Conducted Improvisations Piece No.5 (2002)
Soprano saxophone: Phillip Greenlief | Alto saxophone: Michael Zelner | Tenor saxophone: Alan Anzalone, Henry Kuntz, Michael Cooke | Clarinet: Jason Ditzian | Trumpet: Tom Dill, Freddi Price, Matt Volla | Trombone: Jennifer Baker | Violin: Jeff Hobbs, Joan Ling-Zwissler | Viola: Cheryl E. Leonard, Jorge Boehringer | Contrabass: Bobby Todd | Electric guitar: Matt Lebofsky, Alwyn Quebideaux | Electric bass: Peter Conheim | Theremin: Robert Silverman | Drums: Tyler Cox | Electric drum pad: Thomas Scandura | Percussion, all sorts: Michael Guarino, Suki O’Kane, Ali Tabatabai, Peter Valsamis, Phil Williams, William Winant, Moe! Staiano
Recorded live by Michael Zelner/ZOKA at the Oakland Metro, Oakland CA, USA on the 21st November, 2002.
Conducted Improvisations Piece No.4 (2002)
Saxophone: Alan Anzalone, Michael Zelner, Rent Romus, Colin Stetson | Clarinet: Richard E. Barber, Matt Ingalis, Michael Zelner | Recorder: Tom Bickley | Flute: Erica Fallin | Violon: Jeff Hobbs | Viola: Ceryl E. Leonard | Cello: Merlin Coleman, Bob Marsh | Electric guitar: Michael de la Cuesta, Eli Good, Sue Hutchinson, Alwyn Quebideaux, Rick Rees | Electric acoustic quitar: Ernesto Diaz-Infante | Electric bass: Tom Corboline, Jonathan Segel | Theremin: Robert Silverman | Piano: Scott Looney | Drums: Tyler Cox, Mat Kolenmainen, Thomas Scandura, Chris Sipe | Percussion, all sorts: Tim Bolling, Michael Guarino, Suki O’Kane, Garth Powell | Voice: Jesse Quattro + Hand claps from most members of the orchestra
Recorded live by Jeff Wilson for radio broadcast on KFJC from the Appreciation Hall at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills CA, USA on the 13th April, 2002.
Moe! Staiano’s Moelkestra! | Two Forms of Multitudes: Conducted Improvisations | Conducted Improvisation Piece No. 5 (2002) Total: 37:19 Track 1. 10:41 2. 2:56 3. 5:03 4. 8:32 5. 4:40 | Conducted Improvisation Piece No. 4 (2002) Total: 40:05 Track: 7. 6:02 8. 6:07 9. 12:46 10. 9:12 11. 5:56
All compositions, conductions and arrangements by Moe! Staiano. Note: The pieces are two large compositions as a whole. The indexes are provided for convenience only. Part of Conducted Improvisation Piece No. 4 was previously released on the KFJC compilation ‘Ghost Machine; Live from KFJC 89.7 FM’ (2002). The first ten minutes were edited out (hence the fade-in) to accomodate the duration of a single CD. © 2003 Moe! Staiano
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Two forms of multitudes. A mass amount of musicians playing in huge clusters in a dissonant array, forming a wall of musical noise. I have always enjoyed working with a large orchestra using multitudes of the same instrument. I love a large sound or many players playing all at once in a massive frenzy. These shows were conducted improvisations, which evolved with my own style of cueing musicians; using hand cues, on the spot written notation, etc. Sometimes I include a set of prepared written notations. For the pieces presented here, I used a few notations and preparations that were identical for both shows. It was very interesting how different the results came out varying between the two, in spite of using the same notations. Presenting the very same idea twice in two separate performances, with two almost completely different performing orchestras and having it come out differently altogether.
It’s always a surprise after doing a piece once and having a certain expectation for a performance the second time around, and then having the outcome be extremely different. In improvisation you take chances, not knowing what flaws, mistakes, or unexpected surprises may take place and the results can be either satisfying or a big mesh of noise (as is the case many times). Improvisation is about chance, taking risk and the mystery of what the outcome will be, unknowing of what the unexpected turns out. It’s about breaking down your expectations and being open to what is in the moment. These are two examples of those heated results.
— Moe! Staiano April 2003