PITCH BLACK

Music for Saxophones by Jacob TV

Innova 693

Pitch Black for saxophone quartet and ghettoblaster (1998): 11.16

PRISM Quartet: Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone; Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone;

Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone; Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone

Billie for alto saxophone and ghettoblaster (2003): 11.08

Taimur Sullivan, alto saxophone

Postnuclear Winterscenario No.10 for saxophone quartet (1991/2001): 11.42

PRISM Quartet: Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone; Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone;

Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone; Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone

Grab It! for tenor saxophone and ghettoblaster (1999): 9.44

Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone

The Garden Of Love for soprano saxophone and ghettoblaster (2003): 7.14

Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone

Jesus Is Coming for saxophone quartet and ghettoblaster (2003): 9.21

PRISM Quartet: Timothy McAllister, soprano saxophone; Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone;

Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone; Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone

TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 60.44

PITCH BLACK, for saxophone quartet and ghettoblaster,

was written for the Aurelia Quartet. The

ghettoblaster reproduces the voice of trumpet

player Chet Baker from one of his last interviews

before his tragic death in 1988, when he fell from

a hotel room window in Amsterdam. Baker talks

about his past as a drug addict, his life in prison

(“It was pitch black in there, you know.”), his first

audition with Charlie Parker (“… among 40 other

trumpet players—or were there 60?”), and playing

without drums (“… more cool… ”). These spoken

“melodies” form the musical themes in Pitch Black,

an ode to a great musician.

Yeah I was locked up in ‘62

It was pitch black in there you know

And you couldn’t see anything

comin’ out of the sunlight

My eyes got used to the darkness

I looked around

and then I saw… oh I saw…

forty trumpet players!

in there!

Yeah no no

All the trumpet players in LA you know

I saw Dizzy & Miles & Oh I guess

Lee Morgan and all those guys you know

40, 40 trumpet players

No no I mean 60!

I managed to survive

and really that’s a…

Yeah I was locked up

It was pitch black in there you know

People are… Hhh but

I got through it

I have the feeling here that uuh

‘s much more freedom

Uuhh

People are not so uptight

about petty things

A permanent 24 hour party going on all year

Without drums

And really without drums

I would call that more cool, without drums

Well that was it!

BILLIE, for alto saxophone and ghettoblaster, was

commissioned by and is dedicated to American

saxophonist Connie Frigo with support from the

Netherland-America Foundation. The soundtrack

features recordings of Billie Holiday’s voice from

several interviews during her life.

I was scared to death

at that time you know

I’m always scared—You are?

I was in the wings haha

and I couldn’t control my knees

I’m always scared—You are?

Well, you can call it that…

I uh waited until the last minute

and said I wasn’t gonna go on…

I had every chance I got and still gettin’…

dare to sing!?—I’m always scared

but anyway, I went back and I did 16 songs

and I like to do a little tune

they make me cry, they make me happy

I walked out you know and then

bend this note bend that note—boot

two kinds of blues:

there’s happy blues and there’s sad blues

I’ve been very happy, been very happy

the blues to me is like being very sad, very sick,

going to the church.

they was talkin’ jazz, hihi, at that time you

know—cook!

dare to sing—I’m always scared

they was talkin’ jazz, hihi, at that time you know

bend this note bend that note—boot

dare to sing, dare to sing hahaha, when I got

through it

can you sing and I said sure I sing all the time

I always knew I could sing ‘cause I always did sing,

but uh

so I sang, and everybody loved me and

I made about a 40 dollars in tips and I got the job!

they made me cry, they made me happy

blues, again blues, again blues

a little, a little a little too much

so I walk so I talk

and my voice is too loud when I’m out in the crowd

so that people are apt to stare

I can’t hear the band at all! uh h h

know know know do they know—do they care?

that it’s only that I’m lonely and low as can be

and the tunes are not always the best—I request

and my voice is too loud—I can’t hear the band

at all!

but what else can you do, at the end of a love

affair ?

so I smoke and I joke uh hh a litt—a litt—a little

too much

and I laugh, and the smile on my face isn’t really a

smile at all!

and the smile on my face, on my face

face face face—adadadada—for the trees

face face face—for the sun into the rock

and now a little tune specially written for me:

strange fruit, strange fruit

I never had brothers or sisters, cousins or uncles—

all I had was my mom

my mom and I had a pretty rough time when we

were in Baltimore

all we had was one preacher, he used to come every

Sunday.

to an an to an an c no t no t no s no t

Jesus Christ no! like Jesus no!

like no Jesus cook like no some cook like no Jesus

cook

Jesus Christ, they want me out of Chicago or uh

Foxton, he said

Oh man it took me 10 years!

