Clavius Productions presents an evening of incredible music, ranging from the always-astonishing, exquisite fingerpicking of Jack Rose to the menacing skronk of Microwaves to the unpredictable improvisations of two excellent free-jazz inspired ensembles from the Midwest:
Thursday, March 29
611 Florida Ave NW WDC
http://www.claviusproductions.org 8pm, $5 suggested donation
202-360-9739 for info
BYOW!
Jack Rose (Eclipse/VHF)
Branch/Riordan/Davis (trumpet/drums/cello improv trio from Chicago)
Microwaves (spastic no wave from Pittsburgh)
The George Steeltoe Ensemble (free jazz from Lexington KY)
Jack Rose http://www.vhfrecords.com/jackrose/ http://www.myspace.com/jackrosekensington "Drink a couple shots of neat Kentucky whiskey and see if you don??t slur raag and rock into the same guttural syllable. While I can??t comment knowledgably upon Jack Rose??s substance intake during the sessions that comprise
Raag Manifestos, his third LP of acoustic steel-stringed guitar music, he certainly managed to mash those sounds together so solidly that they bond into an entity heavy enough to exert its own gravitational pull. That he does this with neither an amplified instrument, nor any formal training in Indian classical music, only heightens his accomplishment.
With each successive record, Rose has stepped further from the Mount Rushmore-sized shadows cast by John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and Sandy Bull. Sure, you can hear their influence in his choices of instrument and material; and like them, he plays steel-stringed acoustic guitar, and blends American blues and folk styles with Eastern and Western elements.
But Rose, unlike the rest, came to fingerpicking fairly late in his personal musical evolution. He grew up listening to classic rock and graduated to punk without ever cutting ties with his old school. Pelt, the band in which he came of age as a player, used punk??s anything-goes ethic as permission to use Indian instruments, as well as minimalist forms, without going through any lengthy dues-paying process.
There??s no denying Rose??s command of the guitar. On ??Tower Of Babel,? for example, his nuanced articulation and resonant tone combine to stir the emotions. But he hasn??t lost that punk attitude. Not only does Rose make good on the record??s name, staking his claim farther into the hinterland of the Indo-blues territory any of his Takoma forebears did, he does it with unsurpassed aggression. His slashing attack on ??Black Pearls From the River? and brutal chording on ??Hart Crane??s Old Boyfriends? is pure rock and roll, and it??s the weight in his playing that makes this album stand out in a year packed with solo acoustic guitar records.? (Bill Meyer, Dusted)
Branch/Riordan/Davis http://www.myspace.com/branchriordansexton The improvised music trio Branch/Riordan/Sexton (for this tour, Sexton is replaced by cellist Kevin Davis) was formed midway through 2005. The trio is recognized for their unusual instrumentation and unique compositional aesthetic, which incorporates slow, introspective melodies, abstract sound-based approaches, and the high densities and energies of free jazz. They have been presented in a variety of contexts by organizations such as Umbrella Music (Chicago), Bowerbird (Philadelphia), and the Subconscious Cafe series in Cambridge, MA.
Jaimie Branch is a trumpeter working in the areas of composition and improvisation. Jaimie resides in Chicago where she is an active member in the creative music scene as a performer, recording engineer, and presenter.
Drummer/pianist
Marc Riordan is a Boston-born jazz musician and improviser. He uses traditional instrumental approaches as well as extended techniques. Often appearing in collaborative settings, Marc's current projects include the Branch/Riordan/Sexton trio, Cornerback with Jason Stein and Toby Summerfield, and Marc Riordan's Phelt, with Jaimie Branch, Keefe Jackson, and Kevin Davis. In 2004, Marc co-founded the Music Workshop, a weekly event aimed at bringing together the various stylistic contingents in Boston's diverse music scene. He is now based in Chicago.
