Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2012 November 02 • Friday

Last week, Thursday, October 25th, I attended an amazing concert at Roulette.

Guy Klucevsek performed, solo for the first half and with violinist Todd Reynolds for the second half.

The music was all Klucevsek's compositions, works for solo accordion written in the last thirty years and music for Lionel Popkin's Ruth Doesn't Live Here Anymore, a dance/theatre piece which is scheduled to premiere in March, 2013.

These were the highlights of the first set:

"Claire, Buoyant" was a sprightly tune with very tricky rhythms, written for choreographer Claire Porter.

"The Gift" was one of three pieces written for Bela Bartok. This was the only piece in the first half of the program that Klucevsek didn't play from memory. It appeared to be the audience favorite, perhaps because we were surprised and delighted to find that the score has no notes, only the sounds Guy made by forcing air coming the accordion's bellows, rapping and tapping his hands on the instrument's body, stomping his feet and shouting!

"Scenes from a Mirage" was written for a solo dance by Maureen Fleming. Klucevsek described it as "written in the style of some of the old Hollywood film score" and it did have some Herrmannesque qualities.

My favorite was probably "Breathless and Bewildered" an insanely fast and tricky number that was Guy Klucevsek's tribute to Bulgarian-American accordionist Ivan Milev.

These were what stood out for me from the second set:

The "Opening" and "Three Hymnopedies" "in memory of Erik Satie" were delicate and powerful and moving.

"Hungarian Hummingbird" was romantic and stirring and bookended by Guy making hummingbird noises by tapping a key on the silenced accordion really fast.

My favorite piece from the second half was probably "Ratatatatouille", a tribute to Basque accordionist Kepa Junkera. It had amazingly fleet lines played over a strong, pulsating rhythmic base.

I hope I get a chance to see Guy Klucevsek again soon!