And I said: I can’t go out there, there’s too many

people…

POSTNUCLEAR WINTERSCENARIO No.10 was written

on January 23, 1991, shortly after the first Gulf

War broke out. During those days, I felt speechless

and unable to compose. In the media, meteorologists

predicted apocalyptical consequences for

the climate and the environment, similar to

the effects of a nuclear war. They referred to a

“postnuclear winterscenario.” I decided to express

my speechlessness in music. In only a few hours

time I had written Postnuclear Winterscenario No.1

for solo piano. It is probably the simplest music I

ever wrote. All musical material was reduced to a

minimum. The melody consists of one single note,

an E, which is repeated endlessly. The harmonic

accompaniment consists of only four different notes:

B, A, G, F#. There are no real rhythmical, melodical,

or harmonical developments in Postnuclear

Winterscenario. The main means of expression are

in the repetition and the delivery. Kees Wieringa

performed No. 1 in numerous performances around

the world, including in Iraq, on the ruins of

Babylon. Musicians later asked me to arrange

other ‘scenarios’ based on the first one, so I wrote

variations for string quartet, choir, percussion, one

and two electric guitars, saxophone quartet, and,

finally, in 2005, for symphony orchestra. Each

scenario is different, but they all have the same

theme in common: speechlessness about war and

devastation.

GRAB IT!, for tenor saxophone and ghettoblaster,

was composed for Arno Bornkamp. In my view,

the saxophone has had a major effect on recent

American music history. Growing up in the 60s

with blues, jazz, and rock, American music had a

strong impact on me. In Grab It! I tried to explore

the no-man’s-land between language and music.

I believe that language is one of the origins of

music. The more emotional the spoken word, the

more it starts “singing” and becomes “music.” In

writing this piece, I became interested in how the

roots of some African-American music can be found

in English as it is spoken in America. I selected

voice samples from an old American documentary

about juvenile delinquency, called Scared Straight,

in which men sentenced to life in prison play an

important role. Their world, on the fringe of society,

with its heartbreaking verbal assaults, moved me

deeply. The rough vitality of these shouting men

formed a perfect unity with the harsh and powerful

sound of the tenor saxophone. Grab It! is a kind of

duet, a ‘duel’ if you like, for tenor and ghettoblaster

soundtrack. The tenor competes with a flood of

syllables, words and sentences, demanding great

endurance from the performer. The meaning of the

lyrics becomes gradually clear during the piece, as

well as the hopelessness of the prisoners’ situation.

In jail, suicide is not uncommon: “He tied one end

around the pipe, and he hung himself. So he went

out the back door rapped up in a green sheet with

a tag on his toe… You lose everything!” In a way,

death row is a metaphor for life. However, the piece

is not just sad, but can also be understood as a

memento vivere. Life is worth living: Grab it!

Speak it up… .I said speak it up Mickey Mouse,

speak up!

Grab it mother I said

I still hear ‘m ring

Grab it motherfucker, grab it!

Fifty gimme

And I want you to have that say now when you walk

out that door going down here ‘cause I’ll be squatin’

on you

It’s a no—le it’s a no—le

Motherfucker punch

Oh man, ha ha ha ha

See this

Nobody

What’s your number?

For ever

54 936 life and from motherfucking now on

Any time when you go

I—how—keep—you lose

Take off

I still hear ‘m ring

How motherfucking tough could i have been

You take that

You get a kick out of that?

Do you get a kick out of that?!

Won’t you tell me what you think?

Drugs hu hu hu hu

Get your shoes

I bite your fucking nose off

Tell me don’t waste my time tell me

What’s your number?

Grab it motherfucker grab it!

Get the fuck out… get up and get off the stage

while…

54 936 life and from motherfucking now on

His motherfucking manhood might just been tested

Reprise: grab it! Mother I said (etc.)

What’s your number?!

Just remember this:

I personally don’t give a fat rat ass

What you do when you leave here today;

You lose everything

He went out the backdoor wrapped up in a green

sheet

With a tag on his toe

Tied one end around the pipe

And he hung himself

And when they stuck his dumb ass in the ground

To give him that little wooden graveyard marker

So he was probably the one that keeps the party

goin’

Just standing on the corner, put lipstick on your lips

Smoke a little reefer, drink a little wine

I got a very serious problem, I’ve seen it a thousand

times

You gonna walk around this joint—or any joint you

might be in

You lose everything..and for you tough

motherfuckers like you

Tie one end around the pipe

I will tell I…

Every man you see behind me is doing over 25 years

or life

Every man you see behind me, he’s got all the

respect in the world

What’s your number?

It stops right here my life stops this is it

Never never never, alright, you should stay cool,

you too!

Tie one end around the pipe

And for you tough motherfuckers like you: you lose

everything!

Grab it motherfucker grab it!

54 9 3 6 life what’s your number

I said up!!

Based on a poem by William Blake, THE GARDEN

OF LOVE, for oboe and ghettoblaster, was composed

in March 2002 and later adapted for soprano

saxophone.

