Tag Archives: Albany

Comes and Goes Returns

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comes-and-goes

On Thursday I’ll be performing my work Comes and Goes with Andrew Dewar, Wendy Richman and Geni Skendo during the opening concert of the third Birmingham New Music Festival. Andrew and I will perform with electronics (modular synth and Max, respectively) while Wendy plays viola and Geni performs on various flutes. We worked up a wonderful blend of sounds during rehearsal last weekend; I think this is going to be a special performance.

Comes and Goes was written for Gates Ensemble and first performed in Austin, TX in 2007. My memory of the performance is a bit hazy. On the day of the show I was packing for a move from Austin to Albany, NY and gashed open the bottom of my foot. After stitches and pain meds, I somehow joined the other musicians on stage to perform with my foot elevated on a nearby chair. The piece is for four or more musicians performing on electronic and/or acoustic instruments. Each movement explores a specific set of sounds  derived from the technique of amplitude modulation. Download the score for Comes and Goes.

I’ll also be performing on banjo and electronics with Geni Skendo for two of his compositions.

Thursday 9/22 7:30pm
Birmingham New Music Festival
UAB Hulsey Recital Hall
950 13th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35294
Free

ASAC Presents Holland Hopson, D Rice, Blacklight Lighthouse

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I’m excited to share an Albany Sonic Arts Collective bill tonight with Blacklight Lighthouse and D Rice.

Friday October 23
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St
Albany, New York 12210

Here’s the Facebook event. Looking forward to visiting with friends upstate!

ASAC Videos: Pump Organ and No Mule

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Thanks to Eric Hardiman for shooting and posting videos from Saturday’s Albany Sonic Arts Collective show.

This is the premiere of a soon-to-be-titled work built around the idea of treating a fader box as a set of pump organ pedals, rather than simple position sensors. Using Cycling ’74’s Max I can control the organ sounds with a variety of gestures: “pumping” the faders makes the sounds louder, rhythmic motion creates harmonics, sudden and abrupt changes add distortion and bite. The samples that appear at 5:30 are from a 2010 recording session with choreographer Jill Sigman (previous story here).

(Start at 1:32 to skip the embarrassing banter and the hopeless yet obligatory banjo tuning…)

“No Mule” is another brand-new tune. The rhythmic chopping effect is a kind of slow-motion walk through a live sample of the banjo. I add a few more live samples beginning at about 4:00 and get into full-on Steve Reich mode by 6:00.

ASAC Presents Ben Miller, Holland Hopson, Barn Owl, Claymation

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The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents Ben Miller, Holland Hopson, Barn Owl and Claymation.

Saturday, June 16
8:00 pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

This will likely be my last ASAC show as an Albany resident. I’m pleased to share the occasion with:

Ben Miller – alto sax, tapes, the zoo, voice and projection in support of a new release on Living Records. Ben has performed at ASAC a few other times, and was formerly a member of Destroy All Monsters, Sproton Layer, and other units. He’s one of the best out there, and you shouldn’t miss this performance.

Barn Owl – amazing trio of improvising musicians extraordinaire. Matt Weston on drums/percussion, Andy Crespo on bass, and Chris Cooper on prepare guitar/electronics. You’re always in for a treat with these guys.

Claymation – solo electric guitar improvisation from C. Baird Buchanan. We’re excited to have Baird bring his solo project to ASAC for the first time.

 

ASAC Presents Suzanne Thorpe & Phillip Greenlief, Fossils from the Sun, Holland Hopson

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The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents Suzanne Thorpe and Phillip Greenlief, Fossils from the Sun, and Holland Hopson.

Saturday, April 7
8:00 pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

West Coast saxophonist Phillip Greenlief visits New York, and mixes it up with East Coast electroacoustic flutist Suzanne Thorpe. Together they explore what it sounds like when warm winds of the west meet cool breezes of the northeast, and the spaces in between, with electronics, singalongs, and improvisations.
Fossils from the Sun is Ray Hare’s way of moving our eardrums with guitar and/or voice and/or electronics.
ASAC will be unveiling new chairs for “enhanced listening comfort” (TM). To celebrate, I’ll perform 4 short pieces for amplified and processed folding chair.

