No me gustan los recopilatorios.
Este doble compacto está dedicado a la memoria de Tom Cora, compositor y violonchista en clave experimental que murió en abril de 1998 a los 45 años de edad. Tom Cora llegó a New York en 1977 y tocó en grupos con artistas como Bill Laswell (Curlew), Samm Bennett (Third Person) y grabó con músicos de la talla de Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Laswell, John Zorn y sobre todo con Fred Frith con quien formó "Skeleton Crew" en 1982 grabando un par de discos de estudio.
Se puede afrontar la audición de este doble compacto de dos formas y yo he pasado por ambas. Una primera fué escucharlo sin conocer el contenido, ni los intérpretes, ni el motivo por el que están incluidos en el disco. El resultado, como me esperaba, es un conjunto de temas, muy buenos algunos, pero sin la estructura conceptual típica de los discos de música avanzada. Un batiburrillo de temas donde se puede apreciar el buen hacer de Tom Cora en el violonchelo. En general nunca me gustaron los recopilatorios sin un porque claro; aunque termine por escucharlos, suelo huir de los greatest hits y sobre todo odio mortalmente esas bandas sonoras de canciones que casi nunca tienen que ver unas con otras.
Definitivamente no me terminan de gustar los recopilatorios.
La segunda forma de escuchar este recopilatorio es bucear un poco en la vida y obra del creador, en este caso Tom Cora, y conocer los motivos por los cuales John Zorn decide incluir cada corte en el disco. Siendo así el conjunto toma cierto cariz estructural y termina por dejarse escuchar con interés.
Tom Cora fué un tipo que irrumpió de forma intempestiva en la escena musical newyorkina de finales de los 70, hablamos de una escena musical plenamente improvisativa y atonal. Tom Cora se codeó con lo más granado de la época y entabló amistad con figuras de las letras como Paul Haines. Se trasladó a Francia y en los 90 estuvo tocando en Holanda con "The Ex" una banda anarco-punk en una mágica colaboración de un montón de conciertos y un par de discos altamente recomendables: "Scrabbling at the Lock (1991)" y "And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders (1993)". En Holanda también participó en el disco "Etymology (1997)" junto a Fred Frith. Murió en 1998 de un melanoma y estuvo tocando hasta pocos días antes de fallecer.
En definitiva, este doble compacto es preferible considerarlo un documento sonoro de la vida y obra de Tom Cora, pero para saborear su música, y sin posibilidad de ver su explosivo caracter en el escenario (según cuentan, aunque "siempre nos quedará Youtube"), es preferible escuchar los varios discos que grabó; sobre todo los dos con los explosivos "The Ex"
No se si a alguien le resultará de utilidad, pero he rescatado el libreto completo que viene con el doble compacto y en que se puede leer el origen de todos los cortes; me parece una información necesaria para poder asimilar bien la música que contiene esta edición. A mi desde luego me ha servido de mucho.
Este doble compacto está dedicado a la memoria de Tom Cora, compositor y violonchista en clave experimental que murió en abril de 1998 a los 45 años de edad. Tom Cora llegó a New York en 1977 y tocó en grupos con artistas como Bill Laswell (Curlew), Samm Bennett (Third Person) y grabó con músicos de la talla de Eugene Chadbourne, Bill Laswell, John Zorn y sobre todo con Fred Frith con quien formó "Skeleton Crew" en 1982 grabando un par de discos de estudio.
Se puede afrontar la audición de este doble compacto de dos formas y yo he pasado por ambas. Una primera fué escucharlo sin conocer el contenido, ni los intérpretes, ni el motivo por el que están incluidos en el disco. El resultado, como me esperaba, es un conjunto de temas, muy buenos algunos, pero sin la estructura conceptual típica de los discos de música avanzada. Un batiburrillo de temas donde se puede apreciar el buen hacer de Tom Cora en el violonchelo. En general nunca me gustaron los recopilatorios sin un porque claro; aunque termine por escucharlos, suelo huir de los greatest hits y sobre todo odio mortalmente esas bandas sonoras de canciones que casi nunca tienen que ver unas con otras.
