Jackson Mac Low

LINEbreak Radio Recording Session, New York, 1995

Listen to the complete recording and read program notes for the episode at Jacket2.

A Celebration of Thing of Beauty: New and Selected Works (edited by Anne Tardos),

CUE Arts Foundation, January 18, 2008

Joan Retallack, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, and others.

CD from Doings: Assorted Performance Pieces 1955–2002 Granary Books, 2006

courtesy of A.L. Nielsen's Heatstrings

1. Introduction (5:09): MP3
2. Jackson Mac Low on Ezra Pound (2:28): MP3
3. HUNGER STrikE wh at doe S lifemean (6:55): MP3
4. Hear I Here (1:08): MP3
5. Memory (0:40): MP3
6. Clear Reapers Pleasing (0:21): MP3
7. Molly Go (0:36): MP3
8. & The (0:36): MP3
9. Clear Being (0:45): MP3
10. Whenas My Love (1:23): MP3
11. The Scene (2:41): MP3
12. Barnes 1 (6:34): MP3
13. Barnes 2 (4:38): MP3
14. To Them knew louder locust (7:02): MP3

Complete Reading (41:56): MP3

Segue reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club, New York, May 8, 2004

1. Introduction (1:51): MP3
2. It Will Glow Unseen Until It Doesn't (HSCH 1) (6:14): MP3
3. Our Throng is Too Much Involved with Dazzle (HSCH 9L) (4:37): MP3
4. Our Creativity-Memory Was Wrung, Was It? (HSCH 6) (3:27): MP3
   
5. That Consummatory Process Had Already Been Published (HSCH 2) (11:33): MP3
6. Feeling Down Clementi Felt Impost Upon From Every Direction (HSCH 10) (3:36): MP3

Reading as part of The Line Reading Series at the Drawing Center, NYC, June 26, 2001

1. Introduction (2:11): MP3
2. Jackson Mac Low discussing his writing methods (4:36): MP3
3. Disappointing Not Sweet Redness (Stein 151) (5:02): MP3
4. Something Upsetting (Stein 88) (8:58): MP3
5. Is Adventure Feeling Being Connected with Others? (Stein 160) (3:16): MP3
6. She Addressed Him Like Useless Mischief (Stein 56) (11:34): MP3
7. Mercy No More (Stein 156) (2:37): MP3
8. That Orange (Stein 159) (2:33): MP3

Wednesday Night Series: Jackson Mac Low, Anne Tardos, St. Mark's Church, NY, March 14, 2001

Library of Congress recording (1:23:40): link

Music by Jackson Mac Low and Anne Tardos

Appearing on PhillyTalks Episode 2 with Andrew Levy, November 5, 1997

"Sprit -- A Word I Never Use": A Response to Jackson Mac Low and Andrew Levy by Alan Filreis

The Radio Reading Project Session, 1998

1. Introduction (0:57): MP3
2. A Poem for Armand Schwerner on his 65th Birthday (2:09): MP3
3. discussing "A Poem for Armand Schwerner on his 65th Birthday" and nonintentional procedures (18:41): MP3
4. Forites 1 (6:55): MP3
5. discussing his "Forties" poems (3:09): MP3
6. Rebus Effort Remove Government, a poem for John Cage's 79th birthday (2:32): MP3
7. on repetition, meaning, and editing (4:33): MP3
8. He Never Relaxed for a Moment (3:43): MP3
9. on applying the diastic method to the Cantos (6:03): MP3
10. Part 9 of Words nd Ends from Ez (2:57): MP3

Complete reading and discussion (51:51): MP3, Real Audio

"Words nd Ends" is also featured on PoemTalk Episode 46.

