Richard Teitelbaum – Cyberband (CD3000)

Seven pioneers of electronic and improvised music on one stage. In 1993, synthesizer pioneer Richard Teitelbaumbrought his Cyberband to the Moers Festival, a supergroup where almost every musician combined an acoustic instrument with live electronics. Guitarist Fred Frith, cellist Tom Cora, trombonist George Lewis, Portuguese violinist Carlos Zingaro, Dutch electronics innovator Michel Waisvisz and Japanese turntablist Otomo Yoshihide joined Teitelbaum on keyboards and electronics.

The result is a live recording between free improvisation, electroacoustic music and noise. Acoustic sounds are captured, transformed and thrown back into the music in real time. Guitar, cello, trombone and violin melt into electronic textures, and Otomo’s turntables add samples and scratches. Pieces like “Hard Ticket”, “Emperor Walks (The Marionette)”, “Sunrise on the Sprawl” and “Whirled Bands” lead up to the 15-minute closer “Coming Abstractions”. The music moves from dense sound storms to fragile, almost chamber-like passages, and you can hear seven masters listening intensely to each other.

This is a must for fans of live electronics, Henry Cow, John Zorn, the New York downtown scene and the European improv scene. Released on Moers Music. When you buy here, you’re buying directly from the label, and we only sell originals.

The Side Story

Richard Teitelbaum (1939–2020) was one of the first musicians to play the synthesizer as a live instrument. After studying at Yale and with Luigi Nono in Italy, he co-founded the legendary live electronics group Musica Elettronica Viva in Rome in 1966 with Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Curran. In 1967 he brought the first Moog synthesizer to Europe. He later worked with Anthony Braxton, Nam June Paik and Steve Lacy, studied shakuhachi in Tokyo and taught electronic music at Bard College for over 30 years. The New York Times called him the most creative improvising synthesizer soloist in contemporary music.

The Cyberband brought together many musicians who also appear elsewhere in the Moers catalogue. George Lewis plays on the Vienna Art Choir albums and on Rhys Chatham’s Factor X. Tom Cora appears with Curlew (North America) and Perfect Trouble. Fred Frith produced North America and plays on David Moss’s Full House. Teitelbaum and Zingaro had already recorded a duo album together, The Sea Between. The same year, 1993, Jamaaladeen Tacuma played the Moers Festival with Basso Nouveau (CD2098).

Tracklist

1. Hard Ticket – 8:13

2. Emperor Walks (The Marionette) – 7:32

3. Sunrise on the Sprawl – 7:24

4. Duo – 5:34

5. Whirled Bands – 7:37

6. Running Up And – 8:08

7. Coming Abstractions – 15:34

Total running time: approx. 60 minutes

Personnel

• Richard Teitelbaum – keyboards, electronics

• Fred Frith – guitar, electronics

• Tom Cora – cello, electronics

• George Lewis – trombone, electronics

• Carlos Zingaro – violin

• Michel Waisvisz – electronics

• Otomo Yoshihide – turntables

Details

• Format: CD

• Label: Moers Music

• Catalog no.: CD3000

• Recorded: Live, 1993, Moers Festival, Moers, Germany

• Price: €14.00