''What Leave Behind'' is a 2004

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Oakland, California-based

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

group

Toychestra Toychestra is an all-women experimental music group from Oakland, California that plays toys. They use toy musical instruments and other noise-making toys to perform their own compositions as well as interpretations of works by other artists, f ...

and English experimental guitarist

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock ...

. It was recorded in May 2003 and January 2004, and was released in 2004 on the French label, S.K. Records. It is a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

for electric guitar and toy orchestra composed by

Dan Plonsey Dan Plonsey (born September 1, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a saxophonist. He is considered a jazz musician, though he rejects this label. Career His main influences were Sun Ra and Anthony Braxton, both connected to but "apart from" the jazz world. ...

for Toychestra and Frith to perform.

Background

Composer and saxophonist

from the San Francisco Bay Area Improv Scene first got to know

in 1998 when he booked them at his Beanbender's music venue in Berkeley, California. He was intrigued by their performance, and decided to team them up with fellow Bay Area Improv Scene member and experimental guitarist,

. Plonsey wrote a

for electric guitar and toy orchestra for Toychestra and Frith to perform. The concerto turned out to be a challenge for Plonsey because most of the members of Toychestra could not read

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

. He said that he "started out writing some simple, repeating bits to play. I wanted to see what would happen, because they'd never worked with written music before. It was all totally aural." Plonsey was impressed with the result.

Reception

Casey Rae-Hunter of ''Dusted Magazine'' said that the collaboration of

and

on ''What Leave Behind'' is "hilarious, stunning, intense, and highly listenable", and described the music as "polyphonic bedtime music for the half-forgotten child within". Joshua Glazer of AllMusic had reservations about this Frith / Toychestra liaison, but was surprised at the result, saying that it was "far more palatable than one would initially expect." Glazer described the concerto as "an experimental piece that never gazes too intently at its own weirdness or technique."

Track listing

Personnel

– electric guitar *

**Michelle Adams – sterling beat, finger chimes, concertmate 500, melodica, recorder, vocals **Angela Coon – melodica, toy bugle, genie diary "girlz rock", vocals **Petra Podlahová – accordion people, concertmate 500, slat drum, sterling beat **Shari Robertson – zither, violin, melodica, vocals **Lexa Walsh – accordion people, xylo-piano, silly sentences, vocals **Corey Weinstein – melodica, pink zoo train, tube xylophone, train whistle, vocals

Production and artwork

*Recorded at Guerrilla Recording in May 2003 and January 2004 *Mixed by

, Myles Boisen, Lexa Walsh *Produced by Dan Plonsey,

, Fred Frith and Myles Boisen *Mastered by Myles Boisen *Photography by Gary Nakamoto *Graphic design by Lexa Walsh

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:What Leave Behind 2004 debut albums 2004 collaborative albums Experimental music albums Fred Frith albums Albums produced by Fred Frith Guitar concertos