Save UAG!

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The Upstate Artists Guild (UAG) has fallen behind on their rent. They need donations and new memberships to survive. Read the Times Union story here.

UAG has been a welcome host for many Albany Sonic Arts Collective performances and plays a similarly vital role for many other grass-roots arts organizations and presenters. UAG has also been an important force behind the First Friday events. Support UAG today.

Valentine’s Sounds

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Saturday, April 16, 8 pm
A Night of Amazing Sounds
Bob Gluck/James Keepnews/Ras Moshe/Dean Sharp
Duojoggle (Mitch Elrod/Mike Lopez)
Holland Hopson and Matt Weston
Valentine’s
17 New Scotland Ave

Here’s a great way to spend Saturday night! This will be the first time Matt Weston and I have performed as a duo, and I’m really excited about playing with such an amazing drummer. Every time we’ve rehearsed it comes out a little differently, so it should be a fun surprise to hear what happens at Valentine’s.

Here’s what the Chronogram says about the show:

“A Night of Amazing Sounds”
April 16. In an out-of-the-ordinary move, the normally straight punk-oriented Valentine’s presents “A Night of Amazing Sounds,” a free jazz/experimental electronics program with the quartet of keyboardist Bob Gluck, guitarist James Keepnews, saxophonist Ras Moshe, and drummer Dean Sharp; Duojoggle, featuring saxophonist-guitarist Mitch Elrod and drummer Mike Lopez; and Hopson-Weston, starring Holland Hopson on sax and laptop and Matt Weston on percussion and electronics. Here’s hoping the venue has similar bills in store. (The Charlie Watts Riots and the Last Conspirators plot destruction April 1; the Downtown Fiction hits April 27.) 8pm. Call for ticket prices. Albany. (518) 432-6572; www.valentinesalbany.com.

ASAC Presents Blood Stereo, Bill Nace, 1983

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The Albany Sonic Arts Collective presents a rare US visit by Brighton England’s diy/indie legends, Blood Stereo. Complementing Blood Stereo will be Bill Nace, Northampton, MA guitarist extraordinaire, last in Albany with Thurston Moore, as Northampton Wools. 1983 is Jason Cosco–an Albany noiseician and video art solo project.

Tuesday, April 12
8:00 pm
Upstate Artists Guild
247 Lark St.
Albany NY
$5 suggested donation

More information on the performers: 

Blood Stereo, is an English duo of Dylan Nyoukis, and his wife, the musician and artist Karen Constance, that combines diy technology and the human voice creating a non-idiomatic sound where the human and material collide. Dylan Nyoukis’s work exists on the fringe of contemporary avant garde art and underground DIY, and he is a leading light in the UK’s tape/CD-R scene, both as a performer and proprietary of the Chocolate Monk label. He has collaborated with artists as diverse as Ludo Mich, Chris Corsano, Thurston Moore, Sun City Girls, Bill Nace (natch!), Heather Leigh Murray, Phil Minton, Neil Campbell, Usurper and Wolf Eyes.

Bill Nace is a musician based in Northampton, MA, who last visited us with Thurston Moore as Northampton Wools. Bill’s effected/treated guitar work is pure improv freedom through a lens of total control that never fails to astound. In addition to Thurston Moore, Bill has collaborated with innumerable artists including Chris Cooper, Paul Flaherty, Kim Gordon, Jooklo Duo, Chris Corsano, Jake Meginsky and John Truscinski. 

1983 is Jason Cosco, an Albany based noise and video artist, UAG board member, and ASAC member. Jason’s performances are physical affairs where the body invariably becomes instrument. You can’t be sure what Jason will break out but don’t be surprised if pedals, mics, cymbals, turntables, bells and various other plastics and metals make an appearance!