Todd Reynolds

Outerborough

innova 741

First contact: 1990, backstage at a San Francisco new music concert. Everyone local except him, a protean figure with long, flowing locks, Thor in a ruffled tuxedo shirt, of a color not found in nature. He’d flown in, to the rescue, to perform a solo piece hitherto deemed impossible. The piece is as promised, thorny and high modernist, but in Todd’s hands it’s entirely natural – he flips through the Rolodex of contemporary performance practice, skating across the strings like a Gold medalist. And then bolts out the door, bound for the redeye back to New York.

From that moment on, to this day, when I write for violin, I’m writing for Todd. Even if it’s only in my mind, his is the sound I’m hearing. I’m reasonably certain this is the case for many of the composers on this disc, and for myriad others as well: bandmates, dancers and actors, Sound Painting participants, students, listeners. Certainly it’s hard to imagine these extraordinary tracks coming from the mind, body, and soul of any other musician.

The first reaction to these CDs - a full-bodied representation of Todd’s musical world – is that of breadth, of porousness, the genre-crossing dream realized. Raga, jazz and blues, electronica, minimalism, fiddling traditions, Kreisler, rock and roll – intermingling and dialoguing in all the ways we had always hoped for. For the class of 2011, this intermingling is a given. Almost to the point of forgetting how rare it was, back in the late 20^th century, for a musician like Todd – überchopped and credentialed – to turn his back on the classical world and relearn his craft. And on multiple occasions at that.

This is what really distinguishes the playing, what makes Todd’s music Todd’s music. Not just breadth but depth – not the desire and ability to refer to raga, to evoke the blues, to draw on minimalism and folk traditions, but to actually get inside these grammars, to speak these languages fluently. Not a virtual tour but rather a guided trek. A walkabout through Todd’s singular musical terrain, with the landscape itself singing the songlines.

- Evan Ziporyn

I. Track Listing

->In Side<-

Transamerica - featuring Kid Beyond 5:08

The Solution 8:37

End of Day 4:28

TaskForce:Farmlab 6:31

Centrifuge - performed by the LEMUR Guitarbot 3:02

Outerborough 8:36

Icy Sleeves of Green v2.0 5:22

Total Time: 41:43

<-Out Side->

A Needle Pulling Fred - Phil Kline 7:58

Tree-Oh - Michael Gordon 6:00

Inward Bound - Paul de Jong 3:31

Crossroads - Michael Lowenstern 4:36

and the sky was still there - David T. Little 7:52

Fast Pasture - Nick Zammuto 4:49

Storm Drain - Ken Thomson 6:01

The End of an Orange - Paula Matthusen 7:27

Killer - David Lang 4:44

Total Time: 53:02

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II. Track Listings with Attributions

->In Side<-

All tracks composed and produced by Todd Reynolds - (Todd Reynolds Music (ASCAP)

Transamerica - featuring Kid Beyond 5:08

The Solution 8:37

End of Day 4:28

TaskForce:Farmlab 6:31

Centrifuge - performed by the LEMUR Guitarbot 3:02

Outerborough 8:36

Icy Sleeves of Green v2.0 5:22

Total Time: 41:43

<-OutSide->

A Needle Pulling Fred - Phil Kline 7:58

Ivory Bill Music (ASCAP)

Tree-Oh - Michael Gordon 6:00

Red Poppy Music (ASCAP)

Inward Bound - Paul de Jong 3:31

Crossroads - Michael Lowenstern 4:36

Earspasm Music (BMI)

and the sky was still there - David T. Little 7:52

David T. Little (BMI)

Fast Pasture - Nick Zammuto 4:49

Storm Drain - Ken Thomson 6:01

Clusterhocket Music

The End of an Orange - Paula Matthusen 7:27

Rosenthaler Music (ASCAP)

Killer - David Lang 4:44

Red Poppy Music (ASCAP)

Total Time: 53:02

Transamerica - Vocals and Vocal Percussion samples recorded and contributed by Kid Beyond.

TaskForce:Farmlab - Originally commissioned by Choreographer/Director Stephen Koplowitz for his work, Liquid Landscapes, Los Angeles, 2007

Centrifuge - commissioned as part of a larger symphonic work by The Albany Symphony's Dogs of Desire, David Alan Miller, Artistic Director. Performed by the Guitarbot of The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots, Eric Singer, director.

