Sunday, February 3, 2013

Piktor's Metamorphosis: Issa's Sunday Service #156



Piktor's Metamorphosis by David Sancious on Grooveshark 
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This week's selection, by David Sancious and Tone, Piktor's Metamorphosis, looks to the title short story of Hermann Hesse's Pictor's Metamorphosis and Other Fantasies. (interested in the original story - a pdf may be found here). Not sure about the spelling variation, but I've got my theories.  

Hesse was an author who frequently wrote in the great romantic German tradition. In particular, the marchen, which roughly translates as fairy or folk tale, was a favorite form, and he was greatly influenced by Novalis and E. T. A Hoffmann in this.  Of course, dark and surreal elements also surfaced in his more mainstream novels, including Demain and Steppenwolf

Today's band, David Sancious and Tone, has quite a history. The album from which this song comes, Transformation (The Speed of Love), has been long out of print and is one that I believe many folks would love to see reissued. David Sancious, keyboard and guitar player extraordinaire, first came to public attention with the initial iteration of Springsteen's E-Street band. His solo work, after leaving the band, was incredible. I saw him perform live in the late 70s and was completely blown away. He was an in demand player during jazz fusion's infancy and left his mark on some of the most seminal albums of the time.

Piktor's Metamorphosis is one of only a handful of instrumentals that have been featured on the Sunday Service. Sit back and relax ... it begins quietly, and slowly, and then ...  




Finally, to give you an idea of the range of Sancious, first a live rendition of his famous keyboard composition, The Bridge, and next, a 2010 video of him playing 'straight' blues guitar:







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the butterfly I passed
two miles back
is ahead now
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue






best,
Don
  


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Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 156 songs

2 comments:

Nathan said...

That was awesome. & "The Bridge"! How did I miss this guy? Just glanced at the liner notes for this Stanley Clarke album I got from the library & there he is... & on a bunch of other things I've dug over the years, I just never knew. Thanks, Don.

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Nate:

It seems there is a post for everyone and this one's for you. If you go to Gerald Carboy's site(he's the bass player in Tone), you can listen to the rest of the album and some other interesting things.

Cheers,
Don