Will Gregory Moog Ensemble – Live @ SJE Arts
aaamusic | On 13, Jun 2015
Wednesday 10th June, Oxford
Gently spoken Will Gregory is internationally known as half of the dynamic electronic music duo Goldfrapp, where he’s producer, composer and keyboardist. He loves old moog synthesizer technology and is keen to take it in new and unpredictable directions.
At this SJE Arts evening Will was joined by nine other experts of the synthesiser including Adrian Utley (Portishead) and composers Eddie Parker and Graham Fitkin. Together they assembled classic moogs and synthesizers by Korg, Roland, Doepfer and Macbeth.
The moog was originally developed by American music pioneer Dr Robert Moog as an analogue synthesizer based on transistors which replaced the previous and more awkward vacuum tubes. It became the first extensively used electronic musical instrument.
The ensemble impressively played Bach’s ‘Brandenburg Concerto No. 3’, regarded as one of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era and bizarre layers of white noise were heard in ‘Noise Box’. A medley from the John Carpenter film soundtrack Escape From New York sounded inventive and minimalistic, whilst Burt Bacharach‘s ‘South American Getaway’, soundtrack to the 60s American western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, helped recreate the joy, fun and beauty of the original film.
It’s now the 10th anniversary of Robert Moog’s death and a fresh and innovative composition by Will Gregory, possibly to be named ‘Pipe Box’, demonstrated a new piece of equipment which enabled all 10 synthesizers to be synchronised. Pulsating rhythms became interlocked in a way that was not previously possible live.
The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble stretches the potential of the classic Moog synthesiser through new compositions, classical transcriptions and their own interpretations of music from film. This was an evening of warm, playful and exciting music and it was rare to see a huge crowd swarming round the stage during the interval. The temptation to catch a glimpse of the huge array of equipment close up became irresistible!
