Philip Krumm- "Goofy Tunes and Minimalist Melodies"

April 06, 2022

Philip Krumm- "Goofy Tunes and Minimalist Melodies"

Fruit of the Spirit is pleased to present a previously unreleased recording by American composer Philip Krumm (April 7th, 1941-current). Coined a "pioneer of modal, repetitive pattern music", Krumm's contribution to modern composition is giant. Thank you Philip for sharing this music with us.

Philip's set up for the recording of "Goofy Tunes"

"Philip Krumm and myself met in 1995. I came into possession of a copy of Jerry Hunt's "Texas Music" LP which included a track by Philip called "Sound Machine". Knowing Philip was located in San Antonio, me and my friend phoned him and met him at his book store Clipper Ship. When we arrived, Philip was sitting down taking to another gentleman. This first visit to Philip's book store was in the evening and I remember the sky was marvelous looking, dark, but still able to see some stars. I nervously left my copy of "Texas Music" in the car, never having asked for an autograph before. I think I remember Philip offering his book shop as a venue for Tony Conrad to play which would have been excellent. Our relationship blossomed over the years/decades, working on projects together, playing live music or just talking at Philip’s house or on the phone. I was lucky to have spent so much time in San Antonio with Philip. He is truly a super friend and human being. Thank you Philip." - Troy Curry (Idea Records/Fruit of the Spirit)

"On Goofy Tunes and Minimalist Melodies"

"I listened to the 'tunes' this afternoon and was more aware than usual of the numerous little blemishes, but a bit of production work could make most of them sound just fine, or at least tolerable. I'm very happy with most of GT, and can't help but think that some of them would be useful in various ways. My humble 'cover art' was just for 'limited release'. I feel certain that more attractive and suitable cover art could be found. Most of these pieces are for separate 'imagined' albums: the brassy pieces were thought of as being part of "Hugo's Magic Trumpets Live at the Mirador Ballroom", and I have a few more in that group that I like very much, on reel and cassette, both inaccessible to me presently. I wanted a bit of production work to add crowd noises and muffled applause. My plan was to use material from an old sound effects LP I've had for decades, but i'm sure it could be done better by others. The pieces with strong and heavy basslines were imagined for an album called "Dances for the Deaf". I may still have some extras for that also. (It's) always nice to be able to crank some music; hope it happens again before too long. Thought that "goofy tunes & minimalist melodies" would have made us rich as kings by now but apparently that didn't happen...yet. -Philip Krumm in conversation with Troy, December 22, 2017.