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Dave Soldier
with Jojo of the Thai Elephant Orchestra, courtesy Mulatta Records
with Jojo of the Thai Elephant Orchestra, courtesy Mulatta Records
Background information
Also known asDavid Sulzer[a]
Born (1956-11-06) November 6, 1956 (age 68)
OriginCarbondale, Illinois, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instruments
Years active1988-present
Labels
Websitewww.mulatta.org
www.davesoldier.com

Dave Soldier (born David Sulzer; November 6, 1956)[a] is an American neuroscientist at Columbia University who is better known as a composer and musician in a variety of genres including avant-garde, classical, and jazz.[2]

Music by animals

Many of Dave Soldier's works are collaborative. This includes collaborating with animals such as with the Thai Elephant Orchestra which he co-founded with conservationist Richard Lair, based on the observation that elephants are said to enjoy listening to music;[3] however, it had not been known if they would perform on musical instruments. This ensemble consists of up to 14 elephants at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center near Lampang, and is listed by Guinness as the world's largest animal orchestra, with a combined weight of approximately 23 tonnes (50,706 lb).[4] He built giant musical instruments on which he trained the elephants to improvise:[5] they eventually played on 22 instruments. The orchestra has released three CDs and play an abbreviated concert daily at the Conservation Center.

He also created specially designed instruments for music played by zebra finches and pygmy chimpanzees, the latter in collaborations with physicist Gordon Shaw, who researched classical music's effect on the brain and introduced the Mozart effect.[6]

Music by children

Soldier has made multiple recordings in which he coached child composers in different cultures. He and flutist Katie Down coached free improvisation with The Tangerine Awkestra featuring 2-10 year old Brooklyn schoolchildren. Da HipHop Raskalz featured rap and dub tracks performed (including the instrumental tracks) by 5-10 year old East Harlem children,[7] who had no previous experience playing instruments. Soldier and the santur player Alan Kushan produced Yol K'u with Mayan Indian children from the Seeds of Knowledge School in the high mountains of San Mateo Ixtatan, Guatemala, a collaboration using giant marimbas. He produced a CD, Les Enfants des Tyabala, by the jazz musician Sylvian Leroux who coached children in Conakry, Guinea to form an ensemble of the traditional Fula flute.

The Soldier String Quartet

In 1985 he founded the Soldier String Quartet, a punk chamber group that plays with amplification and a percussionist. As a leader, composer and violinist for the group, Soldier wrote and performed traditional pieces influenced by music styles ranging from serialism to Delta blues. With inspiration from Haydn and Beethoven quartets, he explored anachronisms stemming from a classical ensemble playing in contemporary popular idioms, particularly rhythm and blues and punk rock. With a drummer incorporated into the quartet, Soldier found that string instruments could play the blues in the hands of players who understood the contrasting styles, including violinists Regina Carter and Todd Reynolds. The Soldier String Quartet also premiered and recorded works by other composers such as Elliott Sharp, Iannis Xenakis, and Phill Niblock, as well as with jazz musicians including Tony Williams. They were the touring and recording group for the Velvet Underground's John Cale from 1992-1998.

Experimental music

With Komar & Melamid, and inspired by their art project, "The People's Choice", Soldier wrote "The People's Choice: Music", with lyrics by Nina Mankin. It was written according to answers from a survey of over 500 Americans, resulting in "The Most Wanted Song" and "The Most Unwanted Song". The latter is over 22 minutes in length and features an operatic soprano rapping cowboy songs, holiday songs with a children's choir screaming advertisements, and political rants backed by bagpipe, banjo, tuba, piccolo, and church organ.

Soldier collaborates with the computer musician Brad Garton for the Brainwave Music Project,[8][9] creating music played by performer's brainwaves using electroencephalograms.

He has a body of compositions using math derivations including fractal manipulations, including a notorious 20 minute version of Chopin's Minute Waltz.

Concert music

Soldier's compositions with classical musicians include a socialist-realist opera, "Naked Revolution", based on paintings by the Russian conceptual artists Komar and Melamid, commissioned for the 25th anniversary of "The Kitchen". The opera "The Eighth Hour of Amduat" uses as its text Italian translations of the ancient Egyptian of the book of Amduat and features Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra playing the part of Sun Ra.

Soldier wrote two chamber operas in collaboration with author Kurt Vonnegut, "The Soldier's Story" and "Ice-9 Ballads", both recorded with Vonnegut playing characters in the operas.

Many of his chamber and orchestra works were recorded by the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra under conductor Richard Auldon Clark. These include a collection of early Latin homoerotic lyrics in "Smut", and settings of Frederick Douglass in "The Apotheosis of John Brown" and Mark Twain in "War Prayer". The orchestra fanfare, "Samul Nori Overture", was commissioned by Kristjan Järvi and the Absolute Ensemble for their Korean tours.

Chamber works by Soldier have been recorded by violinist Regina Carter, cellist Erik Friedlander, pianists Steven Beck and Christopher O'Riley, accordionist William Schimmel, the PubliQuartet, singer Eliza Carthy and flutist Robert Dick.