Definitivamente no me terminan de gustar los recopilatorios.
La segunda forma de escuchar este recopilatorio es bucear un poco en la vida y obra del creador, en este caso Tom Cora, y conocer los motivos por los cuales John Zorn decide incluir cada corte en el disco. Siendo así el conjunto toma cierto cariz estructural y termina por dejarse escuchar con interés.
Tom Cora fué un tipo que irrumpió de forma intempestiva en la escena musical newyorkina de finales de los 70, hablamos de una escena musical plenamente improvisativa y atonal. Tom Cora se codeó con lo más granado de la época y entabló amistad con figuras de las letras como Paul Haines. Se trasladó a Francia y en los 90 estuvo tocando en Holanda con "The Ex" una banda anarco-punk en una mágica colaboración de un montón de conciertos y un par de discos altamente recomendables: "Scrabbling at the Lock (1991)" y "And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders (1993)". En Holanda también participó en el disco "Etymology (1997)" junto a Fred Frith. Murió en 1998 de un melanoma y estuvo tocando hasta pocos días antes de fallecer.
En definitiva, este doble compacto es preferible considerarlo un documento sonoro de la vida y obra de Tom Cora, pero para saborear su música, y sin posibilidad de ver su explosivo caracter en el escenario (según cuentan, aunque "siempre nos quedará Youtube"), es preferible escuchar los varios discos que grabó; sobre todo los dos con los explosivos "The Ex"
No se si a alguien le resultará de utilidad, pero he rescatado el libreto completo que viene con el doble compacto y en que se puede leer el origen de todos los cortes; me parece una información necesaria para poder asimilar bien la música que contiene esta edición. A mi desde luego me ha servido de mucho.
DISC 1
101 Cuimhnean Phiobair
LESLI DALABA trumpet
Music: Sean Potts Recorded at the corner church. June 1998 by Greg Gilmore.
leslie and Tom arrived in New York at the same time, from very different backgrounds and were a vital part of the burgeoning
improvising scene of the late '70s, playing together with John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne. Polly Bradfield and in many ad hoc
configurations.
----------
102 The Gospel of Gone
UMEZU KAZUTOKI alto sax with:
NAKAO KANJI soprano sax
HAYASHI EIICHI alto sax
TADA YOKO alto sax
KATAYAMA HIROAKI tenor sax
NOMOTO KAZUHIRO baritone sax
SHIMIZU KAZUTO bass clarinet
OHARA YUTAKA trombone
SEKIJIMA TAKEROU tuba
KONDO TATSUO accordion
REICHI percussion
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded on the street in Tokyo. Sept. 1998 by Aki Onda
Support provided by Kanji Suzuki and Disk Union
We wanted to play this tune in the city and let people hear Tom's Music. We ended up fighting (and running away from) both
a typhoon and the police!
Please don't cut the street and wind noise
-----------
103 Halts
TOM CORA cello
PHIL MINTON voice
LUC EX bass
MICHAEL VATCHER drums
Music: Roof
Words: Paul Haines
Recorded at Lagerhaus, Bremen, june 1997
Tom's love of words was clear to anyone who ever received one of his letters, masterpieces as they were of surrealist humour
and understatement. It seems inevitable that he and Paul Haines would meet, become friends, and collaborate...
------------
104 Talking to the Tree
FRED FRITH guitar
CATHERINE JAUNIAUX voice
Recorded at the Tom Cora Memorial Concert May 1998 by Daniel Goldaracena
Shortly before the show was due to begin two thunderstorms collided over Lower Manhattan, making a colossal din and hurling down
hailstones the size of golf balls. Elia slept throughout, but power was disrupted and the subway from Brooklyn was stuck for two hours,
forcing even the indefatigable Irving and Stephanie Stone to miss the concert. We all felt that Tom was overdoing it a bit...
-------------
105 Saint Dog
PIPPIN BARNETT drums
GEORGE CARTWRIGHT saxophones
TOM CORA cello
ANN RUPEL bass
DAVEY WILLIAMS guitar
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded at Water Music, Hoboken, November 1990 by Hahn Rowe from the CD Bee (Cuneiform Rune 27) by kind permission of Cuneiform Records.
