New World Records
2005
Assassin Reverie
About This Album
American composer Terry Riley turned 70 in June 2005, at which time his presence on the American music scene had been a constant for more than 40 years. He is often categorized as a "minimalist," and many regard his piece In C as the touchstone of musical minimalism itself. Riley refuses to contract himself to either minimalism, or any other designation that his large and categorically bewildering life's work might be held to. New World's Assassin Reverie adds yet another dimension to the multi-sided corpus of Riley, this one done in collaboration with the expert German saxophone ensemble ARTE Quartett. Assassin Reverie contains three works as different from one another as can be imagined, especially considering that they are all scored for saxophone ensemble. If they share some sense of commonality, it is that all three come from the darker side of Riley's musical personality.

Uncle Jard is a multi-movement work that seems to have some difficulty getting off the ground, focusing on drones among the saxophones as Riley sings in a style informed by Indian Classical music. Once in the middle of the piece, we encounter a playful, funky section where Riley sings about "Uncle Jard," an imaginary friend belonging to his grandchildren.
Track List

Uncle Jard, for sax quartet, voice, piano & harpsichord
1.
2.
3.
Assasin Reverie, for sax quartet & (optional) tape
4.
Tread on the Trail, for unspecified performers (partially improvised)
5.