Rinde Eckert: Interview, "Slow Fire," "Ravenshead"

It’s great to see an interview with the mesmerizing Rinde Eckert appear at New Music Box. If you’re accustomed to his typically severe stage roles, here you find the more lighthearted realworld Rinde in a video that also includes excerpts from some of his creations. The interview is effectively handled by the diligent Molly Sheridan.

One of Rinde’s first major works was Slow Fire, an “electric opera” with music by Paul Dresher.

CD Review wrote about this CD:

"Rinde Eckert is like Laurie Anderson with an attitude or Tom Waits with a voice... Framed by a Dresher score that integrates hyper-kinetic, minimalist funk, mysterious atmospheres, gamelan cycles, and some burning electric guitar, Eckert gives a mesmerizing recitation... psychotic in its raw power."

Another impressive CD from with Rinde is Ravenshead, with music by Steve Mackey. USA Today anointed Ravenshead as the "Best Opera of '98,” remarking that Eckert delivered “a tour de force to Mackey's insinuating rock-influenced score."

The work combines Mackey's multi-faceted score, Rinde's dazzling physicality and mordant wit, and a superb performance by the Paul Dresher Ensemble to produce what the New York Press called "equal parts MTV video and Metropolitan Opera."

The Los Angeles Times wrote that the opera is "astonishing," that Eckert's "brilliant" performance "entertains us, amazes us and shatters us," and that Steve Mackey's music has "the energy of rock."

Rinde's discography is listed at his website.

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