This classic Curlew lineup features some of Tom's closest friends and musical collaborators at the top of their form. It's a perfect
example of their explosive and yet subtly contained emotional force.
--------------
106 Seafaring
AMY DENIO voice, perc, guitar, alto sax, piano innards, text
JEROEN VISSER collage, mastering
Recorded at Fish Made Studio, Zurich and Bendy Thing & Spaciouser Spoot Studios, Seattle
1998 Spoot Music (ASCAP)/Fish Tones (SUISA)
The different elements of the sound collage were mostly chosen because of a direct or indirect connection with Tom.
They include "The Vorwaerts" a 1923-built tug-boat in Hamburg whose name I associate with Tom's way of living; the massed trombones
of the United House of Prayer in Harlem. where Tom took us (the Ex) in 1992; an open-air recording of crickets in the Dordogne during
which the batteries died, causing the playback to slowly rise in pitch: sod New Year's Eve fireworks, which created an unexpectedly
strong emotional reaction in ny neighbour, a retired sea-captain, for whom letting off fireworks represents the last hope of the sailor
in trouble... JV
----------------
107 Two-day 'til Tomorrow
TOM CORA accordions
Recorded at Bisi Studio, Brooklyn, Summer 1983 by Martin Bisi
Produced by Fred Frith
from the Curlew CD North America (Monet 02080)
by kind permission of Moers Music.
One of the things that mode Tom such o joy to play with (and listen to) was the fact that his sources were so different. Not only did
he have a studied disregard for the avant-garde, he embraced his own Southern roots with sly enthusiasm, What he looked for in music was
simplicity and heart, both of which attributes shine diamond-like through this song.
-----------------
108 In Memory Of
SAMM BENNETT
ITO HARUNA
Recorded at Mescaluna, Nishinomiya & Polarity, Tokyo, Nov. 1998
Special thanks to Haco and Christopher Stevens.
Directional Music (BMI)
Samm has always spoken rather ruefully of Tom's perfectionism in soundchecks and studios, but some of it obviously rubbed off
because we received no less that three other versions of this song before he felt that it was "the one."
----------------
109 Jim
PIPPIN BARNETT drums
BARRY BLESS accordion
DANNY FINNY tenor sax
ROBBIE KINTER percussion, keyboard
GEORGE LOWE bass clarinet
DAVE YOHE string bass
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded at Sound of Music Studios, Richmond, VA by j Morand
...named after the James River that flows thru our stubborn and stupid capital ciy of Richmond, composed by Tom sometime around 1988,
first recorded by Nimal, and then by Curlew. PB
------------------
110 Just a Dream
CAROLINE KRAABEL sax
JOHN EDWARDS double bass
le monde, une trajectoire, nous, n'importe quoi ça vaut dire. TC
------------------
111 Today
CHRIS COCHRANE voice
ZEENA PARKINS piano
Music: George Cartwright
Words: Paul Haines
Arranged by Chris Cochrane
Produced by Tom Cora
Recorded at Noise New York, 1987
From an unreleased Chris Cochrane record produced by Tom, who knew a good voice when he heard one
-------------------
112 Marseille Shout
TOM CORA cello
HAKIM HAMADOUCHE lute, voice
EDMOND HOSDIKIAN alto sax
BARRE PHILIPS double bass
AHMED COMPAORE drums
Recorded at Studio Cactus, Marseille, Sept. 1997
by Christian Noel
Produced by Cactus, Vue-sur-la -Mer and InfoMusic
After moving to the south of France, Tom plunged enthusiastically into the local scene. Here he participates with a near neighbor
(Barre Phillips) and three of the hottest improvisers in Marseille, a true ecclectic culture clash.
--------------------
113 Love, Love, Love
WAYNE HORVITZ piano
Recorded at Ironwood Studios. Nov. 1998 by Floyd Reitsma
01998 Other Room Music (ASCAP)
Soon after I found out Tom was ill again I found myself at the piano trying to practice and writing a tune instead.
