Henry Kuntz & Paul V. Kuntz | DOUBLE VISION | HBD 03

On Double Vision, Paul and I began with the concept of “festival form” as showcased by the Envision Ensemble Live at Berkeley Arts Festival. At Paul’s suggestion, we expanded the bounds of the sonic fairgrounds to include: on Bluebonnet Poppies solo music of mine from the LP Ancient of Days, Light of Glory; on Redwood Oaks duo music by myself and John Kuntz from the cassette New World Music; and on Sagebrush Tumbleweeds generic crowd noise which is always an integral part of any festival sound field. — Henry Kuntz Continue reading

Henry Kuntz | The Ecstatic Center | HBD 02 | Free Download

HENRY KUNTZ: Nepalese Flute & Soprano Recorder (played together), Morocco double-reed Rhaita, Tenor Saxophone. Performance of July 25, 1999 Beanbenders at Fine Arts Theatre Berkeley, California. On-location digital recording and original mastering & mix by Michael Zelner. Thanks to Dan Plonsey who invited me to play at Beanbenders and to Michael Zelner who exquisitely captured the diverse sounds of the instruments. Continue reading

Henry Kuntz | Whirling Sun Visions!

Subtitled “Multi-Track Works-In-Process Miniatures”, this is a collection of pieces for overlaid saxophones, vocals and exotic percussives, although the latter are not present in all the tracks. Kuntz appears very interested in the generation of ritualistic moods through the concurrence of different pulses, the presence of the Javanese gamelan adding evident metallic/melodic tints in episodes like the opening “Celestial Forest”. But if we pretend to be transported in a parallel dimension, this recipe leads to the magnification of an innocent-sounding density, a child playing with a series of reed instruments in a room full of clocks. The segments where only amassed saxes are featured are more comparable to the gathering of seagulls fighting for food on a beach, kind of a semi-chaotic superimposition of pattern-within-pattern designs which translates into a peculiar type of entrancement, a bunch of Poppy Nogoods who have had a few too many. Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes Continue reading

Henry Kuntz | BOLIVIA 1986 | Native Ritual Music from Italaque: Panpipes, Flutes, Drums

All of this music was recorded outdoors on basic equipment in “real life” circumstances, under conditions far from optimal for recording. Yet the ambience, excitement, and electricity of the music shine through in ways that fully reflect its cultural authenticity. It is to provide a small cultural looking glass into a world or worlds barely known to most of us that these recordings are presented. I hope they will encourage you to want to know more, to open your world up more to the many fascinating and diverse worlds around us. — Henry Kuntz Continue reading

Henry Kuntz | Sacred Gamelan Sekati of Yogyakarta | Java 1997

This music was recorded in open-air pavilions on basic equipment under conditions far from optimal for recording. Yet the ambience, excitement, and electricity of the music shine through in ways that fully reflect its cultural authenticity. Earth Series is releasing this material because of its uniqueness and general unavailability on the commercial market. — Henry Kuntz Continue reading