JASON BOLTE
“The most beautiful and terrifying thing I’ve ever heard... We all just sat there in the dark marveling at the piece’s unsuppressed beauty.”
And Death...
Lynn Tjernan Lukkas
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"Really, anything by Jason is amazing, but this piece in particular is astounding!"
With My Eyes Shut
John Chittum
Listening to Timbre
One Man's Journey Through Composition
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"A particularly impressive point of repose conjured up imagery of a quiet, mist-covered forest environment as [Jeremy] Baguyos [double bass] played dissonant double-stops."
Forgotten Dreams
Christopher Levin
KCMetropolis
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“...the piano timbres including tapping and playing inside the piano balanced well with the resonant metallic sounds of the electronics. The result was an adventurous exploration of timbral variation...”
Scrap Metal
Eileen Mack
ICMA Array
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“We were fortunate enough to sneak in after the second piece, and then I heard a very good piece: Friction by Jason Bolte. There were snippets of real world sounds floating above you and all around you in this beautifully dimly lit room. But what I really loved was how these sounds were locked up through what I felt to be the sounds of doors shutting above you. It took me on a very interesting ride...”
Friction
Ysbrand Otjes,
ICMA Array
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“...pianist Kari Johnson pulled the music from the guts of the piano.”
Scrap Metal
Megan Browne Helm
KCMetropolis
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“Jason Bolte’s Noises Everywhere is chimes. Bells and Chimes. A gentle introduction, slowly growing complexity, a swell, and every imaginable use of a chime slams through: endless reverberations, clanking and clacking and droning, every artifact and warp of a once pristine bell recording flow around and slamming into one another, being mangled beyond recognition and back again. Moving from points of relative calm to thunderous climaxes, and back again, Bolte’s piece, as I wrote (and all I was able to jot down) upon first listening, is ‘rich, powerful, expert.'”
Noises Everywhere
asymmetry Music Magazine
http://asymmetrymusicmagazine.com
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“Mad Propz goto Jason Bolte and his fine, fine, fine piece, Scrap Metal which is, I think, the greatest piece for piano and tape since Davidovsky.”
Scrap Metal
Jay C. Batzner
Sequenza21
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“At a conference where many composer's notes would have you believe that their piece is somehow going to change your entire perception of the universe, Jason Bolte presents a piece where things are really just scraping against each other...and it's brilliant.”
Friction
Greg Sabo
Electro Vienna
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“The most visceral piece of the evening...”
And Death...
asymmetry Music Magazine
http://asymmetrymusicmagazine.com
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“This fantastically complex piece creates a perfect balance between the virtual and the real taking the listener on a journey through an unforeseen zoo of sounds from singing birds and chords of an organ to a Doctor Who and Star Wars-esque portal. A very exciting and polished piece.”
change in the summation
Rachael Watts, Networked Music Review
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“Another standout in the program was Jason Bolte’s Forgotten Dreams, with a great performance by double bassist Jeremy Baguyos. This work has a lively interaction between the solo double bass and laptop, and these two components are handled expertly. At times the mood was psychedelic and vibrant, which seems to agree with the composer’s note that the piece is inspired by ‘abruptly waking from a dream.’”
Forgotten Dreams
Spencer Topel
ARRAY (ICMA)