General 4 — ‎

NEW RELEASES

EMPHATIC NOW

Released in January 2024 on the Neuma Records label, this album features Christian Asplund and me with creative music legend Douglas Ewart, with material created in a recording session during Ewart’s residency at BYU in October 2022. The tracks for this album were recorded in the now-demolished Madsen Recital Hall, located in the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU that was torn down to make way for new buildings. The Ewart residency was several years in the making, since we first saw his work with a creative orchestra at the University of Michigan as part of the 2010 ISIM Conference held there. To read the review of this release in Pan M 360 by Frédéric Cardin, click HERE.

PORTRAIT CDS

ASSEMBLAGE CHAMBER

My second portrait CD released on the New Focus Recordings label, May 27, 2022, featuring performances by Alex and Aubrey Woods, Jason Hardink, Dan Lippel, NY-based chamber ensemble counter)induction, and the NOVA Chamber Music Series players. Three Baroque-inspired chamber works with an electronic “coda” created from putting the previous works in a virtual, sonic blender. Read the review in Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review HERE.

YOUNG AMERICAN INVENTIONS

Released in June 2015 on New Focus Recordings, Young American Inventions features works for electronics, chamber ensemble, and a mix of the two, with pieces from 1997 to 2011. It includes performances by Canyonlands New Music Ensemble, Flexible Music, Hexnut, and pianists Scott Holden and Keith Kirchoff. Click HERE to read a review of the disc in the Seattle-based blog Second Inversion.

MILD VIOLENCE

My FIRST CD release, Mild Violence was a memorable milestone for me. This disc includes some great performances by musicians and friends I really admire, who have helped (and continue to help) me on my way, including flutist Carlton Vickers, the New York New Music Ensemble, violinist Curtis Macomber, saxophonist John Sampen, Talujon Percussion, and Talujon co-founder Dominic Donato.

AVAILABLE RESONANCES

Cover art by Michael Barker, Available Resonances includes several electronic improvisations and modified field recordings that use Radio Shack electret mics and Max/MSP, among other things. Released on my friend/colleague Christian Asplund's Comprovise Records label.

STRANGE ENTHUSIASM

Strange Enthusiasm is a (growing) collection of electronic shorts that feature voice, electronics, field recordings, etc., inspired by Kurt Vonnegut, recordings of shortwave numbers stations, etc.

COLLABORATIVE RELEASES

PRECIPITATIONS

Precipitations is the second release by the Coulter Ricks improvising duo, culled from material recorded during an intense, snowbound weekend in March 2021, in Casper, Wyoming at Casper College. New Focus Recordings label head Dan Lippel describes how the music on this album occupies “an effective middle ground between timbral sonic examinations and performance driven, motivically focused improvisation.” Click on the album image or title to connect with the full New Focus page to preview tracks or buy the album. Read the review in Take Effect that gives this disc a 9/10 score HERE.

I WANT TO BE

The first formal release by improvisatory duo RICKSPLUND, this album features tracks collected over almost a decade of live performances in Salt Lake City, STEIM in Amsterdam, the Avant GaRAWge in Provo, and Madsen Recital Hall at BYU. Read the insightful review of this debut collection by Eric Olson in Earshot Jazz HERE.

BESIDE THE AVOID

This album was recorded in March 2021 in Casper, Wyoming, during one of the largest snowstorms there in decades. Longtime collaborators Ron Coulter and Steven Ricks joined forces for their first duo release, which includes percussion, lo-fi electronic toys and instruments, trombone, the Yamaha RX-11 drum machine, Kyma system, loops in Max, and other improvisatory-sonic delights.

VISCERAL, PREMIUM LUNGS

First trio release by CRA—Christian Asplund (amplified viola), Steven Ricks (trombone, electronics), and Ron Coulter (perucssion, lo-fi electronics)—recorded live in the Springville Museum of Art (in Springville, Utah) on October 8, 2021.

POLYCHROMY

Released August 2021 on Jeff Kaiser’s pfMENTUM label, and now available on Bandcamp, this concert recording of CRAG—Vinny Golia, Christian Asplund, Ron Coulter, and Steven Ricks, is from a 2018 residency at BYU by Golia and Coulter that included lots of jamming, recording, and music making. It’s one of the final releases on the aforementioned pfMENTUM label which was dedicated to experimental music and improvisation.

WORKS ON COMPILATION CD'S

EXTREME MEASURES

My piece Amygdala (2008), for Bb and bass clarinet, piano, and electronics, appears on this ambitious double-CD by new music pioneer Jean Kopperud and pianist phenom Stephen Gosling. It definitely goes to 11...check it out!

60X60 2005

My one-minute piece A Glimpse Beyond the Zero is featured on this unique sampler of one-minute works by composers from around the US, produced and released by Vox Novus.

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EMS (1958 - 2008)

My short work Young American Inventions Redux is included in this collection. I was invited to participate as an alum of the U of I (MM, '95) and former composer in the UIUC EMS.

VARIANTS

My piano piece Stilling (1997; rev. 2002) is included on this collection of recordings by my friend and Medusa-collaborator Keith Kirchoff. This collection also includes some world premiere recordings of works by Frederic Rzewski and other composers, and is available for FREE download.

SOLO EXCURSIONS

This is a self-released collection of solo improvisations, studies, and sonic experiments that presents a sampling of the sorts of things I’ve been exploring and obsessed with in my home studio for the last several years. Released July 2024. Download or listen to it via Bandcamp for free HERE.