Duane Pitre / Pilotram Ensemble

On Duane Pitre’s new release, the experimental guitarist taps into classic minimalist music. His compositions "The Ensemble Chord in Eb with a Minor 7th & a Pump Organ Base” and "The Ensemble Chord in C with a Major 7th & a Guitar Base” mix the buoyantly repetitive sounds of Terry Riley’s pieces with the meditative tones of La Monte Young’s work along a linear musical path of varied instrumental drones. Pitre composes and conducts his group the Pilotram Ensemble with subtle precision. The tone generator provides the aural backbone for each piece, allowing Pitre to guide the violins, cello, pump organ and bass clarinet into gradually layered drones. The results are 50 minutes of blissfully sparse sound grooves riding sonically dynamic peaks and valleys. Pitre also writes East Indian microtonal textures into this music, which sometimes sound like night ragas. Despite Pitre’s stylistic references to ’60s minimalist music, his compositions are contemporary. We hear this when Pitre lets his guitar feedback drone, evoking Glenn Branca’s avant-guitar noise, albeit on a muted tip. Organized Pitches Occurring in Time is engaging environmental music for either working around the studio or relaxed late hour listening.