Nexus Performance Part of New Gavin Bryars Compilation
A new compilation of Gavin Bryars' music has been released by Point Music and includes music performed by Nexus.
Gavin Bryars wrote "One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing" for Nexus and Nexus' recording of the work has been released on a Point Music CD compilation that includes Bryars' Cello Concerto (Farewell to Philosophy) with Julian Loyd Webber as soloist and a number of other works by the composer.
"One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing" was for a time a regular feature of Nexus programs and their performance of it was a major part of the Royal Philharmonic Hall concert of "The International Percussion Event" in Stockholm, Sweden organized by the Kroumata Percussion Ensemble in October of 1998. Nexus also performed the work during their first visit to Sao Paolo, Brazil. It is scored for two marimbas, xylophone, vibraphone, crotales, song bells and miscellaneous small percussion instruments and is 19 minutes in duration.
Bryars' composition history and it's influences, the Point Music compilation and another on the Philips label are discussed by music critic Paul Griffiths in his New York Times review of Monday, January 25, 2003.
"One Last Bar, Then Joe Can Sing" is on the CD, "Farewell to Philosophy" which contains Bryars' Cello Concerto and Bass Concerto "By the Vaar" with soloist Charlie Haden. It can be purchased via e-mail from the Nexus web site. Click here to view the NEXUS Discography.
Ray Dillard - NEXUS