The Awareness of Gary Todd
I am turning today’s Signal over to my dear friend Tom Recchion. I met Tom when I was just a lad at Warner Bros. Records; he was an art director there. Tom is a life-long artist/participant in the experimental/modern music scene, known for his involvement as an original member of the Los Angeles Free Music Society. He recently posted the following remembrance of his friend Gary Todd, who passed away a few weeks ago, and I asked if I could print a version of it here. I never met Gary, but knew of his work through the incredible music he helped bring to the world, music that is so very important and life affirming, yet difficult enough in nature that it needs champions to usher it into our culture. I remember when Tom first informed me of Gary’s tragic accident so many years ago. Thank you Tom for helping tell the story of Gary’s life and achievements….
Gary Todd
There’ve been way too many passings lately of people who had a huge impact on my life. Not casual friends, but people who were inspiring, inspired and dear dear friends. A couple days ago my friend and colleague Gary Todd passed away. After 21 years of suffering from a traumatic brain injury, his body finally gave out. He defied the odds that doctors predicted and lived long with improving cognitive function, but there was serious irreversible damage.
Gary had a brilliant mind and generous heart and spirit. His passion for art and music was bottomless. Constantly shopping the world for records, books, CDs and tapes, he culled one of the most thorough collections of 20th Century Avant-Garde activities. He was also one of the early pioneers of tape archive research for some of his favorite composers and artists. Terry Riley’s archive recordings might have been lost to the scrap heap as they laid in trash containers in his barn. The boxes were worm eaten and the tapes covered in dust. Gary single handedly rescued them, cleaned them up, transferred them and released them on his visionary Organ Of Corti label. Hermann Nitsch’s current & rare recordings also got the high-end treatment on vinyl and CD. I was honored to do the art direction and design on most of these projects. We traveled quite a bit together, the best being a trip to London to record the reunion sessions of the legendary group, “Joseph Holbrooke”, one of the earliest free improvising units in the UK whose members, Derek Bailey - Guitar, Gavin Bryars - Bass & Tony Oxley on percussion were recording again after 30 years. Three days were spent in the Moat Studio. John Zorn later released some of these sessions on his Tzadik label. Of course, Gary was super supportive of the LAFMS, culminating in an 10/11 CD box set, “The Lowest Form Of Music,” and several other releases for the collective. We are all grateful to him for his unflinching support.
Gary is free now and, at last, at peace.
Here are some suggested listenings from the work of Gary Todd of “the century's innovators in sound and composition” (click on the name to hear the music):
Derek Bailey Tap 1A from the "Incus Taps" CD/LP - organ of Corti 10
Derek Bailey/Han Bennink "Verity's Place” CD - organ of Corti 9
Hermann Nitsch from "Island: Eine Sinfonie in 10 Sätzen" 4CD box - organ of corti 15
Hermann Nitsch “Harmoniumwerk Vol. 2" CD - organ of Corti 20.1
Terry Riley "Mescaline Mix" - from Music for the Gift - CD - organ of Corti 1
Terry Riley “You’re No Good” 2-CD - organ of Corti 5
Intersystems “Free Psychedelic Poster Inside” CD - Cortical Foundation STREAMLINE 1007
John Cage /Kenneth Patchen “The City Wears A Slouch Hat” CD – organ of Corti 14
Cornelius Cardew & The Scratch Orchestra “The Great Learning” CD – organ of Corti 21
A Rainbow In Curved Air
By: Terry Riley
And then all wars ended / Arms of every kind were outlawed and the masses gladly contributed them to giant foundries in which they were melted down and the metal poured back into the earth / The Pentagon was turned on its side and painted purple, yellow & green / All boundaries were dissolved / The slaughter of animals was forbidden / The whole of lower Manhattan became a meadow in which unfortunates from the Bowery were allowed to live out their fantasies in the sunshine and were cured / People swam in the sparkling rivers under blue skies streaked only with incense pouring from the new factories / The energy from dismantled nuclear weapons provided free heat and light / World health was restored / An abundance of organic vegetables, fruits and grains was growing wild along the discarded highways / National flags were sewn together into brightly colored circus tents under which politicians were allowed to perform harmless theatrical games / The concept of work was forgotten
