
throughout, which pretty much
true, but it is still a collection of
good songs with a few really great
ones. If there is any real problem
with the album it is that, for the
most part, there is not much new
ground made by Anastasio; a lot
of it sounds like Phish. But you
know that’s not such a bad thing.
I give Bar 17 a healthy 4 out of 5
stars.
Porter Center for Performing Arts
UPCOMING EVENTS
Christopher Harding, piano & Steven Boe, violin
Sunday, January 28/3 p.m. / $20
A prodigal son returns as Harding, who spent five years on
the Brevard College faculty as professor of piano, is joined
by violinist Boe for an afternoon of violin sonatas of Brahms.
Both players are well-seasoned performers and
prizewinners, and both are on faculty at the University
Natalie MacMaster, celtic
Thursday, February 8/7:30 p.m. / $25
Cape-Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster is the most dynamic
performer in Celtic music today(Boston Herald).
The Brevard Philharmonic
Sunday, February 11 /$15
Vance Reese, organ soloist, and A. Scott Wood, guest
conductor, perform Camille Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3
(Organ Symphony).
BC THEATRE: Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy
February 15-17/ 7:30 p. m.
A hilarious comedy about the ups and downs of life.
Peter Schickele / PD.Q. Bach
Friday, February 23 / 7:30 p.m. / $40
A co-presentation of Brevard College & The Brevard Music
Center
http://www.brevard.edu/portercenter/artist_series.htm
Murray recital excellent
start to year
by Megan Murph
Contributor
On Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Dr. Bruce Murray, piano profes
sor of the music department, gave
a Faculty Recital at the Porter
Center for Performing Arts.
His concert consisted of three
large works by Beethoven, Liszt,
and Brahms. The program began
with Beethoven’s famous
“Farwell” Sonata in E flat Op. 81a
(“Lebewohl”). When this Ger
manic piece was written, Napo
leon Bonaparte led a French at
tack on Vienna, which forced one
of Beethoven’s great patrons.
Archduke Rudolph to leave the
city. This sonata is a reflection of
what was going on during that time.
The three movements of the so
nata are entitled: (1) “The Fare
well”, (2) “The Absence”, and (3)
“The Return”. In 1811, an added
dedication was read in its first
publication: “On the departure of
his Imperial Highness, for the
Archduke Rudolph in admiration”.
Murray showed great control in
the phrasing of this solemn sonata.
Next, Murray brought out beau
tiful melodies in Liszt’s Benedic
tion de Die dans la solitude (The
Blessing of God in Solitude) from
Harmonies Poetiques at
Religieuses (Poetic and Religious
Harmonies). This work, in its en
tirety, was composed in 1847.
Benediction is the third and one of
the longest of the 10 movement
cycle.
After intermission, the concert
ended with young Brahmn’s So
nata in F minor. Op. 5. This five
movement sonata was composed
in 1853. Murray performed this
sonata with great technique and
enhanced the character of each
movement, which was a fine way
to conclude the performance.
The recital proved to be an ex
cellent way to start off the new
year. The audience seemed to en
joy Murray’s recital and sup
ported the BC Music
Department’s choice of represen
tation.