Jon Gibson 8211 Songs 038 Melodies 1973 2LP

Since the mid-1960s, Jon Gibson has played a key role in the development of American avant-garde music. As a versatile reed player, he has performed with everyone from Steve Reich and Philip Glass to Terry Riley and La Monte Young. In the 1970s, Gibson would emerge as a minimalist composer in his own right and release two exceptional albums, Visitations and Two Solo Pieces, on Glass Chatham Square imprint. Songs & Melodies brings together recordings from 1973 to 1977 (mostly previously unreleased), featuring prominent figures in New Yorks scene including Arthur Russell, Barbara Benary and Julius Eastman. This double LP collection showcases the breadth of Gibsons expressive rangefrom introspective piano meditations to cerebral ensemble worksand the subtlety of his radical compositional techniques. The front cover artwork, a hand-drawn diagram by Gibson, originally appeared in the program for a March 1974 concert at Washington Square Church in Greenwich Village. While this concert was not the first to feature the composer exclusively, it would be a pivotal event in Gibsons early career as a composer. Superior Viaduct is honored to present this long overdue archival release that not only documents Gibsons important work, but also a crucial period in NYC musical history.