Extended Play

Corbett’s musical tastes run the experimental gamut bordered by such contemporary iconoclasts as the late sound poet John Cage, Fluxus and extra-terrestrial funk ringmaster George Clinton. The late Sun Ra and such unacknowledged living geniuses of “free” music as Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Peter Brotzmann receive their due as well. In this collection of theoretical essays, artist profiles and interviews, Corbett exhibits a thorough knowledge of experimental music and its makers but doesn’t always seem to decide for whom he’s writing–the musical layman, to whom many of his subjects mean nothing, or the academic musician. The theoretical essays that open the book are dense with endnotes and insider jargon. The artist profiles and interviews are characterized by a looser, friendlier variety of authority. Corbett’s profile of Pinetop Perkins chronicles the piano great’s career with such blues legends as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker while his 1992 interview with John Cage is as provocative in its structure as the acclaimed composer’s work. Extended Play offers rare, caring glimpses of gifted musicians few music fans know, but should. A “Guide to Further Listening” provides a brief discography for each of the book’s subjects.