• Video mirror: Media.SAS server

Reading at SUNY Buffalo, 1997

Reading from from the "Forties" series

1. Introduction to Forties (5:42): MP3
2. Forties 9: Kalmon Dolgin Bluestone (4:51): MP3
3. Forties 10: Solar Panel Menopause (4:25): MP3
4. Forties 11: Transferal Cranberry Nicholas de Staël (5:49): MP3
5. Forties 148: The Woman You Look At But Not Through (4:29): MP3
6. Forties 149: Getting the Words on the Road (3:49): MP3
7. Forties 150: Wind Up Living in Berlin (5:55): MP3
8. Forties 151: Turning these Sifted Pages (4:44): MP3
9. Forties 152: Digging Dimes as Crazy as Glass (3:50): MP3
10. Forties 153: Not Kind Enough to Revise Human Instinct You Are Clean Cold Water (4:51): MP3
11. Forties 154: Finding Your Own Name (4:35): MP3
12. Blatancy (2:48): MP3

Complete Reading (56:03): MP3

Reading at Prospects Conference, Stevens Institute, Hoboken, NJ, May 23, 1996

Complete recording (16:15): MP3

Segue Series Reading at the Ear Inn, October 15, 1995

1. Introduction (1:41): MP3
2. Forties 105: Linguistic Relatives (4:50): MP3
3. Forties 64: Who Builds White Clock Billowing Walls (3:25): MP3
4. Happy 60th Birthday to Sten Hanson (3:06): MP3
5. Forties 85: Our Time Disposal Close (4:55): MP3
6. Forties 104: Huddled Nature (4:35): MP3
7. Forties 78: Lengthen Darken Nothing Any Jobs Left (3:40): MP3
8. Forties 75: He Made Faces Razor Thin (4:20): MP3
9. Forties 76: Back of the Zóhar-Equivalence (5:21): MP3
Complete Reading (37:15): MP3


Segue Series reading at The Ear Inn, New York, May 20, 1995

1. Forties 73: The Beautiful Danferous Wednesday Fought and Fabled (4:31): MP3
2. Forties 68: Her Roastin' Identity Packed With Anarchronisms (3:18): MP3
3. Forties 64: Who Builds White Clock Billowing Walls (3:23): MP3
4. Forties 71: Allergic Mary Drowning Hungary (4:35): MP3
5. Forties 67: Reduction of the Ingenue-Scarers (3:28): MP3
6. Forties 70: Tree House City (4:28): MP3
7. Forties 65: Sandy Furrows Silvered (3:32): MP3
8. Forties 63: Clean-Spitting Muddy Yellow Moods (3:18): MP3
• Complete recording (31:35): MP3

Little Magazine Session, New York, April 2, 1995 recorded by Chris Funkhouser

1. I Strife (1:31): MP3
2. Giant Otters (1:08): MP3
3. Giant Philosophical Otters (3:30): MP3
4. More Giant Philosophical Otters (3:34): MP3
5. Forties 16 (5:18): MP3
6. Accusation Fallacia, for Annie (6:46): MP3
7. A Breather, a poem for John Cage after his 79th birthday (1:21): MP3
8. Intention Disappears, a poem for John Cage's 79th birthday (1:47): MP3
9. Rebus Effort Remove Government, a poem for John Cage after his 79th birthday (2:32): MP3
10. They Didn't Whir He Gave No Advice, a poem for John Cage after his 79th birthday (3:03): MP3
11. Cater Loaf (6:12): MP3
12. This Occasion, a poem for John Cage after his 79th birthday (1:34): MP3
13. He Never Relaxed for a Moment, a poem for John Cage after his 79th birthday (1:12): MP3
14. Desecrated Anchorite Lofty (3:39): MP3

Complete Reading (44:53): MP3

Poetry Project, 1994: Forties 98-101:

video



Open Secrets (1993)




