Aaron Larget-Caplan - The New Lullaby Project:, Vol. 3: Drifting (2021)

Anyone expecting the enfant terrible of modernism or the aesthetic provocateur of 4’33” will be surprised by the program on Aaron Larget-Caplan’s John Cage disc. For one thing, these are fairly early works, the most recent coming from 1948, when Cage would have been about 36 years old. After the proto-minimalist A Room, which leads the recital, there are the Three Easy Pieces, which are simply pretty pieces. Chess Pieces has a fascinating backstory. It was hidden, essentially, in plain sight in a painting by Cage, done as part of a tribute to Marcel Duchamp. (This is something of an oversimplification; Google can find you the whole story.) A bit more astringent than the easy pieces, it is still perfectly accessible … My favorite track on the disc is Dream, which is remarkably lovely and beautifully realized in the artist’s transcription … In a Landscape, like Dreams, is very beautiful. The famous Cage of the prepared piano arrives in Bacchanale for two “prepared” guitars in which Larget-Caplan is joined by Adam Levin. It is a marvelous racket! The artist, who did all of the arrangements, is greatly to be commended for this project, for which he also provided the fascinating liner notes. (Soundboard)

In the marvelous arrangement of Bacchanale, for two prepared guitars, the raucous sounds of the instruments work very well for this exuberant work. (American Record Guide)