Rock music

Soldier founded the Kropotkins in the 1990s, a punk/country blues band with the Memphis singer Lorette Velvette and the drummers drummer, Moe Tucker of the Velvet Underground, Charles Burnham of the James Blood Ulmer's Odyssey Band, and Jonathan Kane of Swans and La Monte Young's band; the Kropotkins recorded 4 albums and developed a cult following.

He continued collaborations with Jonathan Kane in a symphonic minimalist blues duo known as Soldier Kane.

In the early 1980s Soldier played guitar with Bo Diddley and various rock groups. He later worked as an arranger, violinist, or guitarist with John Cale, Guided by Voices, Van Dyke Parks, David Byrne, Ric Ocasek, Lee Ranaldo, Maureen Tucker, Jesse Harris, and Bob Neuwirth.

Soldier led the touring group for John Cale, consisting of the Soldier String Quartet and B.J. Cole from 1992-1996, writing the groups arrangements for tours and several CDs and films: his metal violin playing is featured on "Heartbreak Hotel" on "Fragments From a Rainy Season". He also led an flamenco/Middle Eastern rock group, The Spinozas, featuring lyrics from Arabic and Hebrew poetry from medieval Andalusia.

Jazz

Soldier performs as a multi-instrumentalist with the William Hooker Trio, and has performed and recorded with Leroy Jenkins, Henry Threadgill, Sabir Mateen, Roy Campbell, Butch Morris, Jason Hwang, Billy Bang, Marshall Allen and Amina Claudine Myers.

Producer

Soldier formed the Mulatta Records label in 2000, and since has produced a wide variety of recordings including contemporary flamenco music by Pedro Cortes, the 30 piece jazz string orchestra Spontaneous River by Jason Hwang, music from the group Wofa from Guninea with American R&B musicians; and released music by David First, an album of Fula flute music by Sylvain Leroux with children in Guinea, Alex Greene, William Hooker, Ursel Schlicht, and Twink.

Personal life

Soldier grew up in Carbondale in southern Illinois where he was exposed to music common to the area, particularly country and R&B. His earliest influences included James Brown and Isaac Hayes. Soldier also listened to classical music. He learned to play viola, violin, piano, and eventually guitar. He moved with his family to Storrs, CT, at the age of 16, where he became enamoured with salsa music: he credits Eddie Palmieri's music as his inspiration to be a composer.[10] He attended Michigan State University as an undergraduate and attempted a study of classical composition. He found that stultifying, however, and instead studied privately with the avant-garde jazz saxophonist/composer Roscoe Mitchell.

He lived in Florida briefly, where he played guitar in Bo Diddley's band. He relocated to New York in 1981, and played in various salsa, classical, and rock-oriented bands in the early '80s. In New York he engaged in many collaborations with producer Giorgio Gomelsky, including running "The House Band" [11] and the Russian conceptual artists Komar and Melamid. He studied composition with Otto Luening and formed his Soldier String Quartet in 1985. He co-founded Mulatta Records in 2000 to document his projects, including the elephant piece and the child improvisers. Soldier performed, recorded, composed, and arranged for television and film (Sesame Street, I Shot Andy Warhol), and pop and jazz acts ranging from Pete Seeger to David Byrne and Guided by Voices.

Discography

Studio Albums

Collaborations

Recordings with the Soldier String Quartet

  • Last Day on Earth; Bob Neuwirth, John Cale
  • Walking on Locusts, John Cale
  • Eat and Kiss, John Cale
  • Fragments From a Rainy Season, John Cale
  • Hammer Anvil Stirrup, Elliott Sharp
  • Larynx, Elliott Sharp
  • Tessalation Row, Elliott Sharp
  • Twistmap, Elliott Sharp
  • Abstract Repressionism, Elliott Sharp
  • Cryptoid Fragments, Elliott Sharp
  • Xeno-Codex, Elliott Sharp
  • Rheo/Umbra, Elliott Sharp
  • String Quartets 1986-1996, Elliott Sharp
  • Early Winter, Phill Niblock
  • Themes & Variations on the Blues, Leroy Jenkins
  • While the Music Lasts, Jesse Harris
  • A Dark & Stormy Night, Nicolas Collins
  • The Word, Jonas Hellborg & Tony Williams
  • Third Stone from the Sun, Robert Dick

Film Scores

Producer

  • Jason Kao Hwang and Spontaneous River Orchestra Symphony of Souls CD, Mulatta Records, 2013
  • Pedro Cortes Los Viejos Non Mueren CD, Mulatta Records, 2014
  • Sylvain Leroux with children from Conakry, Guinea Les Enfants de Tyabala CD, Mulatta Records, 2015
  • Archer Spade Orbital Harmony CD, Mulatta Records, 2015
  • John Clark Sonus Inenarrabilis (Mulatta Records), works for 9 piece chamber group, CD, Mulatta Records, 2016