The Radio Reading Project Session at New York University, 1992

1. Introduction (2:18): MP3
2. From "Armand's Storehouse 3" (2:17): MP3
3. On methods (13:27): MP3
4. On influence (5:19): MP3
5. Forties (6:34): MP3
6. Rebus Effort Remove Government (5:40): MP3
7. On changes (4:23): MP3
8. He Never Relaxe99:d for a Moment (3:43): MP3
9. Canto Z Part (9:45): MP3
• Complete Reading (53:51): MP3

Segue Series Reading at The Ear Inn, New York, February 1, 1992

1. Introduction (1:08): MP3
2. Forties 8 (5:20): MP3
3. Forties 19 (10:21): MP3
4. Forties 17 (4:52): MP3
5. Forties 16 (5:13): MP3
6. A Lagoon Elucidation (7:48): MP3
7. Hop Tempestuous (a poem for Mei-mei Berssenbrugge) (2:08): MP3
8. Taking the Doctor's Suggestion (2:19): MP3
9. Duchamp (3:03): MP3
10. Rebus Effort Remove Government (2:35): MP3
11. They Didn't Whir He Gave No Advice (2:49): MP3
Complete Reading (48:01): MP3 (There is a five-second pause around 45:00 when the tape was turned over.)

Charles Bernstein poetics seminar, Wednesday @ Four Plus, SUNY Buffalo, October 11, 1990

1. Reading a selection from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein and his L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E #6 essay on the book (7:02): MP3
   reading "A Carafe, That Is A Blind Glass" (Gertrude Stein) (1:58): MP3
   Reading A Selection from Tender Buttons (Language No. 6) (4:59): MP3
2. Discussion of opening section of Stein's "Objects" (2:42): MP3
3. Discussing function of prefaces and introductions to poems (4:25): MP3
4. Discussing use of notation in creating a poetic collage (3:23): MP3
5. Discussing close reading of MacLow’s poetry vs. Gertrude Stein’s poetry (6:41): MP3
   Stein as perceiver-centered (1:50): MP3
   close connection between Stein's writing and the kind Mac Low and many other Language writers do (0:34): MP3
   CB on Mac Low's procedure-based work as it relates to Stein's writing (1:06): MP3
   rejecting the notion of a unitary Stein, and discussing the way she composed and her manuscripts (3:10): MP3
6. Role of “chance generation” (1:32): MP3
7. Influence of John Cage’s chance-composed music and Buddhism (5:50): MP3
8. Influence of Freud and psychoanalysis (2:11): MP3
9. Serialism and 12-tone music (6:29): MP3
10. Discussion of Mac Low’s methodologies (6:07): MP3
11. Discussion of entropy (1:26): MP3
12. Meaning in language and sound (3:24): MP3
13. Cultural construct of language (1:30): MP3
14. Discussion of voice (3:05): MP3
15. Segmentation of poetry by sound (6:33): MP3

Complete reading (1:02:50): MP3

Reading at the Living Theater, NYC, with Charles Bernstein and Nick Piombino, March 28, 1990

• Free Gatha 1, performed with Bernstein and Piombino (5:36): MP3
• Twenties, 1-15 (22:34): MP3

Songs and Simultaneities, Jackson Mac Low & Anne Tardos, c. 1985

Recorded on audiocassette. Featured in the Joris and Peyrafitte tape collection.

• Side 1 (32:31): MP3
1. Vocabulary for Anne Tardos, 1980 - Tardos, voice; Mac Low, voice & recorder (8:14) (Mac Low)
2. Syllables, 1985 - Tardos, 8 voices (3:28) (Tardos)
3. Octet for a Sunset, 1985 - Tardos, 8 voices (6:04) (Tardos)
4. Heterophony, 1985 - from "Hereford Bosons 1," 1981 - Mac Low, Tardos, voices (7:00) (Mac Low)
5. Aum Gatha, 1982 - Mac Low, Tardos, voices (Mac Low)
6. Real Sleeper, Real Dreamer, 1976 - tape played with Aum Gatha (6:45) (Tardos)
• Side 2 (25:24): MP3
1. Tara Gatha, 1975 - Tardos, voice; Mac Low, voice and recorder (Mac Low)
2. Phonemicon from "Hereford Bosons 1," 1984 - Tardos, Mac Low, voices (10:52) (Mac Low)
3. Figure and Escape, 1985 - Tardos, 8 voices (7:58) (Tardos)

Featuring Anne Tardos.

