BARRY CHABALA - AN UNRHYMED CHORD

(confront collectors series ccs 09)

Barry Chabala : guitar
Composed by Michael Pisaro in 2003

Realized New Jersey, September 2008

"An Unrhymed Chord stretches out over an exhaustive though not unwarranted sixty-five minutes. The title's indication of some twenty-five guitars piling onto the piece might mislead you into expecting a Rhys Chatham/Glen Branca-style bombardment of noise, yet far from it - the music here is meditative and patient blend of overtones, fizzing metallic vibrations and intermittent, harp-like string plucks. The motorised, percussive drone qualities, particularly in the earliest phases of the piece, bring to mind Oren Ambarchi's more acoustic outings or the kinds of elaborate exercises in sustain-sculpting Jason Khan dabbles in. Rather quiet and challenging An Unrhymed Chord nevertheless leaves a warming, resonant impact when digested as a whole." (Boomkat)

 

"Chabala’s musical sensibilities come very much to the fore. Everything is very gentle and very beautiful. Where the occasional rougher, textural sounds appear they tend to be quieter, sitting in the background and overlaid with soft glowing tones. When the chiming notes appear they are generally clustered together with little else in the background. When ebowed sounds appear they rarely sit alone, instead they overlay other similar sounds so the combination often creates an addition beating effect. In short, Chabala’s realisation is a very intelligent response to a score that could be followed in a very loose way should the musician choose, but here he has created a piece of music that takes Pisaro’s score as a starting point, following it to the letter, but develops outwards into a work of great individual character."

(Richard Pinnell, The Watchful Ear)