It wasn't that I was thinking about Tom and started to write this piece, but rather that I was writing this piece and started thinking
about Tom. I played it over and over again. Later the theme worked its way into a chamber piece i was writing entitled "Otis Spann."
I named each movement after a song by Otis Spann, and this piece became "Lot, Love. Love." I hope Tom would've liked it. WH
---------------------
114 Casey R.
TOM CORA cello
FRED FRITII home-made instruments
JOHN ZORN alto sax, game calls, mouthpieces
Recorded at WKCR-FM, New York, April 1983
Improvising with Tom was always a pleasure and a challenge. He was a musician you could always count on to push the music to new places.
----------------------
115 Weaklings
SAMM BENNETT drums, samples
TOM CORA, cello
with
MARC RIBOT guitar
Recorded live at the Knitting Factory. 1990 by Bob Appel
from the CD The Bends, (KFWCD-102)
by kind permission of Knitting Factory Works.
Third Person was one of those ideas which are great through their simpliciy. Samm and Tom played countless "Third Persons" from
Steve Lacy (he brought his charts!) to Kazutoki Umezu (he didn't). Marc Ribot was a particularly apt and abrasive partner...
------------------------
116 Der Glater Bulgar
TAKEDA KENICHI taisho-koto
OKUMA WATARU clarinet
IWATE HIROSHI sax
CHINO SHUICHI keyboard
KOYAMA TETSUTO bass
NAKAO KANJI drums
with
KASUGA HIROBUMI guitar
Music: Dave Tarras Arranged by A-Musik
Recorded at G.O.K. Sound, Tokyo, summer 1995 by Kondo Yoshiaki
Produced by Okuma Wataru and A -Musik
We learned this number from Tom in around 1986 or '87.
--------------------
117 The President of the United States
TOM CORA cello
LEO SMITH trumpet, small instruments
RICHARD TEITELBAUM synthesizer
CARLOS ZINGARO violin
Recorded in concert at Bard College. May 1993
In the last few years Tom was often to be found in improvised groupings with Richard Teitelbaum and Carlos Zmgaro.
This recording is one of their earliest meetings.
-------------------
118 Light Sentence
GEORGE CARTWRIGHT saxes
TOM CORA cello
MARK HOWELL guitar
FRED FRITH bass
RICK BROWN drums
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded at Bisi Studio, Brooklyn, Summer 1983
Produced by Fred Frith
from the Curlew CD North America (Moers 02080)
by kind permission of Moers Music.
Curlew was Tom's main foray into Jazz. His relationship with George was dynamic, loving and confrontational. Sparks often flew
and you can hear it in the music.
-------------------
119 The Week Tom Died
THIERRY AZAM all instruments
Recorded at his home, April 1998
Tom came home from his last concert and was almost immediately rushed to the hospital. His nearest neighbor and good friend Thierry Azam,
whom he'd met in Arizona at the time of Elia's birth, was inspired to record this music as Torn engaged in this last struggle.
--------------------
120 There will be a Happy Meeting
TOM CORA cello
Traditional (after the rendition by Joseph Spence)
Recorded at Harold Dessau Studio, New York, 1990 by Nick Collins
from the solo CD "Gumption in Limbo" (SAS CD042)
by kind permission of Sound Aspects.
Spence was a great inspiration to Tom. Mostly it was just love, but as guitarist who changed to cello there was something more
there—the originality, spirituality and sheer quirkiness appealed to something deep inside, and this was a most abiding affection.
-------------
-------------
DISC 2
201 The Flute's Tale
TOM CORA cello
TERRIE EX guitar
ANDY EX guitar
KATRIN EX drums
LUC EX bass
G.W. SOK vocals
Words and music: The EX & Tom Cora
Recorded during a live broadcast for VPRO Radio 3
in La Stampa, August 1991
Tom's collaboration with the EX brought his music to o whole new audience, and completed his integration into the cutting edge of new
European music. Tom was one of those rare players who could effortlessly merge into radically different cultural and musical situations.
