The EAR Unit Pingpongs Through Lively New Music

With a wacky title like “Bongo Lessons,” the last California EAR Unit concert of the season at LACMA Wednesday night promised to be a blast--and on a level of sheer entertainment, it was. And why not? We need more fun new music concerts.

Yet there was a seriousness of intent underneath the musicians’ colorful parrot shirts, the loud lounge jackets of Art Jarvinen, the spirited pingpong match played on the lid of the grand piano, etc.--exploring links between music and spoken words through an uninterrupted procession of a dozen seemingly unrelated pieces.

Matthew Rosenblum’s “00Opinions” was fascinating--with voices clashing in montage and often madcap, strikingly original combinations of sound--while the intriguing instrumental textures of Lindsay Vickery’s song cycle “(descent of the celestial monkey wrench)” offset the sometimes pretentious text. Amy Knoles, in league with ex-Frank Zappa sideman Don Preston on ring-modulated piano, made a powerful impression with her “It’s Hot in Here,” reciting the text in a Laurie Anderson-like voice over dark, growling electronics.

The irreverent spirit of that serious trickster John Cage--heard reading from the 1989 Norton Lectures--hovered over a simultaneous performance of three of his works (the pingpong game took place here). Incredibly, at this late date, the exuberant “Knee Play 2” from Philip Glass’ “Einstein on the Beach” received its L.A. premiere, although violinist Robin Lorentz struggled with Glass’ rapid arpeggios (it isn’t as easy to play as it sounds).

As for “Bongo Lesson,” this collective EAR Unit piece came off like an Andy Kaufman put-on, with Jarvinen giving straightforward instructions on how to play the bongos while the ensemble bonged away to old hoochie-coochie Latin records. The lounge motif resurfaced in “Mister Bongo” as Jarvinen and Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick crooned their way through a lascivious bossa nova sendup, with uncannily authentic-sounding music by Eve Beglarian. Finally, the EAR Unit adapted Zappa’s lounge-lizard burlesque “America Drinks and Goes Home” to send the audience into the lobby.