Compositions for Classical Musicians

String Quartet

  • String Quartet #1 "The Impossible" Op 3. 1987 for quartet and drums
  • String Quartet #2 "Bambaataa Variations" Op. 11 1992 for prepared quartet
  • String Quartet #3 "The Essential" Op. 21 2011 for quartet and electroencephalograms with Brad Garton
  • Sequence Girls Op. 1 1985 for quartet and drums
  • Three Delta Blues Op. 2 1986, arrangements of Robert Johnson, Skip James, Charlie Patton

Opera

  • "Naked Revolution" Op. 16 1997 with Komar and Melamid, libretto Maita di Niscemi
  • "The Eighth Hour of Amduat", Op. 32 2015 libretto from the book of Amduat, translated to Italian by Rita Lucarelli
  • "A Soldier's Story" radio opera, Op. 18 1992 libretto by Kurt Vonnegut

Oratorio

  • "The Apotheosis of John Brown", Op. 8 1990 text adapted from Frederick Douglass
  • "Ice-9 Ballads", Op. 14 1995 text by Kurt Vonnegut
  • "Smut" a.k.a. "Chorea Lascivia" Op. 10 1991, text adapted from medieval Latin homoerotic poetry
  • "Mark Twain's Wary Prayer" Op. 12 1993
  • "Dean Swift's Satyrs for the Very Very Young" Op. 22 2011 voice, flute, viola, harp

Chamber group

  • Duo Sonata Op. 4 1988 for violin and cello
  • To Spike Jones in Heaven Op. 5 1989 accordion and tape
  • Utah Dances Op. 6 1990 solo saxophone, clarinet, or flute
  • Sontag in Sarajevo Op. 13 1994 accordion, melody instrument, guitar
  • The People's Choice Music Op. 15 1997, the Most Wanted and The Most Unwanted Song
  • East St. Louis 1968 Op. 17 1999 for viola or string quartet and tape
  • Clever Hans Op. 19 2005 violin, cello harpsichord
  • The Complete Victrola Sessions Op. 20 2010 pieces for violin and piano
  • Lewitt Etudes Op. 33 2015 Architectural designs for musicians after Sol Lewitt

Organ

  • Hockets & Inventions Op. 6 1990
  • Organum Op. 23 2011

Piano

  • Fractals on the Names of Bach & Haydn Op. 24 2011
  • Letter to Gil Evans Op. 25, 2012
  • girl with hat in a car Op. 26 2012
  • Nocturnes
  • Phong's Solo Op. 28 2012 arranged from the Thai Elephant Orchestra
  • Hockets & Inventions

Orchestra

  • Thung Kwian Sunrise Op. 27 2012 arranged from the Thai Elephant Orchestra
  • SamulNori Overture Op. 31 2013
  • Bambaataa Variations Op. 30 2013 for string quartet and string orchestra

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b "When he is not creating an opera, a film score, or playing with the Soldier String Quartet, David Soldier is in his lab at Columbia University (under the name David Sulzer), exploring the role of dopaminergic synapses in memory consolidation, learning, and behavior. (Soldier is the name he uses for his artistic activities.)"[1]

Citations

  1. ^ Flores, Graciela (June 1, 2007). "When I see an elephant...paint?". The Scientist Magazine. Retrieved 22 March 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "David Sulzer, Ph.D." Columbia Neuroscience. Columbia CNI. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  3. ^ "the-biggest-thing-out-of-thailand-an-elephant-orchestra". npr.org.
  4. ^ "Largest animal orchestra - most members". Guinness World Records. 1 Jan 2000. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  5. ^ "think-tank-a-band-with-a-lot-more-to-offer-than-talented-trumpeters". New York Times.
  6. ^ "Gordon Shaw Dies at 72; Tied I.Q. to Hearing Mozart". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 3, 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  7. ^ Rose, Joel (September 2, 2006). "Da HipHop Raskalz, Kickin' It Grade School". NPR. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  8. ^ "EEG music". Columbia University.
  9. ^ "Neuroscientist David Sulzer turns brain waves into music". medicalxpress.
  10. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/28/arts/one-life-to-live-composer-has-more-one-life-to-live-composer-has-more.html?pagewanted=all
  11. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/arts/music/giorgio-gomelsky-rock-producer-who-gave-the-rolling-stones-their-start-dies-at-81.html?_r=0

Sources

  • Ratcliff, Carter. Komar and Melamid, New York: Abbeville Press, 1988. ISBN 0-89659-891-8
  • Wypijewski, JoAnn, ed. Painting by Numbers: Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997. ISBN 9780520218611
  • Komar and Melamid. When Elephants Paint: The Quest of Two Russian Artists to Save the Elephants of Thailand, New York: HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 0-06-095352-7
  • Weiss, Evelyn. Komar & Melamid: The Most Wanted and the Most Unwanted Painting, Museum Ludwig Koln, Ostfildern: Cantz, 1997.

Further reading

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