Continued from p. 20
she decided to go for a gig with her minimal
solo piano works at the prominent
Soho performance space The Kitchen, but
without any demo tapes she was forced to
audition live for musical director Garrett
List. Worthington sat down at the piano,
started playing and froze up. After repeating
this several times, List gently suggested
that she might want to try a smaller venue.
At the time she was using her photographic
experience as a darkroom developer
and printer for Edie Baskin, the official
photographer for Saturday Night Live.
She even subbed as a shooter when Baskin
wasn’t available, which put her on set when
Steve Martin and Dan Ackroyd debuted
their “wild and crazy guys” sketch.
More importantly though, she had a night
job at the Tribeca artist hangout Magoos,
where the avant-garde pianist/composer
Charlemagne Palestine held court on a
nightly basis. They struck up a friendship
that resulted in Palestine giving her the
keys to his loft, letting her practice on his
Bosendorfer grand piano and eventually
staging her debut concerts at the loft.
“I had been to his concerts,” says
Worthington.g “The loft was almost empty,p y
except pt for the piano, a a couple of
chairs rs and a TV. It had
been n an old spice
spice
warehouse,ehouse, so it
smelled led great. It
was magical.”
Her er first two
two
concerts certs were
well attended, as
were e the following
two, which debuted
more e extended
pieces.es. Her
Her
l a ck k of
training ning and
minimal imal style
style
was instantly
accepted epted by
by
a supportive
crowd wd of friends,
artists ts and followers
followof
of Palestine who
who
filled the loft for all
the shows.
“It was a kind,
open-hearted scene,” recalls Worthington.
“Minimalism was a continuation of the 60’s
spirit of inclusiveness, open mindedness
and generosity of spirit.” She continued,
“My naiveté was accepted. If it were a different
time, it wouldn’t have happened – I
would have been dismissed.”
Even after playing a successful series
of loft shows, her stage fright lingered,
leading her to work in a band situation
where the spotlight would be shared. She
bought a Casio and a drum machine and
started working with other like-minded
musicians.
Now working a day job for the rock
photographer Lynn Goldsmith as a photo
agent, she rehearsed with various downtown
players such as Keiko Bonk, Jules
Baptiste, Jeffrey Glenn and Lee Ranaldo,
but nothing jelled until she hooked up with
bassist Mitch McNeill.
Their partnership mutated into the band
ZONE, whose members slowly changed
until the lineup solidified with Worthington
on keyboard, McNeill on bass, Charles
Compo on sax, Mark Worthy on guitar,
Mustafa Ahmed on drums and Susan
Compo on occasional vocals.
With Worthington creating the “basic
riffs and chords” and the band improvising
ing soun
along, ZONE created a sound that was
unique and, as one reviewer put i
it, had “the
least commercial potential.”
Whatever it was, it could be
be heard all
over downtown New York. The T
group
gigged at Inroads, Danceteria
Danceteria, Peppermint
mint Pyram
kins and
Lounge, PS122, Pyramid, Tompkins
Square Park, 8BC and CBGB’s,
where they opened for Living
Colour.
fo
When ZONE ZONE
broke up
in 1986, Wo
Worthington
formed a new
new partnership
with singer Jill
ship s
Burton, performing
pe
at Roulette Roulette
as a duo
before adding add
Kumi
Kimoto and an
Yuval
Gubay on p
percussion
and Jane Sc
Scarpantoni
on cello t
to become
Hizohi. The T
avantgarde
group also
garde gr
played it
its share of
lower M
Manhattan
spots, as a
well as
Tin Pan P
Alley,
before
before calling it
quits
quits two years
later.later
At this
A
sh
point, she decided
Publicity photo by Bob Krasner. Bottom, L-R: Mark Worthy, Mitch McNeill,
Mustafa Ahmed. Middle, L-R: Rain Worthington, Susan Compo. Top: Charles
Compo.
that it might be a good idea to get some
actual musical training and enrolled for
a year in Hunter college to take courses
in Beginner Piano, Theory, Counterpoint
and Ear Training. But, “I was terrible at
everything!” she says. “My teacher passed
me out of pity.”
By 1991 she had gotten a degree from
Empire State College and become a
children’s music teacher, but was still
determined to become “a legit composer.”
So, she did what any determined wouldbe
composer would do – she went to the
library, read up on orchestra techniques and
taught herself the craft.
Worthington has written pieces for solo
oud, duets for two flutes, small chamber
pieces and compositions for 80 piece orchestras.
Her work has been recorded (notably
for Parma Recordings) and performed
around the world, from Moscow to Brazil.
After working with her for ten years,
Parma’s CDO Sam Renshaw is quite happy
to have her work on his label.
“We’re lucky to work with a wide range
of composers and I’m particularly impressed
with her composition skills. A wide variety
of emotional and compositional skill define
the Worthington sound. I couldn’t be more
proud of our collaboration.”
The partnership with Parma led directly
to a new commission from Audrey Wright,
the Associate Concertmaster of the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra.
Worthington is still a bit stunned that her
work will be played in one of the world’s
most prestigious venues. “When I got the
email I thought, oh that’s nice, but I can’t
afford this. I thought I was going to have to
pay big bucks to make it happen,” she recalls.
That turned out not to be the case. Now
that day is almost here and Worthington
finds herself dealing with a “roller coaster”
of emotions leading up to the event.
“It’s made me realize what a journey it’s
been,” she muses. “I hope it’s just one step
of many more to come.”
Information about the upcoming concert
is here: https://www.carnegiehall.
org/Calendar/2020/02/16/Distinguished-
Concerts-Orchestra-and-Distinguished-
Concerts-Singers-Internatio-0830PM
d all
PHOTOS BY
BOB KRASNER
Rain
t Rain
Worthington
otographed
t photographed
at the Oculus
in 2019.
Schneps Media February 13, 2020 21
/www.carnegiehall
/pieces.es
/www.carnegiehall
