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New York-based turntablist David Shea (1965) established his reputation mainly in
John Zorn's ensembles.
His first major composition was the 20-minute title-track of Shock Corridor (january 1992 - Avant, 1992),
inspired by Sam Fuller's film of the same name and performed by
an all-star cast of Anthony Coleman on piano and organ, Shelley Hirsch on
voice and electronics, Ikue Mori on drum-machine, Zeena Parkins on electric harp, Jim Staley on trombone and didjeridoo, Jim Pugliese on percussion, and Shea on turntables, sampler, jaw harp and harmonica.
Samples and instruments create a kaleidoscopic universe of stylistic detours,
from lounge jazz to chamber music.
His interest in sampling technology rapidly increased.
Prisoner (august 1993 - Sub Rosa, 1994), inspired by the British tv series, contains seven untitled pieces between three and twelve minutes long for a similar line-up (Shea, Coleman, Parkins, Pugliese, but Hideki Kato on bass and Marc Ribot on guitar).
I (Sub Rosa, 1995) contains the
24-minute four-part Alpha, the
14-minute Film, the 11-minute Trio II,
all of them real-time collages of record snippets. This time Shea is alone
with his sampler.
Hsi-yu Chi (january 1994 - Tzadik, 1996) returned to the ensemble format
(Sim Caine on percussion, Hideki Kato on bass, Zeena
Parkins on harp and accordion, Jim Pugliese on
drums, Marc Ribot on guitar) with samples based on Hong Kong films.
The Tower of Mirrors (october 1995 - Sub Rosa, 1995),
or "Hsi-yu Pu" in Chinese, the title of a Taoist novel,
contains 24 short pieces for
another ensemble that expanded both in terms of instruments
(Erik Friedlander on cello, Dave Douglas on trumpet),
in terms of electronics (David Morley on synthesizer) and in terms of style.
This is perhaps the most encyclopedic of his collages.
In all of these records Shea displayed a unique flair in harmonizing
samples and live instruments. His collages are not cacophonous cut-ups
of unrelated sounds, but elegant and cohesive narrative structures.
The mini-album The Land of Pure Illusions (Sub Rosa, 1996) contains three remixes of the title-track and a new track.
Down River Up Stream (Downsall Plastics, 1996) is a collaboration with DJ Grazhoppa on turntables, samplers and beatbox, and one of his most abstract
works.
Satyricon (Sub Rosa, 1997), another imaginary soundtrack, this time
for the ancient Latin
masterpiece, is a collage symphony that represents both the peak of his
technique and the most linear piece of music he's ever done.
The Poem de Nuestra Signora (november 1996 - More Music, 1997) works with a set of
Italian traditional folk songs.
The project was continued on El Ritual de North et Sud (september 1997 - More Music, 1999)
and Exstasis (More Music, 2002).
At the same time, the eclectic Shea slowly began to approach the formats
preferred by classical music.
Classical Works (Tzadik, 1998) contains two works for chamber ensemble,
samples and turntables: Chamber Symphony #1 and The 'Voice' Suite.
Classical Works II (Tzadik, 2002) contains more works for ensemble
(Chamber Symphony #2), duo and solo interacting with sampler.
An Eastern Western Collected Works (recorded in 1997 - Sub Rosa, 1999) includes the 17-minute Elegy For Mario Bava.
Free Chocolate Love (Sub Rosa, 2000) is a collaboration with
Scanner, four tracks each dedicated to the
exotica and muzak of the 1950s.
Tryptich (Quatermass, 2001) contains three pieces for solo sampler:
Sita's Walk Of Fire (21:34), one of his most ingenious,
One Ride Pony (10:38), a tedious movie soundtrack, and
Satyricon 2000 (22:58), a revised version of Satyricon.
Book Of Scenes (december 2004) toys with a chamber format of viola and piano.
Eight Etudes For Duo Sampler (2007) is a collaboration with Daniele Ledda.
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