Music Reviews : Showy Recital by New Winds at LACMA

With the myriad extended techniques avant-garde musicians are now capable of, performers frequently become their own composers, writing personal etudes and improvised explorations.

Thus, New Winds, a trio of New York-based woodwind virtuosos--Ned Rothenberg, Robert Dick and J.D. Parran--presented original compositions and improvisations at the latest Monday Evening Concert in Bing Theater at the County Museum of Art, showing off their soaring abilities.

In nine titled works, a wide assortment of techniques were demonstrated, such as unorthodox fingerings, key-clackings and breathy whisper-tones performed on flutes, clarinets, an alto saxophone, a shakuhachi (Japanese flute), an ocarina and a homemade bamboo flute. The listener marveled at the many sounds, but generally missed a skilled composer, who might have given the music more warmth and substance.

Actually, the most provocative playing came when the musicians did not collaborate. Rothenberg’s jazzy alto saxophone solo, “Crux,” deftly combined counterpoint via multiphonics (where two or more tones are produced) with a continuous frenetic phrase achieved with circular breathing (where the performer takes breaths of air through his nose while continuously playing).

Dick’s flute improvisation, “Greenhouse,” used sound-effects and pitch-bending to achieve a sophisticated, satisfying form of blues styled after rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Parran’s “Solo” for alto clarinet tastefully revealed virtuosic elements of jazz also using circular breathing.

Otherwise, the flashy but nondescript ensemble efforts with titles such as “Propriocentricity,” “Traction” and “Three’s a Crowd” each emphasized a specific sound or style, often proving self-indulgent and overly noisy.