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| Title |
Composer(s) |
Performer(s) |
Length |
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| William James' Introduction |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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7:06 |
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| Consciousness of a Presence |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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9:45 |
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| Everything Else Might be a Dream |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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5:45 |
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| The Less Real of the Two |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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13:02 |
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| Closer to Me than My Own Breath |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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6:34 |
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| William James' Genuine Perception of Truth |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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5:12 |
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| Tolstoy |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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12:42 |
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| William James' Conclusion |
Gene Pritsker
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Sound Liberation
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4:15 |
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Sound Liberation is an eclectic hip-hop/chamber/jazz/rock/etc. ensemble committed to "ending the segregation of sound vibration." Their latest album continues the long tradition of composers creating suites out of their operas (in this case Pritsker's "William James: Varieties of Religious Experience," hence the "VRE Suite"). Scored for a quintet version of Sound Liberation: cello, two electric guitars, contrabass and drum set, this album is instrumentally focused, in contrast to their previous albums that included various singers and rappers, and the music is influenced by jazz, contemporary classical music, improvisation, minimalism, hip-hop, and African rhythms.
Composer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred seventy compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. His compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. Gene's music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, and Brooklyn and Berlin philharmonics. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul (orchestrating a full album of his music for The Absolute Ensemble on Intuition Records) and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies.
The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as "dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre". Organizations he is associated with include Composers' Concordance, Absolute Ensemble, and The International Street Cannibals.
Performed by Sound Liberation:
Gene Pritsker and Greg Baker, guitars
David Gotay, cello
Mat Fieldes, bass
Joe Abba, drums
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Wildy's World
Sound Liberation create a recording as alive as creation itself... You can't help but be intrigued by such an ambitious and original cycle of songs... Sound Liberation always keeps things new and interesting.
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The New Yorker
Pritsker, a rule-breaking composer-guitarist (and rapper) who impresses funk and rock beats onto classical structures, fronts this eclectic jazz-type combo of singers and instrumentalists.
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Jazzethic Magazine
The freedom of sounds, as the name suggests, is truly implemented in a masterful way.
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by Thorsten Bendnarz
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Root Down FM
Gene Pritsker's aptly named Sound Liberation are afraid of nothing, mixing rhythm and genre to the point where the listener simply gives up on labels and enjoys the ride! The quintet of guitars, cello, bass and drums generate a truly unique sound with plenty of group and solo improvisation building on Pritsker's strong compositions - comparisons with Sonny Sharrock are apt, but don't tell the whole story - grab this indie gem now!
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AllAboutJazz
“...Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change, and evidence of this is found in the Varieties of Religious Experiences Suite ... Of the three hundred or so compositions by Pritsker, Varieties of Religious Experience Suite may be his most groundbreaking yet. The penultimate, "Tolstoy" sequence captures Pritsker's own sense of the empiricism of the plurality of music (although this echoes throughout the suite), where musical idioms—whether melodic, harmonic or rhythmic—mix into a melange as heady as peyote. Only this time, the memory of the music lingers long after the last note strikes the inner ear."
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by Raul d'Gama Rose
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Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog
"Gene Pritsker's music is much more than the sum of the elements involved ... No matter what camp you may be a part of, this recording will stretch the boundaries of what you expect. Most importantly Pritsker does it all with an assurance and lucidity that make a case for why such hybrids can provide exciting, absorbing listening."
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by Grego Applegate
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