01 Critical Band [1988]_________________________________17:13
02 Harmonium #2 [1976]_______________________________19:44
03 Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion [1971]____10:22

all music by James Tenney
performed by zeitkratzer

James Tenney’s music has been part of zeitkratzer’s repertoire for almost a decade. This CD presents a new recording of Critical Band – Tenney’s late classic – with maximum clarity. Also included is the first recording of Harmonium #2. Both works demonstrate the remarkable power and resplendent sharpness which Tenney achieved by composing with pure tunings.
Koan: Having Never Written A Note For Percussion for tam-tam completes this CD with an orgiastic listening experience in the form of a huge crescendo on this wonderfully simple instrument - from whispering to singing, culminating in shrill roaring and blustering – and it’s dark decay.
Tenney’s music as a sensual sound adventure!

Reviews

The intelligence of the ensemble’s interpretations evinces their long-term engagement with these complex pieces, as well as a willingness to interrogate and re-examine them, just as the in-the-moment decisions the work demand clearly marries well with the individual member’s backgrounds in improvisation. The rigour and discipline they collectively bring to these compositions make both discs utterly enthralling, from start to finish.
The Wire Magazine, UK, 04/2010

si cela doit produire une telle qualité de jeu, une telle renaissance aux compositeurs "old school" on ne peut que en demander plus.
Revue et Corrigée, F, 09/2010

executed with dutiful precision, permeated by a sort of inimical imperturbability
Touching Extreme, I, 06/2010

ein Faszinosum, dessen Puls und Sog schwer zu widerstehen ist
Bad Alchemy, D, 3/2010

For those unfamiliar with
either of these modern American composers, their performance of three of Tenney’s ‘swell pieces’ is probably the best place to start
Rockarolla, UK, 04/2010

Das ist berauschend, ein minimalistisch kreisender Sog, in dem Avantgarde und Schönheit nicht als Gegensätze gedacht werden.
Testcard, D, 05/2011

The epithet sounds flippant and self-defeating, all the more so given how absolutely contemporary Tenney and Cage’s works sound here, due in no small part to the power and skill of the ensemble’s interpretations.
The Wire Magazine, UK, 04/2010