Currently in production are the following new releases . . .
Four Thousand Holes
A dense, lush, technically demanding concert-length work for piano and percussion—performed by the extraordinary pianist Stephen Drury and percussionist Scott Deal—and "ghostly" electronics (electronic sounds created by processing the acoustic piano's sonorities). It is in essence a concerto for piano, percussion, and nine tracks of altered piano sounds. Unlike Adams's other recent music, the pitch material used in Four Thousand Holes is drawn exclusively from Western music's most basic elements: major and minor triads. In this case they are superimposed upon one another in multiple tempo streams, creating rich, shimmering textures of composite harmonies.
Also on this recording is Adams's more introspective piece The Light Within, performed by the renowned California E.A.R. Unit.
"Adams's major works have the appearance of being beyond style; they transcend the squabbles of contemporary classical music." —Alex Ross, The New Yorker
"His music is haunting and quite unforgettable. … Lou Harrison called Adams 'one of the few important young American composers,' and he might just be right." —MusicWeb Int'l
"Out of many eligible composers of his generation, John Luther Adams is the greatest proponent of the American experimental tradition, a lineage that includes Ives, Cowell, Varese, Partch, Nancarrow, Cage and Tenney." —Sequenza 21/Contemporary Classical Music Weekly
To help this recording come into being, contact the United States Artists (USA) project (CLICK HERE)
In the Sea of Ionia
Wild new multi-keyboard music.
"When it comes to attempts at musical seduction, Daniel Lentz's music is way out in front." —Kyle Gann, The Village Voice
"By intriguing his listeners at the same time he wreathes them in smiles, Lentz always comes up with something listenable and worthwhile." —Gramophone
"Lentz's music inhabits what he terms a musical 'state of becoming,' where both new and reappearing musical and textual fragments are fused through complex layering processes. However, the real basis of his seductive music may be the dreamy impressionism of Debussy and the lyrical voice and keyboard interaction of Schubert's lieder." — John Schaefer, WNYC, New Sounds
"Lentz's work 'chortles' in ways both sensual and intellectual." —Los Angeles Reader
"Daniel Lentz’s work, with its … glossy, Pop Art-Southern California palette of colors … seems to reveal new facets with each encounter." —Dusted magazine
new music by various composers
Music by 18 to 20 composers—some already associated with the Cold Blue label, some new to the label.
Like its now-classic predecessor anthology, which was simply entitled "Cold Blue," this is not a sampler of works on the Cold Blue label but an anthology of new and previously unreleased music.
Cold Blue Two celebrates the 25th anniversary of the vinyl release of Cold Blue (he first anthology).
new work
New compositions for his newly constructed instrument The Towers, a series of large pipes and plates, and the processed voice of noted visual artist Paul McCarthy.
"The core of [Cold Blue’s] production resides in Chas Smith’s works. … this composer, guitarist and authentic desert enthusiast has developed his own soundworld using unique instruments he designs and builds himself. The heir of Harry Partch and several other instrument inventors, he has given birth to highly beautiful and formal microtonal music. It is rich in complex harmonics and often structured around alternating rising and falling movements. " — Gérard Nicollet, Octopus (France)
35 Whirlpools Below Sound
A haunting, emotionally gripping electro-acoustic soundscape by noted composer-performers Newman and Cox, 35 Whirlpools ... is a completely collaborative work that has developed over the 20-plus years that the two have been friends and musical collaborators.
Newman is a well-known and highly regarded film-music composer; Cox has a number of previous releases on Cold Blue and has recorded with Jon Hassell, Thomas Newman, Ry Cooder, and others.
CD single (30 min.)
new work
New solo violin music written for new-music champion Robin Lorentz. (CD single)
"The composer ... is confirmed as a master of sensitivity and good taste. In his personal interpretation of historical minimalism, there is a warmth, a presence and a deep involvement, which is extremely rare." —Sands-Zine (Italy)
"Michael Jon Fink—operating within New Music but sidestepping much of its systematic, lab-dulled pretention ... There's something of Gavin Bryars' evanescent emotional skill to Fink's music, something of the soft spatial blur of the Evanses (Bill and Gil) ... what gets me every time is its sheer and honest beauty." —Misfit City (UK)
Invisible Line
Exquisite, carefully wrought music for a just-intonation scordatura string sextet in which ever-changing "harmonic clouds" of both vibrating dissonance and ravishing consonance drift one into another, moving forward with a distinct sense of inevitability.In its design, the work's interaction of performers is fluid and always interdependent.
Features the composer on viola, new-music cellist Jessica Catron, violist Cassia Streb, and others.
CD single (25 min.)
Café Desire
An opera
"When it comes to attempts at musical seduction, Lentz's music is way out front." —Kyle Gann, Village Voice
"By intriguing his listeners at the same time he wreathes them in smiles, Lentz always comes up with something listenable and worthwhile. That’s certainly true of this new release." — Arved Ashby, Gramophone
"Daniel Lentz’s work, with its sparkle and pulse, has long evinced hallmarks of the minimalist style. But Lentz has often brought a glossy, Pop Art-Southern California palette of colors to his work." — Dusted
blue photographs — selected piano music
Blue photographs collects a few dozen of the many aphoristic piano pieces Fox has written during the past 25 years.
"One of the striking qualities of Jim Fox's compositions is that you can still hear them inside you long after the music is over." —Wadada Leo Smith
"This is music that sounds like it was made in that California of cool northern beaches or the Mojave Desert as seen in the stark intimacy of Joshua Tree or even the remembered despair of the landscape around Donner Pass. This is a music of honesty, seductive and delicate yet strong and dark." —Daniel Lentz
new and recent music
Pacific Northwest composer Kurt Doles offers six lovely dark-hued pieces for multiple pianos, percussion, bass clarinet, cello ensemble, and other groupings.
Performances are by some of Los Angeles' top new music players, including clarinetist Marty Walker, steel guitar player Chas Smith and cellist Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick.