A collection of pieces reflecting my mood as we near the end of Summer 2020, the summer of Covid-19, and the eve of a potentially apocalyptic American election.

The electrified mbira ensemble Konono N°1 from Congo Republic plays music that is simultaneously joyous and furious, danceable but stimulating cornersof the mind that reflect on history and colonialism, folk culture and electrified popular music.

With a wave of recent lynchings of African-Americans by uniformed police in the USA, forces that often see themelves as occupying armies, I’m reminded ofthis poignant blues by the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson. While the singer laments that he will be executed for “doing something wrong”, one can’t help imagine that we are witness to a much more primitive form of justice, that of the lynch mob.

Some of my favorite guitar music of all time is vọng cổ music from Vietnam, performed on electric guitars with deeply scalloped fretboards and-built-in electronic effects. This music is deep blues, transnational and cosmic.

With the Linda Music track from what was the Central African Republic, we hear amusic now vanished, played by people extinguished in the civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. Tragic, beautiful music.

At this point, I humbly add my own composition Storm of the Eye performed by thefantastic virtuosi Hilary Hahn on violin and Cory Smythe on piano. Commissioned in 2009 by Hilary for her album In 27 Pieces, the piece makes great demands on the players both in use of extended techniques and in summoning a feeling for the times.

This program closesout with an excerpt from Quatermass by the great Tod Dockstader, a visionary pioneer of music concrete and electro acoustic music. He worked outside of the academy and therefore never received the recognition due him. His music was visceral and powerful, perfect for this moment.