-----------------
202 Burning Hoop
TOM CORA cello
Recorded at Harold Dessau, New York, 1990 by Nick Collins
from the solo CD "Gumption in Limbo" (SAS CD 042)
by kind permission of Sound Aspects.
Tom expanded the language and possibilities of the cello farther than any other player of his time. His solo improvisations stand as
some of the most important work of his career.
-----------------
203 Pitter Patter Panther
EUGENE CHADBOURNE guitar, voice, tape effects
TOM CORA cello
DAVID LICHT drums
KRAMER cheap organ, voice
JOHN ZORN alto and soprano saxes, clarinet, game calls
Music: Duke Ellington Arranged by Tom Cora
Recorded live in Ohio, circa 1981
Tom first met Eugene at the Woodstock music school in the late '70s. They hooked up immediately, feeling a deep kinship and Tom
became an integral member of Eugene's varied musical projects from 7978 to 1981. This track is from a particularly brutal tour of
the States marking the end of a long and fruitful musical partnership.
-------------------
204 Tomcat
MIYA MASAOKA koto
LARRY OCHS tenor sax
BOB OSTERTAG samples
Recorded at Division Studio, San Francisco, Sept. 1998
Tomcat was the name given to Tom Cora's software program designed at STEIM. While touring as a trio with Fred Frith and Tom in
1994—his ingenious technique with sampling was a formidable inspiration—he gave freely of his knowledge and advice. When he plged,
his kinetic energy shot like spikes through the music, and I can see his gangly limbs angling the cello now. MM
--------------------
205 Tom Wood
GERRY HEMINGWAY percussion
Recorded at Roulette, New York City, Nov. 1998 by Gisburg
In the last months Tom had intense e-mail communication with many of his friends. None was more intense than that with Gerry Hemingway
and his wife Nancy. who, as a fellow cancer sufferer was an endless source of energy, ideas and inspiration. She beat it...
--------------------
206 Mr. TC
ELLIOTT SHARP guitar
FRANCES-MARIE UITTI cello
Recorded live in Amsterdam, 1998
JDK (BUMA)/ZoAr (BMI)
An improvisation excerpt from a concert in Amsterdam with thoughts of Tom. Frances and I both played and hung out with Tom in a variety
of situations. Hopefully we've captured a touch of his adventurous spint. ES
----------------------
207 Jelly Roll Stomp
TOM CORA accordion
FRED FRITH violin
ZEENA PARKINS accordion
Music Jelly Roll Morton Arranged by Skeleton Crew
Recorded at CBGB's, New York, April 1985
I learned this song from Tom when the car we were travelling in had broken down somewhere in the middle of Poland in 1984.
It was a beautiful sunny day, our driver had gone off to look for help and didn't return for several hours, and Tom decided it was
a good moment to teach himself something on the accordion that he'd just bought in Warsaw with our hard-earned but unexportable zlotys.
A couple of days later it was this tune that saved us at the Czech- Hungarian border, when the guards, suspicious of the huge number
of instruments we habitually carried, demanded that we play something to prove that we weren't smuggler,. FF
-----------------------
208 Fence
ZEENA PARKINS harp
SARA PARKINS violin
MARGARET PARKINS cello
Recorded at 6/8 Studios, New York, February 1997
by Perkins Barnes, mixed at ZoAr by Elliott Sharp
© 1997 Zeena Parkins
Tom and Zeena were incredibly close, especially during their years in Skelton Crew. This is a small portion of a larger work, Sender,
made for choreographer Jennifer Monson and first performed at the Kitchen in NYC.
-------------------------
209 Vepiranka
IVA BITTOVA violin, voice
TOM CORA cello
Recorded at Studio V -Zlin, May 1997 by Ica Viktorin
Recorded in Prague during sessions for a CD "of songs by Iva". Tom and Iva were friends since Skeleton Crew's concerts in Brno in 1983
and shared a great love of traditional folk music.