Icy Sleeves of Green - To my parents, William and Kathryn Reynolds

Outerborough - written to and for Outerborough, a film by Bill Morrison

Composer Side

Crossroads was composed with a grant from Meet The Composer, and inspired by the late, great Blues singer and guitarist, Robert Johnson.

and the sky was still there - text written and spoken by Amber Ferenz, additional text of Utah Phillips is used with permission of Democracy Now

The End of an Orange - Original text by Abi Basch

David Lang's Killer was commissioned as part of a larger work by choreographer Shen Wei.

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III. Texts: (and the sky was still there may only bear an excerpt because it's so long, but let's see)

and the sky was still there

original text by Amber Ferenz

The first thing I remember, after getting through all the military initial processing, at the, what’s called the MEPS center—um, that’s the initial entry point, mine was in Charlotte, North Carolina—was a lot of standing around and a lot of yelling. We stood and stood and stood. We stood in lines because. We stood in lines for no reason. We stood in line to eat. We stood in line to go places. We stood in line to give blood, to get shots, to get our clothes. We stood in line just for the sheer joy of standing in line. And in those lines there was no talking. There was very little movement. We, we hadn’t started basic training yet, we were still doing what is called “reception,” uh, before the actual training takes place. And, I think that whole point of reception, besides all those initial processing things, like getting all those appointments taken care of, was to learn how to stand in line.

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People were kicking me in the face. People were standing on my hands. People were, crawling practically right over the top of me, because we were all trying to get across this field, as you would if you were actually in combat and crawling you would want to get across that wide open space as fast as you…could. So, that’s what we were doing.

I felt then the absolute impersonality of the military. I was only there as a weapon-toter. I was not there for my mind, for my skills, for any of the fabulous things that are me. I was there only as a body with a gun.

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Living closeted in the military is unbelievably difficult. (She was in the Navy, I was in the Army). You have to ask as if nothing is wrong when people bash on gays all around you. You have to sort of “go with it” or it will come down upon you, too. (We were in Arabic class together. Um, we fell for each other really, really hard.)

If you tell, you get an honorable discharge. If they ask, and you tell, you get a dishonorable discharge.

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Yes, I joined the Army.

Some people learn things the hard way,

But at least then you never forget it.*

-----

But all of a sudden, I was too tired to get out of my car. And I was sitting there, looking across the flight-line—there was a chain-link fence in front of my car that I had parked up against—and the sun was coming in through the front window, and I felt very warm and very cozy, and I could see the dust motes in my car in the sunlight, and it was beautiful. And I’m looking at the fence, and the sky, and the flight-line, and being exhausted, and it was like everything stopped. Time just stopped. The dust motes hung suspended.

And I heard a voice that said to me: If you care about the state of your soul, if you care about anything at all, if you want to continue to b e a good person: Get out. You don’t have much time. Get out. Get out, now!

And then the dust motes started up again. And the sky was still there, and the chain-link fence…but I had changed. I was done. I had quit. In that moment I understood that I needed to get out of the Army.

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They sent me off to Sergeant school just after the New Year. And, I went. I told my Platoon Sergeant that I didn’t want to go, but they said, you have to. (…) And we’re all told, if you have any reason why you want to go home, speak up now or hold on to it. …and I told him.

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To transition back to civilian life I decided to go hiking. My lover and I hit the Appalachian trail. I spent about three months out in the woods, and watched spring happen all around me, and I tried to figure out what I was gonna do next.

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* additional text by (?) Utah Philips, courtesy of Democracy NOW

The End of an Orange - Original text by Abi Basch

This is the part I decide to remember: a grey sweater, a fresh orange

first thing in the morning, an aria, the line of an eye, moist. And

every day I wish for the other side of glass, the line of an eye.

I’ve been to the edge of the map, the end of an orange, I’ve seen what

it is to remember. An ink stain that will end in a museum. If there

were artifacts in this museum to the forgotten, would you brush past

or would you linger? Now that we have so much in common, so much to

stick our fingers into, this possibility.

