Andrew McIntosh: Little Jimmy
KAIROS 0022000
Released September 9, 2022
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Yarn/Wire’s musical relationship with Andrew McIntosh has lasted over a decade, and Little Jimmy represents a next step on their path together. Three deeply personal works on this recording are infused with a deep trust between the musicians and composer; a relationship made possible through professional and personal bonds. This album is a testament to the possibilities of long-term collaborations between like-minded artists.
Little Jimmy incorporates field recordings of a wilderness that has since been decimated by wildfire, creating a unique autobiographical and climatological context for the piece while unintentionally archiving a natural setting that no longer exists. The sonic landscapes of the forest, mountains, wind, and birds are echoed by Yarn/Wire’s soundscape of piano and percussion, inviting meditative reflections about humans and nature that both connect and contrast the two worlds. Bowed piano strings and cymbals, tuned pipes, ethereal piano harmonics, and vibraphone tones all play against a backdrop of McIntosh’s field recordings, augmented by subtle electronic filtered tones. The relationship between these acoustic, electronic, and recorded sounds highlights an intriguing disparity between what is artificial and what is natural or real.
Little Jimmy is followed by two additional works by McIntosh. In I have a lot to learn (2019) for solo piano (performed by Laura Barger), and Learning (2021), which also uses field recordings taken at Rosenita Saddle in Angeles National Forest. Commissioned by Russell Greenberg of Yarn/Wire, Learning contemplates the processes of emerging, becoming, resonating, remembering, and listening.
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PHYSICAL CD
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TRACKLIST
1. I have a lot to learn for solo piano [4:56]
Laura Barger, piano
2. Learning for solo percussion, with field recordings and sine tones [13:20]
Russell Greenberg, percussion
3-8. Little Jimmy for two pianists and two percussionists (2020)
Yarn/Wire: Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer, pianos; Russell Greenberg and Sae Hashimoto, percussion
Recorded and Mixed at Oktaven Audio- Mount Vernon, NY
August 26, 2021: I have a lot to learn and Learning
August 27, 2021: Little Jimmy
Mixed - August 28, 2021
Produced by Russell Greenberg, Andrew McIntosh
Engineered, Mixed, Mastering by Ryan Streber
Liner notes by Erica Scheinberg
Translations by Wieland Hoban