Q&A, Residency at New Langton Arts, San Francisco, c. 1984

First voice after Mac Low is Barrett Watten. Tom Mandel can also be heard.

• Part 1 (47:38): MP3
1. On philosophy of humanism (2:40): MP3
2. On human value (8:43): MP3
3. On identification (9:15): MP3
4. On self-perception (6:40): MP3
5. On control (3:04): MP3
6. On language (2:52): MP3
7. On metonymy and metaphor (3:36): MP3
8. On discussion (2:53): MP3
9. On context (1:39): MP3
10. On correctness (5:59): MP3
• Part 2 (45:26): MP3
1. On experimentalism (1:42): MP3
2. On writing well (1:08): MP3
3. On stability (4:07): MP3
4. On politics (4:50): MP3
5. On choice (8:08): MP3
6. On political poetry (5:40): MP3
7. On connection (6:23): MP3
8. On consciousness (5:13): MP3
9. On America (5:13): MP3
10. On roundtable (1:29): MP3

St. Mark's Talks, October 24, 1984

"Politics and Language"

• introduction (2:45): MP3
• Bruce Boone (19:48): MP3
• P. Inman (15:08): MP3
• Erica Hunt (18:36): MP3
• Jackson Mac Low (16:29): MP3
• discussion (1:23:03): MP3

Segue Series Reaing at the Ear Inn, New York, March 3, 1984

Complete reading (46:32): MP3

Segue Series Reading at The Ear Inn, New York, January 30, 1982

1. Introduction by Alan Davies (0:49): MP3
2. Hereford Bosons (7:48): MP3
3. Wall Rev (0:36): MP3
4. Inkling Allegretti (8:38): MP3
5. Baltimore Porches (8:31): MP3
6. Regular Clerestories (8:28): MP3
7. Megrose Trinity Sixfold (1:10): MP3
8. Filial Simples (1:27): MP3
9. White Tara (1:03): MP3
10. Sermon Quail (1:38): MP3
11. Anxious Calm (1:06): MP3
12. Ten Weeks (2:22): MP3
13. A Lack of Balance But Not Fatal (2:31) (cuts off midway in poem): MP3
Complete Reading (46:34): MP3


Reading with Bob Cobbing and Tom Leonard at the Sound & Syntax International Festival of Sound Poetry, 1978

Watch on Media.sas

Reading for Emily Dickinson's Birthday Celebration, St. Mark's Church in the Bowery Poetry Project, December 10, 1979

• Jackson Mac Low (03:51): MP3

Performance recorded at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, MD, December 2, 1978

Anthologized in E. no 3, 2020

The First Sharon Belle Matla Vocabulary Gatha (10:53): MP3

Segue Series Reading at The Ear Inn, New York, October 1978

1. 1st Milarepa Gatha (5:58): MP3
2. This Is the Beginning of Something New (9:39): MP3
3. Larry Rosing Piece for typewriter, video and voice (3:13): MP3
4. Reading "Objects" from Tender Buttons (6:52): MP3
   prefatory comments (1:19): MP3
   reading "A Carafe, That Is A Blind Glass (Gertrude Stein) (0:49): MP3
   Reading a Selection from Tender Buttons (Language No. 6) (4:40): MP3
5. On Strangeness (17:18): MP3
6. Asymmetry 1 (0:24): MP3
7. Asymmetry 4 (2:33): MP3
8. Asymmetry 12 (0:56): MP3
Complete Reading (49:00): MP3 (There is a five-second pause around 45:00 when the tape was turned over.)