-------------------------
210 Intenda
MOMO ROSSEL guitar
PIPPIN BARNETT drums
TOM CORA cello
BRATKO BIBIC accordion
JEAN-VIN HUGUENIN bass
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded at Studio CCAM, Vandoevre-les-Nancy, 1989
by Francois Dietz
from the CD "Voix de Surface" (RecRec 31)
by kind permission of Recommended
Maintenant. il est la, a cote de moi quand je travaille au studio: comme toujours. il reste un grand "moteur", et toujours je l'en
remercierai du plus profond de moi-meme! MR
-------------------------
211 Tromba Marina a Cora
NICOLAS COLLINS backwards electric guitar
Tromba Marina uses a glissing oscillator to sweep harmonics out of the strings of an Hawaiian guitar- a lot of my collaborations with
Tom touched on natural harmonics of open strings and scordatura tunings. NC
------------------------
212 Hoppas att det Gar/Total Preparation
TOM CORA voice, cello
RORIE chorus, marimba
OKUMA WATARU chorus, piano
KIMURA SHINYA drums
with
SHINODA MASAMI baritone sax
NISHIMURA TAKUYA bass
Music: Lars Hollmer/Tom Cora/Pidgin Combo
Recorded at Manda-la 2, Tokyo. March 1989
Tom was always a big fan of the Luna Park Ensemble and was involved in many projects with them, of which Pidgin Combo is a wondwful example.
-------------------------
213 Yellow Smile
HAHN ROWE all instruments
©1998 Polimorfos Music (BMI)
There's an early false spring and all the Ume trees have bloomed. I admire their foolishness. Sayonara. TC
-----------------------
214 Two Days 'til Tomorrow
TOM CORA cello
WOLFGANG M1TTERER piano, prepared piano
Part of the forthcoming CD of the same name, recorded 5996-98
Again I will hang beforeyour eyes. TC
------------------------
215 Jesus Speak to Me
TYSON ROGERS piano
Traditional Arranged by Tyson Rogers Recorded June 1998
Clearly influenced by Joseph Spence, one of Tom's great musical loves.
------------------------
216 Radiotraces
THOMAS DIMUZIO digital editing and processing of Tom Cora cello recordings
Cello samples from Skeleton Crew's CD "Etymology"
by kind permission of Rarefaction Records
Chance editing techniques set the piece in motion, and from there, personal taste, and some divine intervention on Tom's part, dictated
how the piece would ulti-mately unfold... TD
-------------------------
217 One More Time
TOM CORA cello
CHRIS CUTLER drums, processing
FRED FRITH guitar
Recorded live at Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers. March 1998
Tom's working relationship with Fred spanned almost tweny years, and this exciting trio recording was one of their last performances together.
-------------------------
218 Tom's Lament
KRAMER & TESS all instruments and voices
Produced and engineered by Kramer at Virginia's, Christmas 1998
Kramer. Tess Music (BMI) administered by Bug Music
It will be simple, very slow, and very sad. Tess will be humming the melody, You May wanna put last K
--------------------------
219 Zach's Flag
TOM CORA cello, drums, contraptions
FRED FRITH guitar, drums
Music: Tom Cora
Recorded at Sunrise, Switzerland, Christmas 1983
by Robert Vogel & Fred Frith
from "Learn to Talk" (RecRec 512)
by kind permission of Recommended Enigmatic fiddle coda by Rebby Sharp
Skeleton Crew was the band that really catapulted Tom into the public light, showcasing his eclectic musical taste, his compositional
prowess and his multi-instrumental virtuosiy. He remained very close to Fred down through the years, and their magical rapport is evident
in this early duo track. An uplifting way to end this memorial tribute.
----------------------------
Compiled, edited and sequenced by Fred Frith and Peter Hardt
at Jankowski Studio, Stuttgart
Executive producer: John Zorn
Associate producer: Kazunori Sugiyama
Mastered by Allan Tucker at Foothill Digital, NYC
Photos: Heike Liss, Henry Corra, Zeena Parkins, Glenn Leslie, Daniel Goldacena, Micheal Macioce
Design: Ikue Mori
Special thanks to the contributors, as well as those who took the trouble to send pieces only to find that there was no room for them
after all —your generosity and openness helped make this possible.
