The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights cover

The Well​-​Tuned Piano in the Magenta Lights

Released

La Monte Young’s evening-length piano improvisation creates a bewitching sense of alternative space. This effect is accomplished through Young’s otherworldly piano tuning, which privileges a set of harmonies far removed from those typically available on a modern piano. Despite the arcane tuning and forbidding length, the surface of the piece is surprisingly easy to inhabit. Young’s musical ideas are consistently lucid, and the piece maintains a fantastical sense of adventure. So many foreshadowings of the of the ’60s musical culture to come can be heard here: Steve Reich’s pulses, John Cale’s viola drones, quests for transcendence.

Sean Wood

Recommended by

Suggestions
Presque Rien cover

Presque Rien

Luc Ferrari
Vade Mecum cover

Vade Mecum

Bill Dixon
Old Locks and Irregular Verbs cover

Old Locks and Irregular Verbs

Henry Threadgill, Ensemble Double Up
Aida cover

Aida

Derek Bailey
Santuerio cover

Santuerio

Marilyn Crispell
ONJQ Live in Lisbon cover

ONJQ Live in Lisbon

Mats Gustafsson, Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet
Lucky Four cover

Lucky Four

David Murray
Shadows cover

Shadows

Ensemble Pamplemousse
A Love Supreme cover

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane
The Return of Fenn O’Berg cover

The Return of Fenn O’Berg

Fennesz, Jim O'Rourke, Peter Rehberg
The Psyche cover

The Psyche

Revolutionary Ensemble
Argonautica cover

Argonautica

Nate Wooley