Gnarly Buttons / John's Book of Alleged Dances

Submitted by nonesuch on
genre
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Adams features clarinet, an instrument his father taught him, on Gnarly Buttons, which London’s Independent calls “charming and musically fascinating.” Kronos Quartet performs the playful John’s Book of Alleged Dances, minus the choreography; says Adams, “The steps for them had yet to be invented.” 

Description

Gnarly Buttons is the puckish title for John Adams 1996 concerto offered here in its first recording, released April 17, 1998, on Nonesuch Records. Written for the British clarinet soloist Michael Collins, he performs it here with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by John Adams. The work’s instrumentation underscores the vernacular roots of the music: a string ensemble is augmented by banjo, mandolin, guitar, trombone, two low double reeds, piano, and two keyboards playing a variety of sampled sounds including accordion, clarinet—and cow.

Also premiered on this new recording is a set of 11 short pieces for string quartet, entitled John’s Book of Alleged Dances, written for and performed by Kronos Quartet. Alleged Dances also references folk elements such as the Western hoe-down and a Protestant hymn-tune. Several of the dances combine sampled rhythm tracks with live strings, and project a freewheeling imagination that is mirrored in the movement titles, like “Dogjam,” “Rag the Bone,” “Stubble Crotchet,” and “Alligator Escalator.”

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Gnarly Buttons
Produced by Philip Waldway
Recorded July 1997 at Air Studios (Lyndhurst), London, England
Engineered by Geoff Foster
Edited and mixed At Galaxy Classics, Mol, Belgium
Engineered by Kees de Visser

John’s Book of Alleged Dances
Produced by Judith Sherman
Recorded August 1995 (Toot Nipple) and August 1996 at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, CA
Recording Engineer: Craig Silvey
Assistant Engineer: John Klepko, Chris Haynes (Toot Nipple)
Editing Assistant: Jeanne Velonis
Electronic tapes prepared by Mark Grey

Mastered by Paul Zinman at SoundByte Productions, New York City

Design by John Gall
Cover photograph courtesy of Valerie Schaff/Graphistock

Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

Nonesuch Selection Number

79465

Number of Discs in Set
1disc
ns_album_artistid
2
ns_album_id
4
ns_album_releasedate
ns_genre_1
0
ns_genre_2
0
Album Status
Artist Name
John Adams
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
John’s Book of Alleged Dances
Kronos Quartet:
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Joan Jeanrenaud, cello

Gnarly Buttons
London Sinfonietta:
John Adams, conductor
Michael Collins, clarinet
Gareth Hulse, English horn
John Orford, bassoon
David Purser, trombone
Rebecca Hirsch, violin
Joan Atherton, violin
Roger chase, viola
Christopher van Kampen, cello
Lynda Houghton, double bass
Steve Smith, banjo, mandolin, guitar
Shelagh Sutherland, sampler/piano
David Maric, sampler/piano

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
CD+MP3
UPC
075597946529BUN
Label
MP3
Price
9.00
UPC
603497098668
  • Gnarly Buttons / John's Book of Alleged Dances
    by

  • 79465

News & Reviews

  • Girls of the Golden West, John Adams’ eighth music theater work to be released by Nonesuch, is due April 26. The composer leads the LA Phil in this recording made in Disney Hall, with the Los Angeles Master Chorale led by Grant Gershon. You can hear the aria "Wagon Ride," featuring Davóne Tines and Julia Bullock, now. For the opera, which tells the story of the California Gold Rush, longtime Adams collaborator Peter Sellars drew from original sources from the era—letters, journals, newspaper articles, and familiar song lyrics—to create the libretto. The cast also includes Paul Appleby, Hye Jung Lee, Elliot Madore, Daniela Mack, and Ryan McKinny.

  • The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2024–25 season, including the Met premiere of John Adams's latest opera, Antony and Cleopatra, on May 12, 2025. The adaptation of Shakespeare’s drama stars soprano Julia Bullock, following her company debut in Adams’s El Niño this April, as Cleopatra, opposite bass-baritone Gerald Finley’s Antony. Adams himself conducts a new staging by director Elkhanah Pulitzer, who transports the story from ancient Rome to the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. Performances run through June 7, 2025. 

Buy Now

  • About This Album

    Gnarly Buttons is the puckish title for John Adams 1996 concerto offered here in its first recording, released April 17, 1998, on Nonesuch Records. Written for the British clarinet soloist Michael Collins, he performs it here with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by John Adams. The work’s instrumentation underscores the vernacular roots of the music: a string ensemble is augmented by banjo, mandolin, guitar, trombone, two low double reeds, piano, and two keyboards playing a variety of sampled sounds including accordion, clarinet—and cow.

    Also premiered on this new recording is a set of 11 short pieces for string quartet, entitled John’s Book of Alleged Dances, written for and performed by Kronos Quartet. Alleged Dances also references folk elements such as the Western hoe-down and a Protestant hymn-tune. Several of the dances combine sampled rhythm tracks with live strings, and project a freewheeling imagination that is mirrored in the movement titles, like “Dogjam,” “Rag the Bone,” “Stubble Crotchet,” and “Alligator Escalator.”

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    John’s Book of Alleged Dances
    Kronos Quartet:
    David Harrington, violin
    John Sherba, violin
    Hank Dutt, viola
    Joan Jeanrenaud, cello

    Gnarly Buttons
    London Sinfonietta:
    John Adams, conductor
    Michael Collins, clarinet
    Gareth Hulse, English horn
    John Orford, bassoon
    David Purser, trombone
    Rebecca Hirsch, violin
    Joan Atherton, violin
    Roger chase, viola
    Christopher van Kampen, cello
    Lynda Houghton, double bass
    Steve Smith, banjo, mandolin, guitar
    Shelagh Sutherland, sampler/piano
    David Maric, sampler/piano

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Gnarly Buttons
    Produced by Philip Waldway
    Recorded July 1997 at Air Studios (Lyndhurst), London, England
    Engineered by Geoff Foster
    Edited and mixed At Galaxy Classics, Mol, Belgium
    Engineered by Kees de Visser

    John’s Book of Alleged Dances
    Produced by Judith Sherman
    Recorded August 1995 (Toot Nipple) and August 1996 at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, CA
    Recording Engineer: Craig Silvey
    Assistant Engineer: John Klepko, Chris Haynes (Toot Nipple)
    Editing Assistant: Jeanne Velonis
    Electronic tapes prepared by Mark Grey

    Mastered by Paul Zinman at SoundByte Productions, New York City

    Design by John Gall
    Cover photograph courtesy of Valerie Schaff/Graphistock

    Executive Producer: Robert Hurwitz

More From John Adams, Los Angeles Philharmonic