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Gene Pritsker's Sound LiberationElectronic Press Kit VRE SUITEHOMEGene Pritskers Sound Liberation VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE SUITE'VRE Suite' is an hour composition based on Gene Pritsker's opera 'William James' Varieties of Religious Experiences'. It is performed by the quintet version of the band Sound Liberation with: Greg Baker and Gene Pritsker on guitars, David Gotay on cello, Mat Fieldes on bass, Joe Abba on drums The music is influenced by jazz, contemporary classical music, improvisation, minimalism, hip-hop, and African rhythms. It was released on July 27th, 2010 on Innova Records...Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change, and evidence of this is found in the Varieties of Religious Experiences Suite ... Of the three hundred or so compositions by Pritsker, Varieties of Religious Experience Suite may be his most groundbreaking yet. - Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz, June 2010"Gene Pritsker's music is much more than the sum of the elements involved. It's one of the more unusual works-performances I've heard in some time. It will no doubt appeal to those who look for rock that moves deeply into the "serious" music category. Those enthusiasts of contemporary classical and improvisation will find something very different here. No matter what camp you may be a part of, this recording will stretch the boundaries of what you expect."- Grego Applegate Edwards Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog, Aug. 2010 PORTFOLIO
VRE SUITEABOUTMy composition, VRE Suite, continues the long tradition of composers creating suites out of their operas. The music in this suite is from my opera William James Varieties of Religious Experience. I open up many sections for improvisation and group development while reinterpreting many of the vocal melodies found in the opera as instrumental music. The original spirit of the opera stays in tact. The music is influenced by jazz, contemporary classical music, improvisation, minimalism, hip-hop and rock rhythms, etc. Scored for a quintet version of my band Sound Liberation: cello, 2 electric guitars, contrabass and drum set, this album is in contrast to our previous albums that utilize voices (various singers and rappers) and many varied instrumental timbers. In VRE I was interested in experimenting with a constant contrast between meticulously notated music and improvisation. Each of the eight movements have sections that mostly repeat an ostinato rhythm, and are designated for particular instruments to improvise over, though most of the music you hear is carefully notated. The goal is to effortlessly shift from one section to the next, creating a continuous composition while challenging the listeners perception as to weather the music being heard is notated or improvised.REVIEWS4 star Downbeat review:"unexpected twists and turns...The result my have you seeing visions...strains of jazz, contemporary classical music, minimalism, and even hip-hop and African rhythms " - John Ephland, Downbeat, Nov. 2010"...Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change, and evidence of this is found in the Varieties of Religious Experiences Suite ... Of the three hundred or so compositions by Pritsker, Varieties of Religious Experience Suite may be his most groundbreaking yet. The penultimate, "Tolstoy" sequence captures Pritsker's own sense of the empiricism of the plurality of music (although this echoes throughout the suite), where musical idiomswhether melodic, harmonic or rhythmicmix into a melange as heady as peyote. Only this time, the memory of the music lingers long after the last note strikes the inner ear."- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz, June 2010read full:http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36869"Gene Pritsker's music is much more than the sum of the elements involved. It's one of the more unusual works-performances I've heard in some time. It will no doubt appeal to those who look for rock that moves deeply into the "serious" music category. Those enthusiasts of contemporary classical and improvisation will find something very different here. No matter what camp you may be a part of, this recording will stretch the boundaries of what you expect."- Grego Applegate Edwards Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog, Aug. 2010 read fullhttp://gapplegateguitar.blogspot.com/2010/08/gene-pritskers-sound-liberation.html Gene Pritsker's aptly named Sound Liberation are afraid of nothing, mixing rhythm and genre to the point where the listener simply gives up on labels and enjoys the ride! The quintet of guitars, cello, bass and drums generate a truly unique sound with plenty of group and solo improvisation building on Pritsker's strong compositions - comparisons with Sonny Sharrock are apt, but don't tell the whole story - grab this indie gem now!rootdownFM.com- "It is amazing how masterfully Pritsker explored the opportunities offered by James poetic vocabulary."..."Exceptionally curious and inclusive rather than aggressive or confrontational" ..."The VRE Suite is full of tasteful improvisation, sturdy melodies and voice-leading, strong grooves. Mystical it may be, but VRE Suite is far from enigmatic. It positively asserts that your cosmic, mystical experience is as genuine as my mystical experience; or as genuine as that of any organized religion.- Douglas McNair, Chamber Music Today. October, 2010 read the full reviewhttp://chambermusictoday.blogspot.com/2010/10/gene-pritsker-beautiful-heterodoxy.html"I really like the sound and the interaction of the different instruments. There's some great guitar & cello unisono lines, beautiful lyrical melodies and exciting improvisations.".... "Varieties Of Religious Experience Suite" is an impressive Album- Peter Van Laarhoven, United-Mutations, Dec. 2010read the full reviewhttp://united-mutations.blogspot.com/2010/12/gene-pritsker-varieties-of-religious.html"An interesting body of work, one that mashes together styles in a way that is unique" - Pico, Somethingelsereview.com Dec 2010read fullhttp://www.somethingelsereviews.com/2010/12/three-2010-releases-from-innova.html

