Tag Archives: Improvisation

Live From My Living Room

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Tune in Thursday August 13 at 7:00pm CST for Live From My Living Room with Holland Hopson presented by the Hoover Library in Hoover, Alabama. I’ll perform new works and improvisations for a custom electric guitar/banjo hybrid instrument built by the amazing Jefferson Pitcher. I may also give a sneak preview of a some visualization software I’ve been developing. Check out the entire Live From My Room video series on YouTube.

The Hoover Library has a long history of presenting great concerts. I played there in person (how quaint!) in 2016, and have had my pieces played there by pianist Aron Kallay and the percussion group Iron Giant. Here’s a video of Iron Giant playing my Quartet 60x880120x208 for four metronomes:

Here’s the info for Thursday’s concert:

Creative Improvisation Summit: Minimally Disturbing, Lvmber and More

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Minimally Disturbing: Jack Wright and Ron Stabinsky

Tomorrow night Jack Wright rolls through town again with his pants leg rolled up and Ron Stabinsky rolled into the mix. They’re playing together as Minimally Disturbing. Also on the bill is a duo of Scott Bazar with drummer Charles Pagano and a new incarnation of Chris Davenport’s Lvmber project. Lvmber features Davenport on drums; Will McGavin, didgeridoo; LaDonna Smith, strings; and myself, electric guitar and electronics. Opening is modular synthesist and former student, Gabe Rosser.

Saturday January 25 7:00pm
Creative Improvisation Summit – Minimally Disturbing, Lvmber, more
East Village Arts
7611 1st Ave N
Birmingham AL 35206

…about the size of a… Birmingham New Music Festival

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I’ll be performing …about the size of a fist and located slightly to the left of… at the Birmingham New Music Festival electroacoustic concert.

Thursday October 18 7:00pm
Birmingham New Music Festival
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Hulsey Recital Hall
950 13th Street South
Birmingham AL

The piece is an improvisation (composed instrument?) using a custom mapping of an off-the-shelf MIDI fader box (the Korg nanokontrol2 pictured above). The typical position information of each fader/knob is ignored in favor of gestural information about how the control is manipulated over time. This transforms the controls into virtual bellows on a pump organ or springs in a wind-up toy.

I’ll also share the stage with Geni Skendo and LaDonna Smith for an improvisation.

Tim Perkis Touch Typing Tonight

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I’m so happy to have an opportunity to play with Tim Perkis tonight. Tim will perform a solo set, then Andrew Raffo Dewar and I will join him for a set of improvisations. Tim will be playing his Touch Typing instrument featured in the video below. I first heard Touch Typing sometime in the 1990’s on the excellent Artificial Horizon recording with John Bischoff, so I’m looking forward to hearing Tim in person tonight.

Friday January 27 7:30pm
Sonic Frontiers presents
Tim Perkis
with Andrew Raffo Dewar and Holland Hopson
Moody Music Hall, UA School of Music
810 Second Ave, Tuscaloosa AL

Bridging Circuits and Cities

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Tomorrow night I’m performing a new work on Circuit Bridges concert 37.

Thursday October 22, 8pm
Gallery MC
549 W 52nd St, Fl 8th
New York, New York 10019

This concert is part of the Vox Novus Festival celebrating 15 years of work. Vox Novus and Circuit Bridges have teamed up with BAMA in a composer exchange (kind of like hostages, only composers are somewhat more demanding—requiring better food, more liquor—and not as susceptible to audio torture). The exchange began a few weeks ago with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance welcoming a contingent of NY-based composers for the Birmingham New Music Festival. This weekend Monroe Golden, Mark Lackey, Brian Moon, William Price and I are being hosted by Circuit Bridges.

I’ll be performing Alap Catfish Impala,  a new piece for banjo voice and live electronics. It’s a mashup (or maybe a medley?) of clawhammer blues and just-tuned modal improvisations.

Check out the wonderfully eclectic program.

Floating with Hank Lazer in a Drunken Boat

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I had the privilege of working with poet Hank Lazer this summer on three sonic realizations on his poem “N27P51” that are now available in issue 22 of the literary journal Drunken Boat.

https://soundcloud.com/drunken-boat/hank-lazer-n27p51-sounding-1?in=drunken-boat/sets/drunken-boat-22

https://soundcloud.com/drunken-boat/hank-lazer-n27p51-sounding-2?in=drunken-boat/sets/drunken-boat-22

https://soundcloud.com/drunken-boat/hank-lazer-n27p51-sounding-3?in=drunken-boat/sets/drunken-boat-22

These works began last spring with recordings of Hank’s students reading phrases from his poem. This summer I edited the recordings, processed them beyond recognition, added more sounds, used the shape of each line from the poem to guide electronic improvisations, and otherwise had a great time designing sounds in the studio. Hank reigned it all in and helped me shape the material into three sections.

Check out the journal for a reproduction of Hank’s visual poetry, or listen to all the audio from the issue below (including a piece by Pauline Oliveros).

https://soundcloud.com/drunken-boat/sets/drunken-boat-22

Sonic Frontiers Workshop Series Kicks Off Tonight at The Grocery

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The Grocery and Sonic Frontiers present a series of monthly participatory workshops beginning tonight and running until June 10. These casual, exploratory music sessions will provide an open and low-pressure environment for interested attendees to investigate improvisation, new compositions, interactive electronics and other musical practices through focused listening, discussion, and hands-on engagement.

The workshops take place at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at The Grocery, an artist-run studio, exhibit, and performance space located at 900 Main Avenue, two blocks north of the main intersection in downtown historic Northport.

Bring your instrument, or just come to listen. No previous experience is necessary. The workshops are free and open to the public (a $1-$10 donation is suggested).

  • 1/14, Tim Feeney: new work & conversations
  • 2/11,  Andrew Raffo Dewar: an introduction to Anthony Braxton’s music & “Language Music” and improvisations with attendees
  • 3/11, Holland Hopson: an introduction to and interactive performance of John Zorn’s “Cobra,” celebrating the work’s 30th anniversary
  • 4/8, Andrew Raffo Dewar: new work & guided improvisations with workshop attendees
  • 5/13, Tim Feeney: new work & conversations
  • 6/10, Holland Hopson: new work for performers & interactive electronics and improvisation with workshop attendees