Meet the Breece’s

3 01 2009

The Breece’s site scares me sometimes, I have to admit. Caroline’s because there are surgical tools splayed about in pictures which my imagination could think up a gory use for, and Michael, besides his frank talk and scattish humour and videos he sometimes posts, seemingly in the dead of night, shirtless in what looks like his basement while fiddling with a guitar or microphone, doing bizarre comedy bits and singing tunes with interesting lyrics, because….; wait I just said why he scares me.

But in all seriousness, I visit the ‘blog’ often and I probably take for granted the really great music there. So lets kick another mention off in 2009 with a salute to the Breeces.

Music of Michael G. Breece

Music of Caroline M. Breece


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Layton, Steve

1 01 2009

Over at Sequenza21 they’re making resolutions and still debating if a composer becomes a greater composer if they attend a brand name college of the arts.  Nevermind if they need a college at all.  Elgar would have enjoyed this conversation and if he were in, say, Yoda form, he might argue vehemently in defense of the self-taught approach.  Satie, funny enough, I think would agree with the scholarly approach seeing that even after getting the boot from the conservatoire, he came back again to smooth out those self-described rough edges.

But its all really empty rhetoric (with the exception of Toub and others I agree with), so its extra-refreshing when Steve Layton shares his resolution.  He has a way with putting things in perspective.  Not to mention that he has mad talent composing.

“Nothing much more than to keep it going… With 30-some years of this under my belt, I’ve got a little over 30 hours of music “in the can”, over 300 pieces and counting. And still there’s always something new and even slightly wondrous that pops up, often when I least expect it. So here’s to the “pop”, for all of us, in 2009. And just to waft out the old and in the new, you’re all welcome to download this 2008 piece, “Aurora”, for piano and treated recording (Ysaye’s 5th violin sonata):

http://www.niwo.com/steve/music/layton_aurora.mp3

You are the here and now of everyone who’s been, and you’ll be present in great things to come by people you’ll never know. Salud!” – Layton

Salud to you as well, Steve Layton!  From AAM!


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