The new Pitch cd is out, called ‘Gems’, and it features a half-hour performance of Harry Partch’s U.S. Highball. This was recorded live in the studio, with Johnny Reinhard on voice, Joshua Pierce on chromelodeon, Skip La Plante on Kithara, and myself on guitar. Harry Partch was a central figure in tuning, and his book ‘Genesis of a Music’ is highly recommended to anyone seriously interested in the subject.
U.S. Highball was inspired by a transcontinental train trip during Partch’s hobo days. This is an early quartet version, still in Partch’s 43-tone Just Intonation. The tuning is used masterfully to convey the sounds and feelings of hitching a ride on the rails across the country. It is expressive, humorous, and unique, and sheds a different light on what Partch himself considered his most creative work. It is available from the American Festival of Microtonal Music website, and we should be getting some copies on the FreeNote store soon.

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