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IV. Credits for specific compositions:

->InSide<-

Transamerica - Kid Beyond, vocals, vocal percussion, Todd Reynolds, violin, electric guitar, production

Solution - Todd Reynolds, violin, production

End of Day - Todd Reynolds, viola, production

TaskForce:Farmlab - Todd Reynolds, violin, vocals, production

Centrifuge - the LEMUR Guitarbot (League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots

Outerborough, Todd Reynolds, violin, vocals, kick drum

Icy Sleeves of Green, Todd Reynolds, violin, electric bass, production

<-OutSide->

A Needle Pulling Fred - Phil Kline - Todd Reynolds, violin, production

Tree-Oh - Michael Gordon - Todd Reynolds, violin, production

Inward Bound - Paul DeJong of The Books - Paul DeJong, cello, production, Todd Reynolds, violin

Crossroads - Michael Lowenstern - Todd Reynolds, violin, Michael Lowenstern, production

and the sky was still there - David T. Little David T. Little, Ableton Live programming and production, Todd Reynolds, violin, production

Fast Pasture - Nick Zammuto of The Books - Todd Reynolds, violin

Storm Drain - Ken Thomson - Ken Thomson, Bass Clarinet, Todd Reynolds, production

End of an Orange - Paula Matthusen - Paula Matthusen, Max/MSP and overall production, Todd Reynolds, voice and violin

Killer - David Lang - Todd Reynolds, violin, production

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V. Production Credits

Mastering Engineer - Jody Elff

Recording Engineer on everything except Fast Pasture and Inward Bound, Todd Reynolds

Recording Engineer on Fast Pasture, Nick Zammuto

Recording Engineer on Inward Bound, Paul de Jong

Production on Crossroads, Michael Lowenstern

Additional recording on Transamerica, Kid Beyond

Additional recording for Storm Drain, Ken Thomson

Additional production support for TaskForce:Farmlab, R. Luke DuBois

Production assistance and mojo, Silas Brown at Legacy Sound

CD design, graphic design - Mark Kingsley

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VI. Big Thank You

To my colleagues and friends, Jody Elff, Silas Brown, Michael Lowenstern, Trevor Exter, Luke DuBois, Bill Ryan, Evan Ziporyn: Thank you all for your support, your listening and your generosity with your production and record-making expertise.

To Eric Singer of LEMUR, for plenty of time spent with the bots of whom I've become so fond.

To Philip Blackburn and Innova for initiating and completion of this project, and for longstanding solidarity.

The commissioning of new music is the lifeblood of what we lovingly refer to as our classical tradition and the collaboration between composer and performer is sacred to me and has formed the bulk of my creative work thus far. I owe a debt of gratitude to each composer on this record, not only for every contribution of impassioned, compelling work, but also for our collaboration and additional time spent developing each piece from its inception through its recording. I've gained immeasurable insight from our work together.

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Additional Thank You list:

Thank you to my friends Jason Ennis, Laura Christensen, Greg Scheckler, Tom Merrill, The Elf Parlor, Sue Killam and the entire production staff at Mass MoCA, Meryl Mathews, Jeanne Nagle, Neil Rolnick, Mercenary Audio, MHLabs, and Dave Hill Jr. and Dennis DeSantis at Ableton.

Thank you to my fellow students and mentors at the Eastman School of Music, '85-'87, where I was inspired to devote my life to improvisation and the music of our time.

To Dan Weymouth at SUNY at Stony Brook, who gave to Michael Lowenstern and me the "keys to the kingdom", or rather, Studio C, and where I learned the joys of musical collaboration and electronic music.

Thanks to Robert Moses, Stephen Koplowitz and Kid Beyond for the inspiration.

Thanks also to Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong of the Books. Touring with you was a pleasure and your friendship and music mean so very much to me.

And thanks to my lovely Isabelle Holmes for her unending patience, encouragement and love for these past three years in the midst of microphones, computers and wires all over the house.

My inspiration over the last twenty years has come chiefly from my colleagues and collaborators. Thank you to Steve Reich and Meredith Monk for the highest of inspiration, to Bang on a Can and all its component parts, people and programs for solidarity and kinship in our ongoing commitment to music which exists solidly in the cracks and at the forefront of innovation.

Nearly all of the music on this CD was recorded and generated in my studios in either Stamford, VT or North Adams, Massachussetts, using one or a combination of three software programs - Ableton Live, Cycling '74's Max/MSP and Apple's Logic. These three companies have brought to the world unique methods and techniques of composing and producing music, each of which is inherently musical, not coldly digital, and which have changed the way we think about music, its creation and dissemination. It is now possible to do what I had only dreamed of twenty years ago, and this seminal process and method of recording and composing in tandem has taught me generously and developed my listening and creative output far past what I had envisioned.

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VII. Additional credits

Outerborough, the CD, is supported in part by a grant from the New York State Music Fund, established by the New York State Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, as well as supported in part by a grant from the New Spectrum Foundation.

The commissioning of Crossroads was funded through Meet The Composer's New Music for Soloist Champions Project with support from the New York State Music Fund.

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