I went to the Garden of Love.

And saw what I never had seen:

A chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this chapel were shut,

And Thou shalt not writ over the door;

So I turn’d to the Garden of Love,

That so many sweet flowers bore.

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tomb-stones where flowers should be:

And priests in black gowns, were walking their

rounds,

And binding with briars, my joys and desires.

—William Blake

JESUS IS COMING, for saxophone quartet and

ghettoblaster, was originally scored for recorder

quartet. However, it became clear that, even

amplified, these instruments were not suitable for

the piece. I needed more expression, so in 2004 I

arranged it for saxophone quartet.

The soundtrack is based on street sounds, like voice

samples from a very angry evangelist in Times

Square and a small Salvation Army choir. For some

people, in these confusing times, it’s about time

that Jesus is coming…

The rhythmical patterns are based on baby talk by

Welmoed, an 18-month-old girl next door.

Jesus! Jesus!

you’ve got… Jesus!

God says:

Love is gonna be brought here by Christ!

God says:

They shall surely be put to death!

Armageddon! Armageddon! Armageddon!

The filth, the scum of the earth!

God kills!

Evil and wicked and perverse!

God kills, you idiots!

Is he out of his mind?

What do you think?

I don’t know… sort of… ha ha ha ha

Armageddon!

Jesus is coming Jesus!

Love is gonna be brought here by Christ!

God says: killers go to hell!

Why did not your mother kill you?

God says: killers go to hell!

We all sing from His Glory

Why? Why? Why?

God says: Why?

Love—Evil—God

you’ve got God, you’ve got God!

JACOB TV

Dutch ‘avant pop’ composer Jacob TV (aka Jacob

Ter Veldhuis, 1951) started as a rock musician

and studied composition and electronic music

at the Groningen Conservatoire, where he was

awarded the Dutch Composition Prize in 1980.

During the eighties he made a name for himself

with melodious compositions, straight from the

heart and with great effect. “I pepper my music

with sugar,” he says. Jacob TV is preoccupied with

American media and world events and draws raw

material from those sources. His work possesses

an explosive strength and raw energy combined

with extraordinarily intricate architectural design.

TV makes superb use of electronics, incorporating

sound bytes from political speeches, commercials,

interviews, talk shows, TVangelists, and what have

you—a colorful mix of high and low culture. Long

queues at the box office for the four-day Jacob TV

Festival in Rotterdam in 2001 already attested to

the growing popularity of this composer, both in the

Netherlands and abroad. His Goldrush Concerto, the

Third String Quartet and several of his so-called

boombox pieces like Grab It! became hits, and

various choreographers have been inspired by

his music. Early in his career, Jacob TV already

stood up to what he called the ‘washed-out avant

garde’, which made him a controversial figure in

certain circles. He strives to liberate new music

from its isolation by employing a direct—at times

provocative—idiom that spurns ‘the dissonant’,

which in TV’s view reflects a completely devalued

means of musical expression. His ‘coming-out’

as a composer of ultra-tonal, mellifluous music

reached its climax with the video oratorio Paradiso.

In May 2007, the Whitney Museum of American Art

organized a three-day festival about his music in

New York City.

www.jacobterveldhuis.com

Liner notes by Jacob ter Veldhuis

Edited by Alyssa Timin

Pitch Black, Postnuclear Winterscenario No. 10, and Jesus Is Coming

produced by the PRISM Quartet.

Billie produced by Evan Richey.

Grab It! produced by Matthew Levy.

The Garden of Love produced by Clarke Rigsby.

Mastered by Matthew Levy.

Pitch Black, Grab It!, Postnuclear Winterscenario No. 10, and Jesus Is Coming

edited and mixed by Matthew Levy.

Billie edited and mixed by Evan Richey at Ovation Sound, Winston-Salem, NC.

The Garden of Love edited and mixed by Clarke Rigsby, Tempest Recording, Tempe, AZ.

Audio consultant: Julie Henn.

Design and layout: fl uxism.com.

PRISM Quartet photograph by Cylla von Tiedemann.

Made with generous support from the William Penn Foundation.

Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.

Director: Philip Blackburn; Operations Manager: Chris Campbell; www.innova.mu.

Pitch Black, Postnuclear Winterscenario No. 10,

and Jesus Is Coming recorded May 3, 2007

at Sine Studios, Philadelphia, PA.

Recording engineers:

Matt Teacher and Mike Lawson.

Billie recorded September 20, 2007

at Ovation Sound, Winston-Salem, NC.

Recording engineer: Evan Richey.

Grab It! recorded September 20, 2007

at Sine Studios, Philadelphia, PA.

Recording engineers:

Matt Teacher and Mike Lawson.

The Garden of Love recorded May 15, 2007

at Tempest Recording, Tempe, AZ.

Recording engineer: Clarke Rigsby.