A Series of Indecipherable Glyphs

On their new release, A Series of Undecipherable Glyphs, Lancaster, Pennsylvania based NakedEye Ensemble focuses on mixed ensemble works influenced by rock music. From works by Zappa to Aaron Jay Myers to Molly Joyce, NakedEye presents music that is invariably shaped by the inclusion of electric guitar, saxophone, and percussion. The result is an album that toggles between music that conjures the spirit of 70’s jazz/rock fusion and works that have more of an atmospheric, post-minimalist sensibility.

The album opens with Nick Didkovsky’s Amalia’s Secret, a collection of ten miniatures whose musical material is derived from an automatic music generation software Didkovsky designed called Nerve2.hmsl. Twelve musical parameters are established and chance operations and statistical formulas populate the fields, resulting in related but independent instrumental parts. The piece is anything but mechanical however, as off-kilter rhythmic loops, conversational duos, metal inspired distorted riffs, hypnotic ostinatos, and meditative textures combine into a balanced suite of contrasting sounds.

The music in Frank Zappa’s Sinister Footwear II appeared in several contexts in his output, including as a part of a three movement ballet and within the live set of his touring bands in the late 70s. Zappa’s music calls for a unique kind of mastery, of rhythmic complexity in a groove oriented, driving rhythmic context. The taut unison rhythms, overlapping percolating loops, and whammy bar infused guitar solo in Mike Bitts’ 2015 arrangement for NakedEye capture the enthusiasm for eclecticism that characterized Zappa and his cohort.

NakedEye Ensemble

Susanna Loewy | flute

Christy Banks | clarinet

Ryan Kauffman | saxophone

Peter Kibbe | cello

Chad Kinsey | electric guitar

Mike Bitts | electric bass

Darren Lin | percussion

Ju-Ping Song | piano/keyboards