Thanks Robert Bao and MSU for the shout out in the 2012 winter issue of the Alumni Magazine.
Download the PDF of the MSU Alumni Magazine Feature here.
Here they are! The long awaited photos from our backpacking-camping-backroading-jamming-touristing Texas retreat.
The places you see are in Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, TX, and the Hill Country outside of Austin.
We backpacked part of this journey as a test of our physical stamina. This included an aggressive hiking itinerary, carrying all of our water on our backs and exposure to elevation changes alongside freezing cold nights in the mid 20s and blistering hot days in the sun. Many people ask us why we do this and the best answer I can give is that working with nature in a harmonious way generates a deep sense of confidence…and an acute awareness of what is truly practical for living.
The quietness we experienced out in the desert wilderness also helped us to cleanse our musician ears and minds. One night in particular was without wind or bugs; there was literally no prominent sound the entire night. Underneath the clear night sky with all the moon and stars showing in this silence, it felt like we were on a different planet.
For the camera nerds…these shots are taken with a variety of digital and pinhole cameras. The digital photos are by our comrade David McGowan who curates a fantastic online photo magazine called Humanfiles Journal. We were grateful for David’s company on this journey and for the opportunity to see the experience retrospectively through his eyes.
The pinhole shots are taken by me using homemade cameras, two that I made out of Altoid tins (affectionately knows as minty cams) which I use with 35mm film, and six canisters that I made out of alcohol and tea tins that I use with 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 paper negatives. There is something satisfying about taking pictures with something I made with my own hands. It seems to mirror the drawn out experiences of carrying all my gear on my back for many miles through the desert and of cooking things by hand in a place with extremely limited resources.
by TODD GORMAN
for American Record Guide
Jan/Feb 2012
Folias Duo—Blue Griffin 229—47 minutes
This is a set of pieces written either by the flutist, Carmen Maret, or the guitarist, Andrew Bergeron; one was co-written. Sources of inspiration are Latin American influences and the outdoors, hence the title combining the two. Besides the obvious, Piazzolla, this music is informed by the tangos of Juan d’Arienzo and Angel Villoldo, the playing of Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and singers Mercedes Sosa and Susana Baca. The overall effect is a creative, post-Piazzolla exploration of the tango territory in an expanded sense. This release belongs next to the Cavatina Duo’s Piazzolla album (Bridge 9330; Nov/Dec 2010); if you don’t already have it, you need to get both!
Although the lower range of the flute is not avoided, these flute parts inherit the convention of using the instrument’s top octave and a half, up to the very highest notes. In Latin American combos, where the flute could easily be overpowered by other instruments, this was the range that offered the most carrying power. I winced a couple times at the risk of extreme high notes, but they were executed perfectly and with confidence, which is the only way to pull them off. The opening track, ‘Tango Destroyer’, poses a different problem for the flutist as a moto perpetuo toccata with almost nowhere to breathe. Again, despite my rising anxiety the flutist kept going, making it to the end. This highly capable flute playing and degree of daring in self written music reminded me of the flutist-composers Gary Schocker and Rhonda Larson.
The five-movement suite Through the Rain by guitarist Andrew Bergeron reminds me of Sunleif Rasmussen’s work Dancing Raindrops (last issue). It portrays a storm using extended techniques in the flute and scordatura and drumming in the guitar (the tuning is E-B-C#-G-A#-E). The dramatic opening of IV, ‘Down-pour and Release’, cedes to microtonal trills as the storm settles down. The final movement, ‘After the Rain’, uses the soothing sound of alto flute juxtaposed with much higher tremolo “dripping” notes in the guitar.
For some reason, the ‘Adequate Conditions Blues’ is an excuse for showers of a different sort: showers of notes from the flute. This so-called blues has the most virtuosic noodling this side of the Woodwind Quintet in C (c.1830) by oboist-composer Henri Brod. The 5/4 introduction to Full Long Nights Moon, is a nice touch of originality in what could otherwise be a more banal New-Age excursion.
Overall, I did find quite a bit to enjoy in both the dance-inspired and nature-inspired pieces. The pickup is fairly close but not too close, and the sound is clear and dry without sterility. There is more resonance on one track with piccolo, ‘The Sound of Rain’. Maret plays Pearl flutes, and plays them well. She has a solid, no nonsense sound and plays with virtually no vibrato. Her sound is a degree removed from the very tight style of playing among flute players from Cuba south. Bergeron plays classical and flamenco guitars with a great range of energy and sensitivity.
View the Inside of the Tango and Snow Here