Cal Performances presents A Thousand Thoughts: A live documentary with the Kronos Quartet featuring an opening set from Terry Riley
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94305 USA
8:00 PM, Thursday, February 13, 2020

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A Thousand Thoughts

[8:06 PM; lights down; canned announcement; pause; Terry out to play solo piano]

1. [8:07 PM] (unidentified tune #1, perhaps Gypsy in My Soul)
2. [8:14 PM] (unidentified tune #2)
3. [8:17 PM] (unidentified tune #3, perhaps Shape of Flames)
   [8:21 PM; pause for a minute]
4. [8:21 PM] (unidentified tune #4)
5. [8:27 PM] (unidentified tune #5, probably Ebony Horns)
   [set ends 8:32 PM; Terry off while the crowd applauds politely]
   [8:33 PM; pause for a tech to set up chairs]
   
   [8:34 PM; Sam Green out to moderate a Q&A Session with David Harrington, Terry Riley, & Wu Man]
   [8:50 PM; end Q&A Session; set break!]

[9:14 PM; lights down; waiting; go! Brief talk from Sam Green, then band enters and the documentary begins]

1. [9:25 PM] Philip Glass: Mvt II from String Quartet No. 2 (Company)
2. [9:25 PM] Terry Riley: Requiem for Adam (excerpt)
   
   [9:27 PM; George Crumb: Selections from Black Angels]
3. [9:28 PM] 10. God-music
4. [9:33 PM] 1. Threnody I: Night of the Electric Insects (excerpt)
   
   
5. [9:38 PM] Ryan Brown: Pinched
6. [9:42 PM] John Adams: “Judah to Ocean” from John’s Book of Alleged Dances
7. [9:47 PM] Tanya Tagaq (arr. Jacob Garchik): Sivunittinni (excerpt)
8. [9:51 PM] Ken Benshoof: Mvt I. Gentle, easy, from Traveling Music
9. [9:54 PM] Fodé Lassana Diabaté (arr. Jacob Garchik): Mvt 5. Bara kala ta from Sunjata’s Time
10. [9:57 PM] Terry Riley: The Wheel
11. [10:03 PM] David Harrington: “Drone” from Dirty Wars
12. [10:08 PM] Café Tacvba (arr. Osvaldo Golijov): 12/12 (excerpt)
13. [10:12 PM] Philip Glass: Blood Oath from String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima Quartet)
14. [10:17 PM] Aleksandra Vrebalov: 7. Chapel, Rainbows from The Sea Ranch Songs
15. [10:20 PM] Laurie Anderson (arr. Jacob Garchik): Flow
16. [10:23 PM] John Zorn: “Meditation (The Blue of Noon)” from The Dead Man
17. [10:25 PM] Pérotin (arr. Kronos Quartet): Viderunt Omnes (excerpt)
    
    [10:27 PM; David Lang: Selections from Requiem for a Dream]
18. [10:31 PM] Lux Aeterna
19. [10:36 PM] Ghosts of a Future Lost
    
    
20. [10:42 PM] John Oswald: Spectre (excerpt)
21. [10:43 PM] Wu Man: Mvt. II. Silk and Bamboo (inspired by Huanlege) from Two Chinese Paintings
22. [10:46 PM] Ervin T. Rouse (arr. Danny Clay): Orange Blossom Special (excerpt)
    [10:48 PM; show ends, no encore]

Kronos Quartet

• Hank Dutt: viola;
• David Harrington: violin;
• John Sherba: violin;
• Paul Wiancko: cello.

• Terry Riley: piano, keyboards, vox.

• Joe Bini: writer, director, film editor;
• Sam Green: writer, director.

Sunny Jungin Yang was absent tonight, as she's taking maternity leave, so Paul Wiancko was drafted to cover her parts.

I have to wonder how much of tonight's show was really “live documentary” – as promised by Sam at the start of set two – and really just a clever way to realize a multimedia presentation. I'd like to believe in the magic of the delivery, but it seems very suspicious that sitting in the dark (so that I can't really take any notes), I could nonetheless mark timestamps that number the same as the 22 tunes listed in the printed program. For now I'm gonna chalk that part up to coincidence; the few scribbles that I made before giving up (too dark to see/write!) seem mostly in sync with the time-stamps, but I couldn't have been paying attention that closely, could I?

Anyways, Like most other Kronos shows I've been to, this one was very good. Excellent music. Excellent integration of multimedia into the performance. Superb sound. A very attentive audience. Double plus good!

Program Notes or program notes

Lou Fancher posted a review of the show with East Bay Express. I added the tune titles she mentioned to Terry's set, but I can't say whether or not they're accurately placed!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

And in case you didn't visit the Cal Perfs event page, here are two video links:

• trailer for A Thousand Thoughts
• Kronos performing for NPR Music in 2017

And last, but not least, a very interesting interview posted by Eric Hynes in conversation with Joe Bini and Sam Green about A Thousand Thoughts.