Michael Robinson

Fire Monkey


Cover art is hand silkscreened paper from Japan

 

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available on myriad additional platforms

 

Journal SEAMUS review

 

Village Voice review

 

"Thanks for the CD. Great stuff! Congrats! Fun playing and singing with, too!"

(opening of handwritten letter from Lee Konitz commenting about Fire Monkey)

 

1. March Wind (1985) 3.20

meruvina: electric guitar, synthesizer, percussion

autograph score

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2. Year of the Rooster (1993) 14.33 (three movements)

meruvina: synthesizers, strings, french horn, flute, piccolo, clarinet, bells, harp, recorder, violin, xylophone, shamisen, marimba, ocean waves, percussion

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3. Jade Streams (1989) 5.18

meruvina: strings

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4. Distant Breakers (1988) 8.19

meruvina: celesta, vibraphone, percussion

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5. Mountain Temple (1992) 17.57 (four movements)

meruvina: marimba, electric piano, acoustic bass, recorder, organ, sho, glockenspiel, percussion

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6. Ghosts (1989) 9.53

meruvina: strings

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7. Soft Stone (1990) 6.59

meruvina: synthesizers, percussion

autograph score

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8. Fire Monkey (1985) 3.59

meruvina: piano

autograph score

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Composed, Programmed, Mixed, Designed and Produced by Michael Robinson

Recorded and Mastered by Catharine Wood at Planetwood Studios

 

I am the seasoned traveler
of the Labyrinth.
The genius of alacrity.
Wizard of the impossible.
My brilliance is yet unmatched
in its originality.
My heart’s filled with potent magic
that could cast a hundred spells.
I am put together
for my own pleasure.
I AM THE MONKEY

- ancient Chinese lunar calendar

 

Even though my musical instincts led me from traditional human performance to the new environs of computer-expressed music, my compositions are conceived as performance pieces. Thus, all of my music is played in real time, without any overdubbing. The emphasis is on the physical rather than the visual dimensions of tangibility. (You can hear and feel sound but you cannot see it.)

If you are willing to consider that human performers are a tradition rather than a given for musical expression, you may discover that computers are perfect instruments for the musical distillation of intellectual, sensual and spiritual energies, capable of articulating the nuances of one’s soul. There is a greater emphasis on what rather than who.

March Wind is pure, uninhibited energy delighting in labyrinthine complexities... Year of the Rooster, in three movements, presents a kaleidoscope of sonic colors throughout its three contrasting movements... Jade Streams was inspired by my first visit to Venezia... Distant Breakers is a shimmering gallop through a poly-cultural landscape... Mountain Temple, in four movements, was named for a Japanese silk-screen painting... Ghosts refers to my memories of people from the past... Soft Stone was inspired by a jukebox song... Fire Monkey is a title taken from the Chinese lunar calendar.

- Michael Robinson, January 1994, Los Angeles

 

© 1994 Michael Robinson All rights reserved