Zeena Parkins
Modesty of the Magic Thing
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Composer, harpist, improviser, and educator Zeena Parkins has been a mainstay of the Downtown scene since 1984, performing with Fred Frith, John Zorn, Bjork, Ikue Mori, Yoko Ono, Pauline Oliveros, and countless others. Her newest project, years in the making, pays tribute to the fearless American visual artist Jay DeFeo. Zeena captures DeFeo’s bold experimentalism and love of beauty with a lush, exotic extended work for harp and percussion. Performing with her on a unique instrument built by legendary composer Lou Harrison is her close collaborator William Winant. One of Zeena’s most important and compelling releases, this is a major composition by a pioneering harpist/composer who still surprises after forty years of groundbreaking work!
Release notes
Modesty of the Magic Thing For the Pink Cup, Seven Pillars All music by [...], Eyeofnight Publishing, ASCAP recorded at Littlefield Concert Hall, Mills College, Oakland, CA by [...] mixed at 35th Street Sound, NYC by [...] front cover photo Jay DeFeo drawing in her Larkspur, California studio, 1978. Digital scan of negative JDF no. C0702.6. ©2025 The Jay DeFeo Foundation/Artists Rights Scoiety (ARS), New York back cover photo Jay DeFeo working on The Jewel in her studio at 2322 Fillmore…
| 1 | Pink Cup By Day | 6:14 | |
| 2 | Figure To Figure | 2:20 | |
| 3 | Sophie Dreaming | 4:00 | |
| 4 | The Very Tissue Of Falling Columns | 1:30 | |
| 5 | Shape Line One ... Last Valentine | 3:13 | |
| 6 | Transparency And Staining | 3:24 | |
| 7 | Larkspur | 3:25 | |
| 8 | Shape Line Two ... Sinking Of The Pink Cup | 2:16 | |
| 9 | Seven Pillars | 2:49 | |
| 10 | Shape Rhythm | 2:08 | |
| 11 | Pink Cup By Night | 6:02 |
- William Winant
- Bells [Lou Harrison Just Tuned Tenor Bells], Bells [Leon Schneiderman Microtonal Bells], Temple Bells [3 Japanese Temple Bells], Bells [D4 Almglocken], Tam-tam [Small Tam-tam], Cymbal [Suspended Cymbal], Tam-tam [Large Tam-tam]
- Jerry Burchard
- Cover [Back Cover Photo By], Photography By [Back Cover Photo By]
- Heung-Heung Chin
- Design
- John Zorn
- Executive-Producer
- Kazunori Sugiyama
- Executive-Producer [Associate Producer]
- Zeena Parkins
- Harp [Acoustic Harp], Musical Bow [Wooden Bows], Electronics [Microphone Tracer], Liner Notes [English], Producer [Produced By], Written-By [All Music Written By]
- Scott Hull
- Mastered By
- Owen Mulholland
- Mixed By
- Myles Boisen
- Photography By [Disc Photo By]
- James Fei
- Photography By [Obi Photo By], Recorded By
- Jeff Preiss
- Photography By [Parkins Photo By]
![Σ [sigma]](https://cdn.soundohm.com/data/products/2026-10/a0550686140_10-jpg.jpg.250.jpg)
