John Oswald

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John Oswald (2016)

John Anthony Oswald (born May 30, 1953 in Kitchener (Ontario) ) is a Canadian improvisation musician ( alto saxophonist , samples ) and composer . His Plunderphonics , looted sounds from other pieces of music, which were alienated and reassembled as a sound collage , have made him internationally known.

Live and act

Oswald studied at Simon Fraser University with R. Murray Schafer and Barry Truax before continuing his studies in Toronto with David Rosenboom , Casey Sokol , Richard Teitelbaum and James Tenney at York University . Oswald first worked as a saxophonist with Marvin Green in the group Pitch , which gave concerts in absolute darkness, and was from 1977 a member of the Glass Orchestra (which only played instruments made of glass ). From 1977 he recorded with Henry Kaiser the albums Ice Death (1977) and Improvised (1978); shortly thereafter a duo album with Toshinori Kondo and a solo album ( Alto Saxophone , 1981) followed. He also recorded with Alfred Harth and directed the pool improvisation ensemble , which existed until 1988. Since 1994 he has been a member of the Toronto improvisation ensemble CCMC . He also worked with Paul Haines ( Darn It ), the Kronos Quartet ( Short Stories , 1993) and Derek Bailey ( Play Backs , 1998).

In addition, he composed ballet music for various choreographers (e.g. Denise Fujiwara or James Kudelka). In 1980, Oswald founded the Mystery Tapes Laboratory , which produced and sold music and sound collages for which neither the sources of the sounds were given nor further explanations were given. In 1987 his EP Plunderphonics was released , which combined material from Count Basie , Dolly Parton , Elvis Presley and Le sacre du printemps with the help of microsampling he had developed . The CD of the same name that followed also contained recombined pieces by the Beatles , by Glen Gould ( Goldberg Variations ), Michael Jackson , Anton Webern , Franz Liszt and other authors; all sources used for the collage were specified. The album had to be withdrawn from distribution in 1990 following a lawsuit by the Canadian Recording Association for copyright infringement . In 1991 the Elektra label commissioned Oswald to pillage its catalog; In 1991 the resulting album Rubáiyát Plunderphonics was released . The album Grayfolded : Transitive Axis , which he produced, dealt in detail with the piece Dark Star by Grateful Dead , after Nine Examples of Plunderphonic Technics had already presented Oswald's approach in more detail.

Works

  • aparanthesi A (2000-03)
  • aparanthesi B (2000-03)
  • Bell Speeds (1983, 90)
  • Blur (Bolton Chili Overdire); 1 moment, 2 wow, 3 nest
  • Burrows (1974-75)
  • Compact (REMTV Hammercamp); 1 phase, 2 snap
  • Cyfer (Depeche Mold)
  • from Burrows: Silence to Say (1974)
  • Grayfolded (1995)
  • Homonymy (1998), flûte, hautbois, clarinette, basson, cor, trombone, percussions, violon, violoncelle, contrebasse et bande vidéo
  • Mad Mod (Jello Bellafonte)
  • Manifold (Bing Stingspreen); 1 philosophy, 2 phase
  • Massive (Ozzie Osmond); 1 Hazzard, 2 Warning, 3 Treacherous
  • Ohmigone (2001)
  • Open (Bo No Ma); 1 suck, 2 rip
  • Ridge (2001)
  • Skindling Shadés (1987)
  • Temperature (Beastie Shop Beach); 1 Tempus Amoré (Hyper Love Time), 2 Tempo Pact
  • Un paysage (Ouverture) (1996)
  • Urge (Marianne Faith No Morrisey); 1 slow, 2 slice, 3 blink
  • Velocity (Aretha Vanilli); 1 Tremendous, 2 Tremulous
  • Worse (Anthrax Squeeze Factory)
  • Zoom (Sinead O'Connick Jr); 1 Alone, 2 Gogh

Lexical entries

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Oswald, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oswald, John Anthony
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian improvisation musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Kitchener, Ontario