He had bass, alto, and contrabass clarinets. There was no monster bass clarinet in sight, but I was excited to see what he would produce with these instruments. Before starting, he announced the monster bass clarinet hadn't arrived yet and encouraged us to sign a sheet so he can invite us to a free performance when it does arrive. So, the night is getting better and better and we haven't heard any music yet.
The music was great. He first did solo pieces for each of the 3 instruments. Then he played with a few less traditional instruments. He played each of them first and then told us what each of them were before playing them again. The first was a little bird call, but I had thought it was some kind of doodad from the hardware store. I thought the 2nd was a toilet paper roll holder. It was a duck call with a sliding piece that allowed for a wide range of sounds. No one knows what the 3rd piece was. It was plastic and coily and had and interesting percussive sound.
After that, he went to his laptop to play a tape for us. The tape had all 6 of the instruments previously played in the show. I think I also heard female vocals and that an ensemble was playing. After a bit Michael joined in playing with the recording. He then did a few more pieces with the clarinets.
I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the monster bass clarinet gig.
Michael Lytle
Michael Lytle (bass clarinet)
Michael Lytle www.elewhale.net has been improvising for over 40 years, with George Cartwright, David Moss, many fine Swiss musicians, Nick Didkovsky (Dr. Nerve), Gerry Hemingway (Swim This), and plenty others. Tonight, he will premiere his benevolently monsterized bass clarinet!
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