CD review: Andrew Russo – "Dirty Little Secret"
Andrew Russo, pianist
Endeavor Classics END 1019; CD
The New York Times, April 29, 2007
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

The performance by Russo and his trio Real Quiet on Monday, April 30 that’s mentioned in the second paragraph of this review is the latest installment of Ronen Givony’s invaluable Wordless Music series, which pairs the trio with the Books, a engrossing duo that wields cello, guitar and electronics. Real Quiet opens with music by Annie Gosfield (Wild Pitch), Phil Kline (The Last Buffalo) and Marc Mellits (Tight Sweater). The Books follow with a set of their original music, then the two groups combine for expanded versions of items from Real Tight’s repertoire.

The week ahead is huge for Annie Gosfield. In addition to the Real Quiet performance, she has a piece on Wednesday night’s appearance by exciting Swedish new-music quartet The Peärls Before Swïne Experience at Lower East Side venue The Stone, part of a wide-ranging month programmed by Fred Frith. The group will also play pieces by David Lang, Tristan Murail, Maja Ratkje and Anders Hillborg. On Thursday night (May 3) at Merkin Concert Hall, the Swïne will participate in a Zoom: Composers Close Up program devoted to Gosfield’s music; that same show also includes a new chamber concerto featuring Real Quiet cellist Felix Fan and a performance by Gosfield’s own trio. On Friday (May 4), Gosfield has a piece on the second concert of this year’s Look & Listen Festival, at Robert Miller Gallery on West 26th Street. (On that same bill, saxophonist Brian Sacawa reprises Alexandra Gardner’s Tourmaline, which was mesmerizing when heard at the recent MATA Festival.)

Another inventive new-music composer having a big week is Jacob ter Veldhuis, whose uproarious The Body of Your Dreams is on Russo’s CD. Ter Veldhuis, also known as JacobTV, is the subject of a three-concert series presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art this Wednesday through Friday (May 2-4). The explosive Kathleen Supové plays The Body of Your Dreams on the last concert, which also includes the world premiere of The White Flag, a scorching piece composed in response to the current Iraq war and performed by Kevin Gallagher’s quartet Electric Kompany. My TONY feature on JacobTV is here, but please be sure to take note of something I failed to mention: the series is being presented not at the Whitney space on the Upper East Side, but at its Altria site on 42nd Street, near Grand Central. All three JacobTV programs are being presented free of charge.