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Moshe · 03.13.2008, 03:27 PM

http://blogs.wsj.com/sxsw/2008/03/13...googlenews_wsj

March 13, 2008, 2:38 pm
A Musical Tribute to Daniel Pearl

Met with Steve Reich earlier at the Hilton here. Last night, he hosted “Reich, Rags & Road Movies: Music by Steve Reich & Friends” at St. David’s Episcopal Church. San Antonio’s SOLI Chamber Ensemble played Mr. Reich’s “New York Counterpoint” and Brooklyn, N.Y.’s So Percussion offered his “Music for Pieces of Wood,” among other compositions. At 1:15 p.m. today, Mr. Reich appeared at the Austin Convention Center, where he was interviewed by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, whom he’s never met in person.
“For 35 years, I’ve lived in the same building with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth,” said the lifelong New Yorker. “Thurston and I have exchanged a couple of emails. We’ll talk about John Coltrane, Glen Braca and ‘Daydream Nation.’” The last is a reference to Sonic Youth’s landmark 1988 recording that blends experimental music with punk-like rock. He and Mr. Moore, Mr. Reich said, share “the overlaps that happen by life when people are interested in the same things.”
We discussed Mr. Reich’s recording “Daniel Variations,” his deeply affecting tribute to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and killed in 2002 in Pakistan while on assignment for the paper. The CD will be released on April 8. “Daniel was a musician, as you know,” Mr. Reich said. “His instrument was the fiddle. On the cover of the CD is a photo of a fiddle with a bow covering it that looks like a sword.” Of Mr. Pearl, he said, “He felt if he could do good, good would come of it.”
When I told him how moved I was by the music, tears welled in Mr. Reich’s eyes as he recalled how Mr. Pearl’s life and death touched him. He told me that several times during the recording session members of the chorus broke down in tears as they sang Mr. Pearl’s words to the Reich compositions. Indeed, the words seem to emerge from deep in the music’s soul.
Now 71 years old, Mr. Reich could easily pass for 20 years younger, and his enthusiasm for music seems boundless. He talked of going to Birdland in New York when he was 14 years old to enjoy drummer Kenny Clarke, meeting Brian Eno in ’74 and David Bowie a few years later. Each generation of adventurous musicians seems to rediscover Mr. Reich’s music.
Though he headed to the airport right after his appearance with Mr. Moore, Mr. Reich told me that it’s no reflection on the music at SXSW. He said he enjoys all sorts of sounds. American composers who’ve influenced him, he said, didn’t necessarily draw distinctions between classical and popular music. He cited Coltrane’s 1961 album “Africa/Brass” as a source of inspiration as much as Igor Stravinsky. “Charles Ives loved to play the organ, and there’s so much jazz in Aaron Copland,” he said. “People ask me if George Gershwin was a better composer or songwriter. He was our greatest songwriter and a great composer.”

03.13.2008, 03:27 PM	#5
Moshe Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 5,862	http://blogs.wsj.com/sxsw/2008/03/13...googlenews_wsj March 13, 2008, 2:38 pm A Musical Tribute to Daniel Pearl Met with Steve Reich earlier at the Hilton here. Last night, he hosted “Reich, Rags & Road Movies: Music by Steve Reich & Friends” at St. David’s Episcopal Church. San Antonio’s SOLI Chamber Ensemble played Mr. Reich’s “New York Counterpoint” and Brooklyn, N.Y.’s So Percussion offered his “Music for Pieces of Wood,” among other compositions. At 1:15 p.m. today, Mr. Reich appeared at the Austin Convention Center, where he was interviewed by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, whom he’s never met in person. “For 35 years, I’ve lived in the same building with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth,” said the lifelong New Yorker. “Thurston and I have exchanged a couple of emails. We’ll talk about John Coltrane, Glen Braca and ‘Daydream Nation.’” The last is a reference to Sonic Youth’s landmark 1988 recording that blends experimental music with punk-like rock. He and Mr. Moore, Mr. Reich said, share “the overlaps that happen by life when people are interested in the same things.” We discussed Mr. Reich’s recording “Daniel Variations,” his deeply affecting tribute to Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and killed in 2002 in Pakistan while on assignment for the paper. The CD will be released on April 8. “Daniel was a musician, as you know,” Mr. Reich said. “His instrument was the fiddle. On the cover of the CD is a photo of a fiddle with a bow covering it that looks like a sword.” Of Mr. Pearl, he said, “He felt if he could do good, good would come of it.” When I told him how moved I was by the music, tears welled in Mr. Reich’s eyes as he recalled how Mr. Pearl’s life and death touched him. He told me that several times during the recording session members of the chorus broke down in tears as they sang Mr. Pearl’s words to the Reich compositions. Indeed, the words seem to emerge from deep in the music’s soul. Now 71 years old, Mr. Reich could easily pass for 20 years younger, and his enthusiasm for music seems boundless. He talked of going to Birdland in New York when he was 14 years old to enjoy drummer Kenny Clarke, meeting Brian Eno in ’74 and David Bowie a few years later. Each generation of adventurous musicians seems to rediscover Mr. Reich’s music. Though he headed to the airport right after his appearance with Mr. Moore, Mr. Reich told me that it’s no reflection on the music at SXSW. He said he enjoys all sorts of sounds. American composers who’ve influenced him, he said, didn’t necessarily draw distinctions between classical and popular music. He cited Coltrane’s 1961 album “Africa/Brass” as a source of inspiration as much as Igor Stravinsky. “Charles Ives loved to play the organ, and there’s so much jazz in Aaron Copland,” he said. “People ask me if George Gershwin was a better composer or songwriter. He was our greatest songwriter and a great composer.”
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