CARNEGIE'S CLASSICAL TURNTABLISM
Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Stephen Webber
On Oct. 2, just a few miles from the Bronx streets where Grandmaster Flash reimagined the turntable as a musical instrument 25 years earlier, DJ Radar (aka Jason Belmont) launched the turntable across another major threshold. Radar became the first turntablist to be the focal point of a complete orchestral concerto in the gold-gilded Isaac Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall.
Behind Radar, 68 talented young classical musicians comprised the Red Bull Artsehcro, named for their sponsor and the word orchestra spelled backward. The orchestra members — culled from Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music and Berklee College of Music — shared a desire to push musical boundaries. “When I walked into the rehearsal space on the first day, the energy of the students was so incredible, it gave me goose bumps,” Radar says of the youthful symphony. “My favorite part was hanging with the orchestra before we went on. One musician came up to me and asked, ‘Can we bob our heads?’”
A member of the Bombshelter Crew since he was 13, Radar learned at the feet of DJs Z-Trip and Emile. A classically trained percussionist, Radar created Concerto for Turntable with composer Raúl Yáñez, who displayed his breezy chops on the Hammond B-3 and roots in Latin music during the Carnegie concert's eclectic first half. Also featured was The Transitive Property of Equality by Emmy-winning composer Laura Karpman, who triggered granulated symphonic samples from Ableton Live in sync with the orchestra.
After a brief intermission came the evening's main event: the world premiere of the three-movement Concerto for Turntable. Radar's smooth introductory uzi scratches gave way to melodic themes shared between the string section and the turntable. Radar manipulated the pitch slider of a Numark TTX1 turntable, using custom-pressed vinyl containing long string tones. The second movement contained more precisely intonated melody, which Radar played using vocal samples. The third movement began with Radar performing live percussion looping and developed into a showcase of his prodigious scratching technique. His cadenzas started with controlled beat scratching and built into complex syncopated rhythms, climaxing in smooth uzi fades. A standing ovation punctuated the evening's accomplishment.
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