We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Sonic Truffles

by Noam Lemish, Will Johnson

supported by
franhonar
franhonar thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 CAD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Sonic Truffles via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      $17 CAD or more 

     

1.
Sonic Truffles I 06:21
buy track
2.
Sonic Truffles II 08:43
buy track
3.
Sonic Truffles III 02:06
buy track
4.
Sonic Truffles IV 06:45
buy track
5.
Sonic Truffles V 08:42
buy track
6.
Sonic Truffles VI 02:18
buy track
7.
Sonic Truffles VII 05:42
buy track
8.
Sonic Truffles VIII 08:04
buy track
9.
Sonic Truffles IX 06:41
buy track

about

Noam Lemish, 9’ grand piano (1, 2, 6, 9); 9’ grand piano w/selected damped strings utilizing a journal (3, 5, 7, 8); 9’ grant piano with artist’s erasers between strings (4); sticks, mallets (6)

Will Johnson, upright piano (1); prepared piano (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8); cassette recorder (2); metronome (2); 9’ grand piano (4); celeste (5); glass jar, golf ball (6); clavinova “soprano sax” (9)

Serving pieces here. When we can see minor change, functions rearrange.

Hardened fingers click shards of music times ago. Hollow written flow.

Water closed inside. Glass tuned blending colors flash, born of hidden splash.

Silent framing shelves. Muted partners time to sing. Joyous poundings ring.

Open empty jars. Gentle string-fed loving drifts. Resonating gifts.

All together now. Sonic truffles, lately found, join piano sound.

The genesis of this CD was the performance of Sonic Truffles as a part of Noam’s senior recital at Sonoma State University in May 2007. The texts were read by Noam at the beginning of each movement, followed by a free improvisation by Noam and Will that took as its point of departure the text as read. Our instrument was the performance space, with all it contained – a 9’ grand piano, a white baby grand piano that could be detuned and prepared, bottles with water, pans and lids, various beaters, chairs, stands, sound baffles and two cassette tape recorders to record the performance and play it back in fragments in the sixth movement.

The two of us so enjoyed the experience of improvising together that we decided to record more tracks using primarily a 9’ concert grand and the white piano, using all parts of both instruments – keys, strings, sounding board, tuning pins. We occasionally incorporated other sound sources – a pot lid with a long decay, glass jars with water, celeste, the soprano sax sound of the Yamaha CVP 209, a cassette tape recorder.

No preplanning – one of us would begin playing, we continued each improvisation as long as seemed appropriate. All the improvisations were performed live, with no overdubs. Recordings were made using a sing mic for each piano in Sonoma State’s Ives Hall 101, the long time concert space for the Department of Music, and a space that carries with it many wonderful memories for both Will and Noam. The setting was distinctly informal; once, the recording of a piece was overlaid with a person coming in then realizing that we were recording. It’s just part of the mix.

What to make of this material? It was Noam who listened to what we had and curated the album by selecting improvisations and ordering them; In July of 2013 the two of us took it to Kenny Evans at Mesa Recording in Sebastopol for mixing and mastering. Now, a little over 10 years later, the CD was released.

So what is this music about?

Coming together, bringing together, becoming together, being together.
Resonating, tunings, meandering, driving, pulsing, musicking.
A thought about continuity. As you listen to a track, try jumping around in the track. Make new connections. This is music to explore like you would watch a painting in time. Like a painting the music is all there all the time on a recording. Get to know it inside out.

credits

released April 26, 2018

All music improvised by Noam Lemish and Will Johnson.

Recorded in 2008, 2009 and 2013 at Ives Hall, Sonoma State University, California.
Mixed and Mastered by Kenny Evans, Mesa Recording Studios, Sebastopol, California.
Artwork and Design: Samuel Copeland
Sonic Truffles poem and liner notes by Will Johnson
Produced by Noam Lemish & Will Johnson

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Noam Lemish image

Noam Lemish Toronto, Ontario

Pianist and composer Noam Lemish has never felt inclined to pick a lane. Maybe his multi-local identity has helped inspire his multiplicity and general disinclination to follow stylistic guidelines. He’s a jazz artist and a classical composer, an improviser and an accompanist, an intrepid cross-cultural investigator and an interpreter of contemporary composition. He
contains multitudes. ... more

contact / help

Contact Noam Lemish

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Sonic Truffles, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now