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Fancy Colors
David Taddie composer
David Taddie’s new album FANCY COLORS blurs the spectrum between acoustic and electronic music into an unorthodox wave of sound. In contrast to the primary characteristics of each type of music, Taddie creates sophisticated, complex compositions by blending the sounds of string and woodwind instruments with the influence of computer-generated effects.
Written and recorded over two decades, FANCY COLORS is the result of Taddie’s exploration of timbre and space using the electronic medium. The eight tracks on the album expand the boundaries of the otherwise conventional sounds of instruments like the flute and piano to a grandiose level. The album’s debut track “Wayward Country” fuses together alto and bass saxophone samples as well as interactive electronics to process the sound in real-time to create a spontaneous, improvised sense of time and space.
The composer’s arrangements evoke many emotions, mostly notably the little dramas and anticipations that get the listeners heart racing. Like the emotional “A Rift in Time,” the composition builds tension quickly, only to release it slowly through tender melody through the string section. “Triptych,” which runs over 13 minutes long, builds patiently. The composition buzzes and twinkles with gongs, bells, and anklets, the whispered vocals reciting poetry adding to the production.
FANCY COLORS shows the listener just how far the sound of an instrument can really go when manipulated by electronics. The album offers an expansive palette for listeners who enjoy a little more depth to their art.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Wayward Country | David Taddie | Michael Ibrahim, alto saxophone | 6:23 |
| 02 | A Rift in Time | David Taddie | Andrea Schultz, violin; Michael Finckel, cello | 9:32 |
| 03 | Triptych | David Taddie | Nina Assimakopoulos, flute | 13:26 |
| 04 | Tracer | David Taddie | Keith Kirchoff, piano | 7:35 |
| 05 | Category 5 (Echoes) | David Taddie | Francesca Arnone, flutes; Mikylah Myers, violin | 9:21 |
| 06 | Caterwaul Dreams | David Taddie | David Taddie, fixed media | 7:48 |
| 07 | Licorice Stick Groove | David Taddie | Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet | 8:37 |
| 08 | Convergences | David Taddie | Julia Kay Jamieson, harp | 9:14 |
Track 1 – for alto saxophone and computer
Track 2 – for violin, cello, and computer
Track 3 – for flute and electroacoustic accompaniment, text: Nina Assimakopoulos
Track 4- for piano and electroacoustic accompaniment
Track 5 – for flute/alto flute/piccolo, violin, and computer
Track 7 – for clarinet and electroacoustic accompaniment
Track 8 – for harp and electroacoustic accompaniment
Tracks 4 and 5 were recorded in Bloch Hall,
Creative Arts Center, West Virginia University
Recording Engineer Mark Benincosa
All other tracks were recorded by the composer in his home studio or various other locations.
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Brandon MacNeil
Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Mastering Shaun Michaud
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette
Design & Marketing Director Brett Picknell
Design Ryan Harrison
Artist Information
David Taddie
David Taddie, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, spent his teenage and young adult years playing in rock bands, serving as a church organist, arranging and performing on radio and TV commercials, finally beginning his formal studies in music theory and composition at Cleveland State University at the age of 20. He received his BA and MM from CSU, where he studied composition with Bain Murray, Rudolph Bubalo, and Edwin London. From 1985-1992, he served as pianist with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. He also composed for, and performed with, the New Music Associates in Cleveland, performed as a duo-piano team with his wife, Karen, and was active as a theory and piano teacher. After a decade of working as a freelance composer, performer, and music teacher, he moved to Boston in 1992 to attend Harvard University where he received his Ph.D., studying composition with Donald Martino, Bernard Rands, and Mario Davidovsky.
Francesca Arnone
Francesca Arnone is an active flute and piccolo soloist, chamber musician, and clinician. An avid traveler, she enjoys pursuing this passion through music and has performed in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, in such venues as St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Conservatory of Madrid, Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, Split Academy of Music in Croatia, and the Chicago Public Library.
Mikylah Myers
Violinist Mikylah Myers' performances have been called “energetic and virtuosic” by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and “captivating” by Boulder, Colorado’s Daily Camera. An award-winning chamber musician, Myers is the violin professor at West Virginia University and Coordinator of the String Area. She was formerly concertmaster of the San Juan Symphony in Durango, Colorado, and a member of the Moores Piano Trio in Houston, Texas, which was the silver prize winner at the 2000 Carmel Chamber Music Competition. During her time in Houston, Myers regularly performed with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera. She was also a violinist with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Spain, and was a 19-year member of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon.