Pulse

The Long Now premiere streamed live April 19

http://numinousmusic.blogspot.com/2009/04/st-olaf-band-concert-premiering-long.html

Numinous releases Vipassana CD

My new CD Vipassana on innova recordings is now available worldwide. You can hear some excerpts at www.numinousmusic.com and read more about it at www.innova.mu. I'm very excited about sharing Vipassana to the wider world and hope you have an opportunity to check it out at your favorite on-line or brick and morter musical outlet (or come to the concert where it will be available).

Take care,
Joe

Vipassana
In the Pali language of early Buddhist texts, vipassana means “to see things as they really are.” Today, vipassana is a type of meditation that seeks spiritual clarity and insight through silence.

A four-part composition by Joseph C. Phillips Jr. featuring 25 instrumentalists and singers, Vipassana is 60 minutes of “beautiful noise”—a fluid and organic fusion of elements from contemporary classical, jazz, and popular music. As with much of my music, Vipassana humbly seeks to create a sense of wonder and beauty that inspires and enlightens.

 

Early reviews of Vipassana:

“Phillips' writing is brilliant, and the ensemble performs it with clarity and passion. Count me as a believer.”—Ted Gioia (jazz.com)

"And I just got a copy of a (still to be released) CD earlier this week that knocks my socks off . . . Vipassana. Imagine Steve Reich collaborating with Maria Schneider . . . If you get a chance to hear it, check it out." - Ted Gioia

 “…this is certainly head music for the cerebral, but it’s a dandy listening date for people that really like their alternative stuff from left field.  More of a spiritual descendant of [Steve Reich’s] “Music for 18 Musicians” than anything else, it has the appeal of that dense work but takes you to a different place.  Wild and worth it.”—Midwest Record Review

 “Musically, this quartet of stylish and provocative pieces stands somewhere between the style of Steve Reich and contemporary jazz… [a] blend that succeeds in being the sum of its parts and to illustrate his program, which is an unusual one: part symphonic, part spiritual exegesis… Vipassana is never less than likeable, is sincere in intent, and is greatly enjoyable to listen to; Joseph C. Phillips Jr. is a young composer to watch.”—All Music Guide

"...while there have been a couple of attempts at [blending] minimalism and jazz, they haven't really worked as convincingly as this album."—John Schaefer, WNYC's New Sounds

Check out Numinous and Vipassana on WNYC's New Sounds