Kronos in the Red (Hot)

Kronos Quartet has released an EP to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Trinity Test, the first nuclear detonation, back in July 1945. The EP, available on Bandcamp, has three tracks. The first is an extended version of Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” its vocal a composite of sections sung by numerous musicians, including Allison Russell, Iggy Pop, Stephin Merritt, Gustavo Santaolalla, Laurie Anderson, and Willie Nelson. There’s also an expanded ensemble, including Santaolalla on ronroco and Chris Geddes on Hammond organ, plus many other players, and a sizable chorus.

The second and third track take the concept further, and further still. A “drone” version eschews familiar instrumentation in favor of an extended sonic bed, above which spoken lyrics are more layered (even cut-up) than in the first take, spoken by Ocean Vuong, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Ringo Star, and many others. (I’d love if Kronos also put out the isolated instrumental of this one.)

Finally, there’s a spirited raga inspired by Kronos’ efforts, performed by Terry Riley with Sara Miyamoto, who teamed with Kronos previously on a re-imagining of Sun Ra’s music. The Riley/Miyamoto piece, “Komal Reshab Asavari,” came out the month prior to coincide with Riley’s 90th birthday, and then was included in this release.

All these were collaborations with Red Hot Org. Kronos now has just one of its founding members, violinist David Harrington, plus cellist Paul Wiancko, who joined two years ago, and violinist Gabriela Díaz and violist Ayane Kosaza, who joined last year.