Homespun Americana and modern classical music but aren’t as far apart as one might think. Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson were just as much innovators of minimalist music, finding a world of expression in the least amount of notes and chords, as composers such as John Cage, Phillip Glass and Terry Riley.
Theorist/philosopher Henry Flynt certainly falls into the latter camp. First heard in Yoko Ono’s Manhattan loft, he was associated with the Flexus movement, played electric violin with the Velvet Underground, and left music to concentrate on philosophy in 1983. These unreleased performances from the early ’60s embrace his North Carolina upbringing.
In an essay describing his “avant-garde hillbilly and blues music,” he talks about the “rhythmic and melodic intricacies” he employed as he worked to “open up blues and country music to forward-sweeping melodic improvisation.” All of which may sound dry or visionary, but the proof is in the music, which does have a down-home feel.
Using electric violin and ukulele, Flynt manages to weave a hypnotic quality to the repeated rhythms heard in these mostly instrumental lo-fi recordings. Volume 1 peaks with lengthier cuts. On the 12-minute “Acoustic Hillbilly Jive”, after a strangely syncopated stomping/plucking duet, the bowing comes off like a cross between Bob Wills and John Cale, finishing with a mad, screeching coda.
As a contrast, “Blue Sky, Highway And Tyme” is a peaceful 15-minute John Fahey-like guitar mediation with wordless humming and moaning. The relatively briefer pieces are also intriguing: In “The Snake”, Flynt snaps notes off his instrument like the slithering animal, while “Sky Turned Red” lets the notes and chords shimmer and then spiral behind Flynt’s echoed, lonesome voice. Not exactly Harry Smith archive material, but it’s in the spirit enough that you could briefly fool an unsuspecting friend.
Volume 2 features a similar format, with two shorter pieces and two lengthier numbers. “Echo Rock” is what it says it is, almost sounding like an early Creedence cut at times. “Informal Hillbilly Jive” is a jazzed-up variation on the similarly titled cut from the first volume. “White Lightening” is not the George Jones hit but a medley of traditional songs such as “Shortening Bread”. On the 10-minute “Jamboree”, Flynt creates a swirl of evolving sounds on his violin while keeping true to the song title.
Though it would have been more convenient to have both of these 30-minute collections on one CD, the two releases should appeal to roots music fans, even those who know little about avant-classical music.
