Lifetime Achievement?
If you’re as curious as a kitty to hear what finally helped determine the Pulitzer judges’ decision to award Steve Reich his much deserved place at the top of the list of American musical innovators, you can hear streaming audio of a recent live performance (presumably by Eighth Blackbird, who premiered the piece) of his new Double Sextet here:
As the accompanying article indicates, the piece will most likely not be released until he finishes up a few more for a full length disc, which may take until 2011. If he didn’t get the prize for his legendary work in the 70s (Drumming or Music for 18 Musicians), I’m not quite sure what constitutes honoring him now other than a ‘better late than never’ sense of guilt for not bestowing upon him the prestige he is due.
One piece that surely did not help him get closer to the treasure: Electric Guitar Phase. (Eddie Van Halen having an episodic breakdown on repetitive bumps of cheap cocaine in Gresham, Oregon, 1981.)
