John Adams: Road Movies

by Nicolas Hodges, Leila Josefowicz, John Adams, Rolf Hind

Overview

Here is an anthology of John Adams' comparatively small output for the piano, whether solo, duo, or in tandem with another instrument. The title of the album -- also the first composition in the sequence -- gives you an idea of what to expect, for Adams' motor rhythms turn several of these pieces into travelogues. You're in a car, watching the scenery flash by as the sophisticated well-tuned engine sets the rhythm, slowing to a contemplative crawl before picking up speed again. This is certainly the case in Road Movies, with its fast-slow-fast, three-movement layout and running ostinatos -- and Hallelujah Junction, named after a tiny hamlet near Adams' cabin retreat deep in the Sierra Nevada, has the same ABA tempo structure and similar motorized driving ideas. Road Movies introduces a violin into the mix, with star violinist Leila Josefowicz scraping away lustily and rhythmically at the first movement, as if this were prime Stravinsky, and John Novacek on piano, while Hallelujah is left to the duo pianos of Nicolas Hodges and Rolf Hinds. American Berserk is a more complex animal; the rhythms shift, lurch, and generally make the life of anyone who sight-reads it miserable over a span of six minutes. The disc also takes in two Adams solo piano pieces written two decades (1977) before their companions -- the brief, limpid, minimalist exercise China Gates and its much larger companion, Phrygian Gates. From a 21st century vantage point, Phrygian now seems like the signpost at the beginning of a long stylistic highway; obsessive minimalist patterns still run the show yet a restless Romantic spirit yearns to break free. The composer provides typically erudite yet offbeat liner notes -- always worth reading. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	04/30/2014
Label:	NAXOS
UPC:	0075597969924

Tracks

1. Road Movies, for violin & piano~I. Relaxed Groove
2. Road Movies, for violin & piano~II. Meditative
3. Road Movies, for violin & piano~III. 40% Swing
4. Hallelujah Junction, for 2 pianos~[Part 1]
5. Hallelujah Junction, for 2 pianos~[Part 2]
6. Hallelujah Junction, for 2 pianos~[Part 3]
7. China Gates, for piano
8. American Berserk, for piano
9. Phrygian Gates, for piano~Part 1
10. Phrygian Gates, for piano~Part 2 (A System of Weights and Measures)
11. Phrygian Gates, for piano~Part 3

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Nicolas Hodges   Primary Artist,Piano
Rolf Hind   Primary Artist,Piano
Leila Josefowicz   Primary Artist,Violin
John Adams   Primary Artist
John Novacek   Primary Artist,Piano

Technical Credits

John Gall   Design
Deborah O'Grady   Photography
Jeanne Velonis   Editing Assistant
Eli Cane   Production Assistant
Deborah L. O'Grady   Photography
Karina Beznicki   Production Supervisor
Johnny Gall   Design
Gregg Schaufeld   Editorial Coordinator
Hsi-Ling Chang   Assistant Engineer
Karina Benznicki   Production Supervisor
Judith Sherman   Mastering,Producer,Engineer
Robert Hurwitz   Executive Producer
John Adams   Liner Notes,Composer
Geoff Foster   Engineer
Chris Barrett   Assistant Engineer
John Novacek   Performer
Gragg Schaufeld   Editorial Coordinator