Album

This release marks the 25th anniversary of the New York mostly percussion ensemble Bang On A Can (the All-Stars mentioned here include collaborators like clarinetist-composer Evan Ziporyn). The group's lasting popularity and influence are further attested to by the more than 5,000 memories the band received after offering free downloads from the album to anyone who sent them one. This double-album set might serve the curious as an introduction to Bang On A Can, which fearlessly proclaimed the connectedness of musical traditions generally thought to be separate when it came on the scene in the late 1980s. Ziporyn's Music from Shadow Bang reflects the composer's study of Indonesian percussion traditions. David Longstreth's cheekily titled Instructional Video, Matt Damon, and Breakfast at J&M reflect the interface between Bang On A Can and the world of alternative rock, while kinetic pieces by Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon hark back to the group's "downtown" origins. A piece by Louis Andriessen shows the group's ability to take on a more severe modernist idiom, while Conlon Nancarrow's Four Player Piano Studies, arranged by Ziporyn, put a new, non-mechanistic spin on those works. All these pieces coexist cheerfully, and the sheer range of the group's expertise and enthusiasms ensures the music is anything but boring. A good place to start with this group, which seems likely to notch a second quarter century of performing and recording.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1 of 2
Julia Wolfe Composer Big, Beautiful, Dark and Scary, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
1	Big, Beautiful, Dark and Scary, for contemporary ensemble	8:59			$1.49
David Lang Composer Sunray, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
2	Sunray, for contemporary ensemble	10:15			$1.99
Michael Gordon Composer For Madeline, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
3	For Madeline, for contemporary ensemble	7:53			$1.49
Evan Ziporyn Composer Shadow Bang, theater piece Work 13:09 Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
4	1.Angkat	3:00			$0.99
5	2.Ocean	4:08			$0.99
6	3.Meditasi, Head	6:01			$0.99
CD 2 of 2
David Longstreth Composer Instructional Video, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
1	Instructional Video, for contemporary ensemble	1:50			$0.99
David Longstreth Composer Matt Damon, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
2	Matt Damon, for contemporary ensemble	4:19			$0.99
David Longstreth Composer Breakfast at J&M, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
3	Breakfast at J&M, for contemporary ensemble	1:54			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study 2a Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
4	Study 2a	4:00			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study 3a Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
5	Study 3a	4:39			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study 3c Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
6	Study 3c	3:24			$0.99
Conlon Nancarrow Composer Study 11 Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
7	Study 11	3:29			$0.99
Louis Andriessen Composer Life, for contemporary ensemble Work 13:01 Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
8	1.Wind	4:59			$0.99
9	2.Couple	4:31			$0.99
10	3.In the distance	1:26			$0.99
11	4.Light	2:05			$0.99
Kate Moore Composer Ridgeway, for contemporary ensemble Work Bang on a Can Contemporary Ensemble
12	Ridgeway, for contemporary ensemble	12:55			$1.99