ED BLAND.....Urban Classical Funk

 

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            HERE'S WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE TO SAY..........

 

"An Amazing tour de force in terms of relentless energy and build up of tension...a fascinating and strong piece."

 

Gunther Schuller, about Piece for Chamber Orchestra

 

"Original and Fresh....not to be typecast in any trend."

 

Bruce Creditor - Boston Symphony Orchestra

 

"Set with great skill and directness, Bland's piece is a Machiavellian look, charged-up with rhythm and harmony, at present day society."

 

Timothy Mangan - Los Angeles Times, about The New World Order (part of the opera "Assassins of The Soul")

 

"...the notes make their points with Webernesque brevity and concentration as well as packing considerable dramatic punch despite the economy of means."

 

Peter G. Davis - The New York Times, about Sketches-Set One.

 

"Brechtian...echoes of MAHOGANY."

 

Studs Terkel - WFMT-FM, Chicago, about The New World Order (part of "Assassins of The Soul")

 

"Bland's music, like late Beethoven and Stravinsky, does not immediately reward the listener but reveals itself increasingly through repeated listenings."

 

Nancy Malitz - Music Critic of the Detroit News - President of the Music Critics Association

 

Legacy

Black Composers:

Lecolion Washington, bn; Carina Nyberg Washington, cl & a; Mark Ensley, p Albany/Troy Records 1038 - 61 Minutes

 

There are three works by Ed Bland, One on One for Bassoon and Clarinet, For Bassoon, and One on One for Bassoon and Virtual Percussion. The Bassoon and Clarinet work, and the one with synthesized percussion, display a style of counterpoint where each voice is connected to the other by no specific meter. The repartee between the instruments seems to evoke the asymmetry of the rhythms basketball players' feet make when rushing up and down a court, according to the notes. The work for bassoon alone is a capricious one that depicts the instrument's many colors, from serious to sarcastic humorous.

 

DAVID SCHWARTZ (American Record Guide page 225 ca. March/April 2009)

 

 

The following is part of an article that appeared in Office Naps on

November 12, 2007

 

"Ed Bland is an American composer, musical arranger and producer with a considerable catalog of contemporary classical compositions to his name. Bland has,

a coterie of vintage soul fans, also identified with his recordings of the '60s and '70s, singular R&B and jazz arrangements so distinct that they unwittingly dominate the music at times. You'll know what I'm talking about at the end of this post." Click here to read the article in it's entirety.

 

 

Ed Bland's concert works have been performed by:

  • Speculum Musicae

  • Group for Contemporary Music

  • American Brass Quintet

  • Baltimore Symphony

  • Detroit Symphony

  • Brooklyn Philharmonic

  • Memphis Symphony

  • St. Louis Symphony

  • Civic Orchestra of Chicago

  • Sonor Ensemble with conductors: David Zinman, Michael Morgan, Leslie Dunner, Tania Leon and Alvin Brehm, among others

His music has been heard on radio throughout the United States and Europe.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                Copyright 2008 - 2009  Ed Bland - All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

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