vre sampler 2

SAMPLERThe CD was up for Grammy consideration for Best Contemporary Jazz Album

5. closer to me than my own

Closer to me then my own breathBIOBIOSComposer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles, etc. All his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released cd/s on Col-legno and Innova Records. Gene's music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn and Berlin Philharmonic. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated such Hollywood movies as 'Perfume, Story of a Murderer' and The International' The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, Fall 2001, described Pritsker as "dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre". Other organizations he is associated with include: Composers' Concordance, Absolute Ensemble, The international Street Cannibals. Some of Gene Pritsker's music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music and recorded by: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova and Capstone record labels. Sound Liberation, an eclectic chamber ensemble/band, was formed in 1996. The band has gained exposure in the New York city area and has generated a loyal core following playing such notable venues as Joe's Pub, Wetlands, Knitting Factory, The Blue Note, Downtime, New Music Cafe, Cutting Room,, Le Poisson Rouge and many other performing spaces. Recently the group performed at the Outreach Festival '06 and again in '07 in Schwaz, Austria. Also in '07 Sound Liberation performed at the Estonian House and presented Gene Pritsker's Opera Money at the Players Theatre and Flea Theatre in New York. In May of '08 'Money' was performed at the Etna music Festival in Catania, Sicily and Sound Liberation played in Ragusa, Sicily. In July '08 they performed at the Blaine jazz Festival in Blaine, Wa. In May of '09 Sound Liberation presented 2 nights at the Flea theater, performing Gene Pritsker's one hour VRE Suite written for the Sound Liberation Quintet and a concert with B3+ of music from their albums on Col-Legno records. In past years the group was part of the Peekaboo Festival of New Music and Theater and has toured Newfoundland, Canada in April of '99. In August of '09 the Song No Truth, from the recent album, was featured in the Universal Home Videos motion picture 'The Wedding Bothers'. In the fall of 2010 'Human Condition' will be featured on PBS's Road Trip Nation series. The band played a very publicized concert at New York's Le Poisson Rouge in January '10, the New Yorker wrote: "Pritsker, a rule-breaking composer-guitarist (and rapper) who impresses funk and rock beats onto classical structures, fronts this eclectic jazz-type combo of singers and instrumentalists" The band has released their 2nd album 'Open Up Your Ears and Get Some' on Col Legno Records (www.col-legno.com) and had an album release concert at Drom in New York in November '08.In July 2010 Innova Records released Gene Pritsker's 'VRE Suite' written for the quintet portion of Sound Liberation. Sound Liberation's musical philosophy, developed by band founder Gene Pritsker, is based upon "ending the segregation of sound vibration (i.e. musical Genres)". The group incorporates its philosophy by performing compositions that encompass a diverse range of musical genre, heavily influenced by hip-hop and rock rhythms. This enables one to hear elements from classical music to Jazz to music of various cultures at a Sound Liberation show.CONTACTContact us at:soundliberation_nyc.rr.comHere are Sound Liberations and Gene Pritskers official websites:http://www.genepritsker.com/http://www.soundliberation.net/Here is Innovas offical release page:http://innova.mu/artist1.asp?skuID=412Please let us know if you are interested and I will have Innova mail you a physical copy of the CDHere is a link to the score just in case you want to follow along to the track'Closer to Me than My Own Breath'http://genepritsker.com/closer%20to%20me....pdfPictures by Orin Optiglot

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