Gene Pritsker
New York City, New York, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"Pritsker dissolves the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre."
- Joseph Pehrson, The Music Connoisseur, Fall 2001 - - Joseph Pehrson, The Music Connoisseur, Fall 2001
"A highlight of the evening was a rendition of a pulsating duet called Cauldron of Unsatisfied Hatred, composed by Gene Pritsker.,"
- Brian Wise , New York Times, Oct. 2006
- - Brian Wise , New York Times, Oct. 2006
"Of the new works Mr. Pritsker's "Self Laceration" (2006) was the most immediately striking. It begins with a rhythmically insistent, irresistibly zesty movement in which the focus moves briskly around the ensemble. The clarinet, violin, cello, flute and piano each have exposed lines that capture the character of the instrument and create a lively dialogue. The individual instruments speak in distinct, idiomatic voices."
- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, November 2006 - - Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, November 2006
"Gene Pritsker's music is much more than the sum of the elements involved. It's one of the more unusual works-performances I've heard in some time. It will no doubt appeal to those who look for rock that moves deeply into the "serious" music category. Those enthusiasts of contemporary classical and improvisation will find something very different here. No matter what camp you may be a part of, this recording will stretch the boundaries of what you expect."
- Grego Applegate Edwards
Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog, Aug. 2010 - - Grego Applegate Edwards Gapplegate Guitar & Bass Blog, Aug. 2010
"It is amazing how masterfully Pritsker explored the opportunities offered by James' poetic vocabulary." "Exceptionally curious and inclusive rather than aggressive or confrontational"
"The VRE Suite is full of tasteful improvisation, sturdy melodies and voice-leading, strong 'grooves'. Mystical it may be, but VRE Suite is far from 'enigmatic'. It positively asserts that your cosmic, mystical experience is as genuine as my mystical experience; or as genuine as that of any organized religion.
- Douglas McNair, Chamber Music Today, October, 2010 - - Douglas McNair, Chamber Music Today, October, 2010
"Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change, and evidence of this is found in the Varieties of Religious Experiences Suite, a towering instrumental extraction from his opera of the same name."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz June 2010 - - Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz June 2010
"Open up Your Ears and Get Some: A glorious result it truly is..... This is the best Sound Liberation product so far." "There is something for every kind of music enthusiast in this album. This is part of the Sound Liberation philosophy." "Nerve Crashes is an amazing tour-de-force of harmonic and rhythmic writing. Harmonically it explores new places in progression. Pritsker gets away with this and still has, essentially, a pop song. Likewise, the rhythms are unusual"
- Joseph Pehrson - New Music Connoisseur, winter/spring 2008-09
- - Joseph Pehrson - New Music Connoisseur, winter/spring 2008-09
"...audacious 'Reinventions' mixed hip-hop turntable scratching (played on a laptop computer), flamboyant tango rhythms, an art-metal guitar solo and occasionally clubfooted beats, yet its Bach-derived framework was always evident. 'Smaller Gates,' 'Circuit' and 'Lost Illusions 3,' all by Mr. Pritsker, made strikingly idiomatic use of tricks from techno and hip-hop. The multitalented Mr. Pritsker even rapped capably during the first of two encores."
- Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 13, 2009 - - Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 13, 2009
Discography
- VRE Suite recorded by Sound Liberation on Innova Records
- ‘solo-duo-trio-quartet-quintet’ The Chamber and Electronic Music of Gene Pritsker on Composers Concordance Records (distributed by Naxos)
- 'A Challenge to the Dark' on the album Ballets & Solos on Composers Concordance Records
- Absolute Zawinul on Intuition records. Arrangements Gene did of the music of Joe Zawinul with The Absolute Ensemble
- Sound Liberation recorded 13 composition of Genes on a new album for Col Legno records called ‘Open Up Your Ears and Get Some’
- The Absolute Ensemble has released a CD on Enja Records featuring ‘Fix’ and an Arrangement of ‘Super Bad’. The CD is named after the septet.
- ’Pan(ic)’ for solo flute recorded by Nina Assimakopoulos on Euterpe label, the album is titled: Arcadian Murmmurs: Pan in Pieces.
- ‘Junk’ for electronics released on the Capstone label, the album is titled: 60X60.
- ‘A Tribal Second’ for electronics released on the Vox Novus, the album is titled: 60X60.
I'm Afraid You Might ask for A Fragment Of My Soul’ for solo piano has been released on CD by pianist Guy Livingston entitled: “Don’t Panic” on Wergo Records.
-Guitarist Greg Baker has Recorded an album of Gene Pritsker music called: Scars, Wounds and Lacerations Plus Snow to Numb the Effect.
- Singer Melanie Mitrano has recorded the song Perirrhanterium, stanza XIII (Truth) for two sopranos and electronics, It is included on her CD Songs in Transit on Capstone records..
- Falls to with an Appetite for string quartet and clarinet is featured on a new CD by the Lumina String Quartet with clarinetist Phil Basher. The CD is entitled: New York Composers..
- Counterfeiters was recorded by the B3+ brass trio for their album Uncommon Sense on Col
Legno
Photos
Bio
Composer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred ninety compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles, etc. All his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released a cd’s on Col-legno and Innova Records. Gene’s music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn and Berlin Philharmonic. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies.
The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as “dissolv[ing] the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it's done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre”. Raul d’Gama Rose writes in All About Jazz: “Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.”
Organizations he is associated with include: Composers’ Concordance, Absolute Ensemble, The International Street Cannibals and the Austrian Outreach Festival. Some of Gene Pritsker's music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music and recorded by: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Composers Concordance, Innova and Capstone record labels.
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