Thanks also to Catherine Jauniaux & Henry Corra for their love, support and many helpful suggestions, and to Steve Feigenbaum,
Michael Dorf, Pedro de Freitas and Burkhard Hennen for their warmth and lack of hesitation in making material available.
All participants have agreed to donate all proceeds from this record to Tom & Catherine's son Elia.
------------------------------
When I was at Roulette a few days ago I saw Zeena and Jim talking re: her very interesting OPIUM project and I saw Tom standing across the room in the center by the piano listening standing like a tree pretty unsentimental and observant speaks in the language of birds and trees and tree frogs (about himself and missing someone you love and music) wish I could get out of this country of blinds binds and sing for him maybe that would give me the juice maybe I've missed the deadline.
—Anne Hemenway, December 1998
------------------------------
Nothing To Declare
Nothing to do with down the street in wicker and silk slacks— a moot suit
at best as monkey-minding one's own business is oh so
much easier done than said
Instead
It was escaping declarations Tom and I laughed on our first encounter
an old Knitting Factory's afternoon rehearsal
"I am not a cellist, I play cello..."
"I do not write poetry, I write poems..."
There'd be further laughter later knowing better the two of us
wholly of the Nothing To Declare school
HALTS a small poem I sent Tom saying
"You'll not be putting this one to music..."
brought back
"ROOF played HALTS in the burg itself...
Tom and I laughed at new knees on his dressing room ladder rung
Beckett's lost sympathy for Cioran's pessimism
His son Elia's sound stirring gravel in hubcaps and cut carrots
in Tom's pantcuff
My Vidauban vigil
In Paris with ROOF at "Les instants chavires" I heard Tom play a last time
the music taken to where it was meant to go
In a unity of cello topsy then turvy the lengthening rescuing measurements
architecturally accounted for in the direct line of his head's angling
no glancing away from the startlingly multiple tightly
articulated cascadings a wedge of widetie cello Luc's acoustic
bassguitar Michael's drums and the vast fast-maturing cooing
of Phil's babied owls straight -> to the ignitable
Monticello
Spacious pain
Paul Haines
November 1998
-------------------
Tom Cora: tall, gangly, independent of limb. Playing cello and percussion at the same time in Skeleton Crew pointed toward later solo concerts where he'd use pedals to punch in cello samples as he played, in lively rhythm. The technology never took over the act.
He'd switched from guitar to cello in the '70s when there were few improvising cellists, played it not as imitation guitar or bass, always as cello, but in a homegrown style with the sliding intervals of blues and hillbilly music behind it (Virginia-bred, he spoke with a hint of regional twang.) Even after lots of cello improvisers came along, he was one of the few who were instantly recognizable.
Chalk it up to his soaring bow attack, excellent projection as a plucker, and an amplified sound that sounded more like instrument than amplifier. He'd bow wooden dowels held against the instrument's face, tie rubber bands to the bridge, stretch them and bow them too. There's enough of his playing here for you to judge its ear-appeal, and his range.
He blossomed as a composer in the '80s, with Curlew—"Jim" was theirs. His writing had that personal stamp; his tunes hit a good groove fast, but didn't stay in one place too long. That sounds like Tom: Virginia to Woodstock, Manhattan to the south of Belgium to the south of France, where his ashes are buried under a tree in his family's yard. Along the way he was joined by a terrific wife, Catherine, and a son, Elia. He grew more wise in his last years, and they're a big reason why.
He was busy as always when cancer cut him down in '98. He had yet to bring his band Roof to the States; after long experience creating dramatic back-drops for soloists in Third Person, he'd now devised a perfect vehicle for volatile Phil Minton. A few months before he died Tom said his harmonic language as composer was just coming together. He had a family to enjoy, music awaiting recording, and still more connections to make.
Tom was good at making them, and not just musically. He was a good friend to me, always, and to many others, everywhere. I miss him and think of him a lot, but I'm glad he left so much good music—a full life's worth, in a lot of ways. We stay tuned.
—Kevin Whitehead
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