Steve Reich: Electric Counterpoint; Different Trains [LP]

by Steve Reich, Pat Metheny, Kronos Quartet

Overview

This late-'80s work finds the minimalist composer mixing acoustic and taped material to great effect. The disc's centerpiece is "Different Trains," a work that frames Reich's impressions of his boyhood train trips between his mother in Los Angeles and his father in New York; Reich also intersperses references to the much more harrowing train rides Jews were forced to take to Nazi concentration camps. Using the fine playing of the Kronos Quartet as a base, Reich layers the work with the taped train musings of his governess, a retired Pullman porter, and various Holocaust survivors -- vintage train sounds from the '30s and '40s add to the riveting arrangement. And for some nice contrast, Reich recruits guitarist Pat Metheny to create a similarly momentous piece in "Electric Counterpoint" (Metheny plays live over a multi-tracked tape of ten guitars and two electric basses). Two fine works by Reich in his prime. ~ Stephen Cook

Product Details

Release Date:	11/02/2018
Label:	Nonesuch
UPC:	0075597928754
Rank:	34557

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Steve Reich   Primary Artist
Pat Metheny   Primary Artist,Guitar,Featured Artist,Guitar (Electric),Multi Instruments
Kronos Quartet   Primary Artist,String Quartet,Featured Artist
Hank Dutt   Viola
Joan Jeanrenaud   Cello
David Harrington   Violin
John Sherba   Violin

Technical Credits

Steve Reich   Composer,Performer,Liner Notes
Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Ben Fowler   Mixing Assistant
Pat Metheny   Performer
David Oakes   Assistant Producer,Production Assistant
Rob Eaton   Mixing,Engineer,Mixing Engineer
Kronos Quartet   Performer
Robert Hurwitz   Executive Producer
Judith Sherman   Producer
Frank Olinsky   Design,Art Direction
Michael D. Ahearn   Assistant Engineer
Gary Solomon   Assistant Engineer
Les Brockmann   Engineer
Karl Steinbrenner   Photography
Jennifer Keats   Production Coordination
Michael Ahearn   Assistant Engineer