Search - Phillip Bimstein :: Larkin Gifford's Harmonica

This new Phillip Bimstein CD follows the composer's previous Starkland CD Garland Hirschi's Cows, which generated hundreds of calls to radio stations, cultivated an ardent following, and was eventually anointed "a cult classic" on NPR's All Things Considered. The CD is introduced by the multiple-Grammy winner John Adams, who writes: "Listening to this album of Bimstein's compositions makes me feel like I've taken a slow drive through a western landscape, meeting along the way everyone from Georgia O'Keeffe to Tony Hillerman, Mark Twain, Neal Cassady, Raymond Scott, Kurt Weill, Aphex Twin, and some of those grizzled geezers that populate the novels of Annie Proulx." The title piece presents a poignant portrait of the elderly Larkin Gifford, who offers vibrant stories, which include his lifelong love of playing the harmonica. Another portrait features the delightful, funny Robert Logan, known as "Bushy Wushy the Beer Man." Bushy Wushy sold beer in Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, for more than forty years. Listeners will hear baseball game sounds, stories from Bushy Wushy, and a wind quintet. Casino focuses on both Las Vegas and veteran dice-caller Tom Martinet, who discusses superstitions, insights, and fascinations associated with gambling. We also hear gambling percussive sounds and a wind quintet. The CD also offers two instrumental works. For Half Moon at Checkerboard Mesa, Bimstein mixes environmental sounds at Zion National Park (singing canyon tree frogs, howling coyotes, chirping crickets, etc.) with an interacting score for live oboe. The other instrumental work is Rockville Utah 1926, based on the lovely melodic material from the work Garland Hirschi's Cows. The title is the place and date of Garland's birth.