Catbird Seat celebrates the Canadian Electronic Ensemble’s twentieth anniversary as Canada’s foremost live electronic music group. In addition to the members of the CEE, Catbird Seat features four of Canada’s finest instrumental soloists and the Armin Strings, the world’s first electric string ensemble. All of the music on this disc has been recorded for the first time on this CD.

« Catbird Seat is the latest in the series of collaborative compositions by the CEE, and like many of our live electronic works, it leaves much room for improvisation. »

« I have been fond of the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe since I was introduced to it as a child, and one of my favourite Poe poems is Israfel… » – Larry Lake

« Wildfire was written in 1984 for the Armin Electric Strings and the RAAD family of string instruments which they developed, created to facilitate the electroacoustic extension of the natural (acoustic) string sound. »

« Quivi Sospiri, for Piano & Synthesizers, is a Tone Poem in which I wanted to depict the scene in the 3rd Canto of Dante’s Inferno. I wrote Quivi Sospiri in 1983 and it had its premiere that year with pianist William Aide and the CEE. » – David Jaeger.

« On the technical level, Hut represents an attempt to produce an environment in which acoustic and electronic ‘soloists’ can meet and interact on an equal footing without surrendering their individual identities. On the conceptual level, Hut concerns inself with the relationship between the mechanic world and the microelectronic world. It recalls other technologies which were created for liberation and turned to oppression. » -Jim Montgomery

« Davies is one of a series of collaborative works written by the members of the CEE. Certain ground rules were laid down in the beginning. The accordion was to be processed electronically throughout the work, and it was to be the featured solo instrument throughout… »

CANADIAN ELECTRONIC ENSEMBLE

1. Catbird Seat

LARRY LAKE

2. Israfel

JAMES MONTGOMERY

3. Wildfire

DAVID JAEGER

4. Quivi Sospiri

JAMES MONTGOMERY

5. Hut

CANADIAN ELECTRONIC ENSEMBLE

6. Davies