Appearing on Public Access Poetry with Peter Orlovsky, Steven Hall, Arthur Russell and Sharon Matlin, January 26, 1978

Complete video (59:31): MOV

Video excerpt from above: Jackson Mac Low reads "Phone"

Recording from the Naropa Institute Archives, August 1975

• Side A (44:11): MP3
• Side B (17:18): MP3

Side A includes "The Mantra of Chain Resese", "A Vocabulary for PI Moore", "36th Light Poem", "For and From John Cage", "Donna Rita Joseph Conrad", and "42nd Light Poem" for Paul Goodman. Side B includes "Gloria", "Print Out from the 14 PDP3 Poem", and "Green Tara Mantra".

Reading from the Naropa Institute, August 11, 1975

Complete Recording (46:49): MP3

1. The Peter Innisfree Moore Poems (18:27): MP3
2. 36th Light Poem (4:02): MP3
3. Phoeneme Dance for John Cage (5:11): MP3
4. Joseph Conrad Poem (5:45): MP3
5. 42nd Light Poem (6:40): MP3
6. Du-fie (3:31): MP3

Recording Courtesy of the Naropa Institute

Reading of "Threnody for Sylvia Plath" and "Lucy Church Amiably", May 17, 1975

Recorded on audiocassette. Featured in the Joris and Peyrafitte tape collection.

1. Threnody for Sylvia Plath (34:57): MP3
2. Lucy Church Amiably (20:05): MP3

The Eight-Voice Stereo-Canon Realization Of "The Black Tarantula Crossword Gathas", published by S-Press as tape #33



8-Voice Stereo Canon (The 4 over-laid performances begin on channel one about 20 seconds after they begin on channel two: a "4-against-4" canon.) "The Black Tarantula Crossword Gatha" was written (drawn) 8/25/73 & after. Realized and recorded at NYU Composers' Workshop N.Y. on November 25, 1973. Note: "The Black Tarantula" is one of Kathy Acker's pseudonyms. Originally published as a cassette by S Press Tonbandverlag, Dusseldorf/Munchen, West Germany, 1975.

• Complete recording (32:42): MP3

Reading on the Gathas, New York City, 1970s

1. Discussion of the Gathas (18:23): MP3
2. Call Me Ishmael (0:52): MP3
3. Pattern Recognition by Machine (3:22): MP3
4. excerpt from The 8-Voice Stereo-Canon Realization of "The Black Tarantula Crossword Gatha" (10:49): MP3
• Complete Recording (33:39): MP3

Reading in New York, February 25, 1964

Complete recording (39:14): MP3

Includes voice of Paul Blackburn and Robert Kelly reading “First Biblical Poem” (1955); and ends with Mac Low reading “Presidents” poems and “Alarm Clock".

Jackson Mac Low, Dick Higgins, Petr Kotik, Joseph Kubera, and Chris Nappi perform Emmett Williams's Cellar Song for Five Voices

This piece was written in 1960. The recording here was made of a performance in 1990, presented by the S.E.M. Ensemble, recorded by Mikhail Liberman at Paula Cooper Gallery, 2/6/1990. MP3 (12:22)

Also on PennSound:

• Anne Tardos's Among Men, featuring Mac Low
• Charles Bernstein and cris cheek reading Jackson Mac Low's "Forties 19," AWP Conference, Boston, March 8, 2013 (6:47): MP3 & video
• reading Stein 100: A Feather Likeness of the Justice Chair (7:04): MP3


OF RELATED INTEREST:

Various poets read from Counterpath's publication of Forties

Jackson Mac Low on PennSound Daily

• November 3, 2008: "A Pair of New Recordings from Jackson Mac Low"
• February 1, 2007: "A Celebration of Jackson Mac Low's Thing of Beauty"

These sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the estate of the author. © 2006, 2007 Estate of Jackson Mac Low. Used with permission of Anne Tardos. Distributed by PennSound.