ListN Up playlists are commissioned by American Composers Forum. Artists are selected by ACF staff (including I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and innova Recordings).
Brooke Knoll is a harpist and improviser based in Kansas City, Missouri. She performs alongside fellow musicians, dancers, and visual artists as part of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society. From playing in sewer drains and DIY venues to art galleries and concert halls, she seeks to find ways in which the harp can break convention and elicit new emotions from listeners while also employing traditional sonorities. As a radio host and music journalist, she has been featured in New Sounds, YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio, and Classical KC.
Hi, my name is Brooke Knoll and I am a harpist and improviser based in Kansas City, Missouri, currently living in Dublin, Ireland while I complete a masters degree. I’m really excited for you to listen to my playlist, which I have themed “movement.”
As a harpist, movement is really central to my work – whether in the way I physically interact with my instrument, or interact with my collaborators around me. I’m also really inspired by the way that we, as listeners, are moved to move our bodies in appreciation for the sounds that we are listening to. So, I hope through this mix of songs that make me want to get up and dance, you also are encouraged to move your body in appreciation. Thanks!
“By the Time I Get to Phoenix” by Jimmy Webb, Performed by Dorothy Ashby
The first time I heard Dorothy Ashby my world was opened up to the possibility of jazz! harp! and my life truly hasn’t been the same since. As a child learning classical harp, I always covered popular tunes and made my own arrangements of my favorite songs, but I didn’t know a harpist could be a band leader or even be considered a part of a jazz ensemble. I’m obsessed with and inspired by all of her music, but take on the classic tune “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” makes me want to throw a lavish dinner party that transforms into a living room dance party.
M.A.Y. in The Backyard by Ryuichi Sakamoto, Performed by Sakamoto, Jaques Morelenbaum, and Everton Nelson
Ryuichi Sakamoto’s M.A.Y. in the Backyard is playful and whimsical, reminding me of days playing make-believe with my friends as a child and inventing elaborate storylines as we ran around in the backyard. It’s a great song to help you release and revisit your inner child, something I try to embrace every time I perform.
Middleground by Shelley Washington, Performed by PUBLIQuartet
As a proud Midwesterner – a Minnesota native based in Kansas City – I would be remiss to not highlight one of my favorite KC-native composers: Shelley Washington. Middleground perfectly encapsulates the nostalgic feeling of sticky hot Midwestern summers punctuated by moments of reprieve, evoking running barefoot through the grass and plunging into a refreshing lake.
Octet in E Flat Major: I. Allegro moderato, ma con fuoco by Felix Mendelssohn, Performed by the Emerson String Quartet
Mendelssohn was 16 when he wrote his Octet in E flat, and that youthful exuberance is on full display. I am a firm believer in having fun while making music, and you can tell the Emerson String Quartet is doing just that in this recording. Being joyful amidst the chaos of our world is a radical, admirable act.
Pulses by Steve Reich
I’ve always loved how minimalism can take tiny musical building blocks and layer them to create rich, all-encompassing sound worlds. Pulses from Steve Reich’s “Music for 18 Musicians” creates this meditative wash of sound that makes me feel like I’m floating and grounded at the same time.
“Rare Things Grow” by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Performed by Smith and Rob Frye
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s music takes some of the most non-organic things – synthesizers and electronically modified sounds – and makes them seem natural. “Rare Things Grow” highlights this skill, transporting you to a misty, magical forest full of surprises.
So Ubuji by Makaya McCraven, Performed by McCraven and Brandee Younger
Drummer and producer Makaya McCraven is no stranger to creating hypnotic grooves that you can’t help but move along to. So Ubuji off of his album In These Times is a perfect example of this and features NYC-based harpist Brandee Younger.
“Best to You” by Dev Hynes, Performed by Blood Orange
Dev Hynes is one of those artists who can truly do it all: film composing, large symphonic works, and his iconic project Blood Orange. I’m a huge fan of “Best to You” off of Freetown Sound. His friendship with and influence from Philip Glass is apparent in the addicting, repetitive marimba canvas laid across the track that is juxtaposed with quite vulnerable lyrics: creating a “sad bop,” if you will.
Cybersyn for improvisers, live electronics and video by Seth Andrew Davis, Performed by Ben Baker, Davis, Alex Goldwasser, Krista Kopper, Brooke Knoll, Ian O’Neill, Aaron Osborne, and Evan Verploegh
For my final choice, I’m including a video of a performance I did with EMAS titled Cybersyn. Seth Andrew Davis, a composer and good friend of mine, created a loose, graphic score for acoustic and electronic musicians to interpret together in real-time. I love free improvisation because it’s so ephemeral and open-ended, and Seth challenged that conception by creating some parameters for us to work within. Reactions, musical choices and movements are made in real-time and can never be repeated in the same way ever again.
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