Kevin Davis is an improviser, composer and cellist. Over the last five years, his work has engaged the discipline and practice of improvisation, facilitating direct research into sound and perception and using it as a vehicle for discovering new cello techniques and compositional strategies. Born and raised in Appalachia, Kevin earned a degree in music composition, but subsequently veered away from academic composition towards musics that fuse composition and performance, as well as sculptural and process-oriented projects. Kevin is also especially motivated by both free improvisation and the post-Cagean continuum. This ultimately led him to Chicago where he now lives and works with many like-minded collaborators in the city's vibrant improvised music community.
Simultaneously indebted to the spectrum of Euro-American concert music, American traditions of improvisation, and elements of experimental and commercial music, Kevin's present work is a synthesis of the compositional/improvisational space, striving to create complexity and richness from simple premises. This current work applies internal logic or structural devices to improvised performances, using indeterminate elements to create generative compositions and working with extended, often timbre-oriented cello techniques.
(((Microwaves))) http://www.myspace.com/microwaves If the Pittsburgh, PA, independent music scene were a nursery, Microwaves would be the incorrigible 7-year-old who should have graduated five years ago, scrawling "fuck off" on the wall sloppily, in permanent ink. If it were a Radio Shack franchise, Microwaves would be the taciturn employee who wires the store sprinkler system up to a motion sensor, dousing and electrocuting customers and staff alike at the first false movement. The Pittsburgh music scene is neither, thankfully, and the three members of Microwaves are content with their roles in the universe as conduits -- nothing more, nothing less.
As artistic pedigree goes, well, you be the judge: Drummer John Roman (formerly of the 1985) and guitarist/vocalist Dr. David Kuzy founded the group with original bass player Steve Moore (now of Relapse Records artists Zombi) for their first three independent releases, and only recently have parted ways with Jason Jouver, now serving as one-half of the rhythm section of the reactivated Don Caballero. Longtime fan and former Creation is Crucifixion/Fate of Icarus/Conelrad guitarist Adam MacGregor hastily purchased the remainder of Moore's 'waves-era bass gear to step up and round out the lineup in November of 2005, just in time to record the band's latest record, to be released by the Crucial Blast label.
In the anti-tradition of whitebread Bay Area thrash metal, the violent morass of New York no wave, and a familiarity with Ralph Records insanity, Microwaves draws from a palette that is somehow as wide as it seems limited. Kuzy spits tonality-impaired riffs like so much chaff from a surgically calibrated tree shredder. MacGregor processes his fretless bass with all manner of effects, often rendering it as more a bowel-rumbling presence than an instrument. When the two "groove" along to Roman's cyborg clatter, it is more the exception than the norm. The dual vocal attack of MacGregor's narrations from the edge and Kuzy, the detached town crier, seals the deal. Indeed, Microwaves pride themselves in creating a blues-free vacuum in a shot-and-beer milltown rife with 12-bar ponytail-growers.
The George Steeltoe Ensemble http://www.heatretentionrecords.com/HRR%20gsteeltoe.asp In 1999, The George Steeltoe Ensemble began experimenting in free jazz and other improvisational forms through weekly "church" sessions at the Lexington, KY home of Brian and Elisa Osborne. Since its inception the Ensemble has taken many shapes, performing throughout the Midwest and South and participating actively in New York's free music community. Currently the Ensemble is comprised of a rotating field of multi-instrumental improvisers and performing artists, and performances have combined music with improv dance, performance art, and street parades. Some of the performers to have retained their heat in the last six years include: Andrew Barker, Michael Barker, Ed Bear, Casey Block, Daniel Carter, Jeff Chapple, Tom Clark, Ross Compton, Jay Dunbar, Peter Evans, Dave Farris, Lathan Hardy, Trevor Healy, Erik Hinds, Michael T. Jackson, Joel Lambdin, Brian Osborne, Elisa Osborne, Melissa Putz, RADAR Dance, Speight Rhue, Mark Savage, Blaise Siwula, Robin Siwula, Jeffrey Shurdut, and Marc Zajack.
