“The world’s most abnormal ‘normal’ music”
– Village Voice

After retiring from performing in late 2018, Klucevsek wrote much of the music for this new album. Seventeen of the nineteen tracks are heard here for the first time, including the premiere of his 6-movement suite for Laurie McCants’ multimedia piece Industrious Angels.

These recordings feature such stellar musicians as pianist Jenny Lin and violinist Todd Reynolds. The music varies from the simple, deeply moving Dear Werner and the hauntingly spare melody of How Slow the Whistle Sang to the wildly raucous clanging of a toy piano in A Little Madness in the Spring and the powerful blasts, from multiple, full-throated accordions, in String of Garlands.

In this album, Klucevsek continues his tradition of writing “the world’s most abnormal ‘normal’ music” (Village Voice), wherein instantly appealing and seemingly simple pieces surreptitiously employ unusual and imaginative arrangements.

In Slango, Klucevsek concocts an off-kilter version, in a 7/8 meter, of a tango (normally in 4/4) In Prelude No. 2, the harmonies shift ever-so-slowly over bass pedal tones, a technique that dates back to at least the 17th century music of Henry Purcell.

Inspired by Steve Reich’s Violin Phase, Klucevsek’s arrangement here of Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse first presents the melody in a 3/4 meter over an ostinato also in 3/4; the second variation has two violins in canon at an interval of three beats over an ostinato in 5/4; a third iteration has three violins in canon one beat apart over a 7/4 ostinato; all of which culminates in violinist Todd Reynolds settling into an infectious 6/8 groove.

In Just Plain Folk, each appearance of the melody is played in a different style – first in straight 8th notes, then with a slight swing feeling, and finally, in the style of a strathsphey, characterized by the "Scotch snap," a short-long rhythmic figure.

There are also Klucevsekian explorations of hora Eastern European dance music (Feel the Bern), waltz (A Certain Slant of Light, Seesaw Song, Hope Dies Last, How Slow the Whistle Sang), and hornpipe (Hornpipe).

About Guy Klucevsek:

Guy Klucevsek has composed over 150 works, in addition to commissioning pieces from Mary Ellen Childs, William Duckworth, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jerome Kitzke, Alvin Lucier, Stephen Montague, Somei Satoh, Lois V Vierk, and John Zorn.

As one of the world’s most versatile and highly respected accordionists, Klucevsek has performed and/or recorded with Laurie Anderson, Bang On A Can, Brave Combo, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Dave Douglas, Renée Fleming, Bill Frisell, Robin Holcomb, Phillip Johnston, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Pauline Oliveros, Estelle Parsons, Present Music, Relâche, and Zeitgeist. His performances have graced the Adelaide Festival, the Berlin Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Spoleto Festival USA, BAM Next Wave Festival, and the children’s television show, “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

As a soloist, leader, and co-leader, Klucevsek has released over 25 recordings on Starkland, Tzadik, Winter & Winter, Innova, Review, Intuition, CRI, Steinway and Sons, and XI. His Starkland recording, “Transylvanian Software,” was cited by Stereo Review as a “Recording of Special Merit.”