the Americas Suite 1

Liner Notes for Long Song Records CD: Parallel Worlds 2
Alan Silva—Synthesizer
Burton Greene—Synthesizer and Module

I know Alan since 1962. We met, I stayed in his house in Brooklyn, NY and we began to play together in what became most likely the first band in the world to play totally spontaneous, improvised music: The Free Form Improvisation Ensemble (1963—65). Since that time we've played together and recorded together in different contexts but always foremost with the free, intuitive direction of the music itself. We play instruments but in fact we are ourselves are the main instruments.. the spirit of the music has always told us what to play..! Most often we've had no idea what we would play beforehand.. only afterwards could we hear what the music was about in order to express something of it in words. This is what I attempt to do here with our latest collaboration: Parallel Worlds I.

What strikes me immediately upon listening to this music again after a long hiatus since we recorded it is how much of this is visual, programmatic music. When I hear this back it suggests certain obvious visual images rather than a narrative of "what the music is about." Therefore I share these images with you:

Indians of the Americas Suite:
1. North American Indian Reflections
Immediate images I get are Trance, Primal Dances and Rituals, Spirit Animals, Magic. (Of course you will have your own images which may or may not have something to do with this..!)
2. Fate of the Aztecs and Incas
Images: Mystery, Depth, Trance, Pagan Rituals, Saga of dealing with the avarice, and viciousness of the Spanish conquistadors, the conquerors. Loss of so much prehistoric Knowledge and Magic.. and yet: Sustaining Powers of Life beyond the vagaries of existence. 3. The Indian In All of Us
Starts with a brief continuation of the Sustaining Powers of Life. A travel way back in time when we survived within the boundaries of a tribal, instinctive way of life.. the struggle to know something of our existence, our longings, our struggle to survive and to overcome our fears.. Beyond that our quest for the basic pleasures and joys of life. 4. Great Scott
Named after a program I got in the early shareware days of programming my digital synthesizer in the beginning of the 90's. The distinctive "reedy" horn sound in the 2nd part of the piece is the basis of this program and prominent in the music. "Great Scott!" is also an old fashioned expression which is an exclamation of surprise, amazement, or dismay. It's also attributed to the American Civil War army commander General Winfield Scott—known as "Old Fuss and Feathers".. He weighed 300 pounds and in his later years was too fat to ride a horse! (from Wikipedia). 5. The Unknown Passage
Images: Who are we really? Why are we here? What kind of passage is this, or what should it be? My yoga master Swami Satchidananda used to say "We're in this world, but not of it.. we're just passing through." (So what do we think we "possess" or hold onto in the meantime?!) How do we deal with our darker fears, our apprehensions during our journey? 6. String Beings
Light Beings... String Beings! They float through first part of the piece as leitmotivs with piano, bass, and horn-like accompaniments. The music gives way to cross rhythms and playful exchanges between Alan and I involving all kinds of sounds.. Derivations of sounds of many types of string instruments remain paramount, along with the percussive driving forces!

This is the first part of the Parallel Worlds series I recorded with Alan over 3 days in his lovely house in Ruaudin, France (near Le Mans). We recorded lots of serious, imaginative, and funny material. Hopefully if you good people like this music (and buy some CD's!), Long Song Records will be motivated to bring out Part II of the Parallel Worlds series.
Enjoy..!
Burton Greene Amsterdam November,www.longsongrecords.com/?lang=en www.klezmokum.com/burtongreene /www.center-of-the-world.de/ www.live365.com/stations/ihhavec
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