Jazz Articles about Steve Reich

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Steve Reich: The ECM Recordings

by Nenad Georgievski
October 29, 2016

Celebrated as one of the most significant contemporary American composer-musicians of the late 20th century, Steve Reich successfully dismantled the cemented bedrock of Western Music and rebuilt it in surprisingly innovative ways. One of the founders of the Minimalism movement in classical music, he created music that drew on aspects of Balinese, Yemenite, African and Hebrew sounds. In doing so, over the course of 50 years, he continually fashioned new musical models that in return have pushed Western music forward. ...

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Steve Reich: Daniel Variations

by John Kelman
April 19, 2008

When a composer creaters an instantly recognizable style, there's always the risk that the listener will become complacent, feeling little variation to distinguish one piece of writing from another. Certainly Steve Reich--one of minimalism's founding fathers who has since gone on to expand his personal concept of the form--bears a number of stylistic markers, making it virtually impossible not to recognize his work. But while his writing is often defined by complex, polyrhythmic pulses created with a number of instruments, ...

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Steve Reich: Phases: A Nonesuch Retrospective

by John Kelman
October 6, 2006

When the history book is written on the minimalist scene that emerged in the 1960s, it's likely that composer Steve Reich will emerge as the most influential figure. Certainly artists including Philip Glass and Terry Riley have made extremely significant contributions to contemporary classical music and have evolved, like Reich, beyond the inherent constraints of the genre. But Reich's influence can be felt in music by artists as diverse as German bassist Eberhard Weber, guitar legend Pat Metheny and British ...

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Steve Reich: Steve Reich: Different Trains

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 2, 2006

Steve Reich / Smith Quartet Different Trains Signum Records 2005 Frutto di differenti sedute effettuate dallo Smith Quartet tra il gennaio ed il giugno 2005, Different Trains ripropone il rapporto, problematico ed affascinante, instaurato da Steve Reich con i quartetti d'archi. Tra l'altro, due delle tre composizioni in programma - “Triple Quartet" e “Different Trains" - vantano precedenti illustri, essendo state affidate in passato all'esecuzione del Kronos Quartet. Un paragone prestigioso, ma anche scomodo, che il quartetto inglese sostiene piu' ...

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Steve Reich: You Are (Variations)

by John Kelman
October 16, 2005

The liner notes to the Pat Metheny Group's album-length epic The Way Up give special thanks to contemporary composer Steve Reich. On Metheny lists across the internet, fans were asking “who is Steve Reich, and why the thanks?" The best answer to that question is advice to listen to You Are (Variations)--an album that summarizes much of what Reich is about, while managing to differentiate itself from the rest of his significant oeuvre.

One listen to Reich's polyrhythmic pulses and ...