Clavius Productions presents:
Friday, March 16
611 Florida Ave NW WDC
http://www.claviusproductions.org 9pm, $5 suggested donation
202-360-9739 for info
BYOW!
Susan Alcorn (improv pedal steel guitar from Houston)
Trockeneis (dry ice/bowed metal/vocal/percussion ensemble from Baltimore)
Ilya Monosov (Eclipse Records/Last Visible Dog)
Susan Alcorn http://www.susanalcorn.com/ "From the relatively unadorned sound of pedal steel and amplifier, Susan Alcorn brings forth music that is as full of emotional honesty as it is of melodic and harmonic exploration and surprise. She possesses a virtuosic technique that is always at the service of the musical moment and its possibilities for expression and communication." (Kevin MacNeil Brown, Dusted)
"The surprise standout of High Zero 2004 was Susan Alcorn, a free-improvising pedal steel player from Houston, Texas...from Hendrixian distorted pyrotechnics and slide-clanging on the fretboard calamity to slowly warming swells and hovering tones as sci-fi as a theremin, Alcorn charms a complex, expressive, and intimately responsive vocabulary out of her instrument, enabling her to compliment noisy, ceiling-climbing swells or barely audible quiets." (Bret McCabe, Baltimore City Paper)
Trockeneis http://www.trockeneismusic.com/ ...A musical collective devoted to New Frictionalism -- the boundary between extreme tempi and sonic continuity ("tone").
"We play non-conventional acoustic instruments: dry ice, bowed metal, musical saws, bowed cymbals, voice, and percussion.
Our music has been described as evocative, disturbing, dreamlike, and most of all -- highly unique -- even to audiences with a huge amount of exposure to noise, electronic, & experimental music."
Born quite impromptu during a live improv set performed for the Peadbody Conservatory student body in spring 2004, the Baltimore quintet, Trockeneis, has since been generating excitement in the East Coast improv/experimental music scene. The group is comprised of a core group of Baltimore improvisers each who brings great passion and musical subtlety to create a truly unique sound/improv experience. A combination of highly idiosyncratic instrumentation, focused, mature musicianship and ego-free, risk-taking group dynamics promise to make this group known on a national level. The group has definite roots in lowercase improv, but grows rapidly beyond that creating complex, rich soundscapes rooted in a true spirit of experimentation.
Paul Neidhardt (percussion)
Paul Neidhardt is a very accomplished rock, jazz, free jazz and experimental percussionist from the Baltimore MD area. He performs in a variety of musical projects. His ability to trade extremely tight traditional chops with very focused sound-oriented techniques such a doweling, bowing, suction etc has made him a favorite in improv circles.
Dan Breen (bowed metal)
Dan Breen is an well-known multi-instrumentalist in Baltimore and other East Coast cities. His wandering, eccentric style of playing and living brings joy to the many who know and love him. He performs with a range of musical projects from the funk band, The Financial Group, to the un-categorizable and tasty electronics/drums group - Snacks. He also plays bass in the Baltimore Afro-Beat Society devoted to performing and preserving the music of Fela Kuti.
Andrew Hayleck (bowed metal)
Andy Hayleck is quickly becoming a nationally known sound artist and musician. His extensive touring and field-recordings (ice, crabs etc) are well-known in experimental music scenes across the US. He has performed in local and national festivals and participated in radio broadcasts in the US and GB. Andy is also a professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Andyâ??s field recording of natural ice formations was selected in Art Forums Top 10 art music records in 2004.
Catherine Pancake (dry ice)
Catherine Pancake is a film-maker, musician, and cultural organizer based in Baltimore MD. Her films have been shown nationally at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, Millenium Theater - NYC, Contemporary Museum - Baltimore, Ohio State University, VA Tech, and more. As a musician she has traveled internationally in Asia (Shanghai Conservatory ROC, Taipei National School for the Arts, International House Tokyo) and Canada collaborating with Audrey Chen, Susan Alcorn, Le Quan Ninh, Oluyemi Thomas, and the group Trockeneis. She is a founding member of the RedRoom Collective, High Zero Foundation, Charm City Kitty Club (GLBT arts venue,) and the Transmodern Festival
http://www.transmodernage.com. Audrey Chen (voice)
Using her trusty cello, self-styled vocal techniques and ever surprising content/concepts, Audrey Chen has emerged as one of the most vital experimental free-improvisers in the United States and beyond. She has toured extensively around the world bringing her sounds and intuition to Poland, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, Japan, and the United States. Among musicians, she has worked with many great improvisers, including Phil Minton, Alessandro Bosetti, Mike Cooper, Mats Gustafsson, Sten Sandell, Mazen Kerbaj, Jaap Blonk, Michael Zerang, Tony Buck, Tatsuya Nakatani, Assif Tsahar, Scott Rosenberg, Le Quan Ninh, Joe Mcphee, Susan Alcorn, Michele Doneda, Paolo Angeli, and Gianni Gebbia. Some current projects include: duo projects with Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) and Gianni Gebbia (saxophone) from Palermo, Sicily, Trockeneis (Baltimoreâ??s power quintet), and a new trio (SILO) with Nate Wooley and Leonel Kaplan (trumpets). Recent performances have included a duo tour with Nakatani through China and Japan celebrating the release of their new duo CD, LIMN.
www.hhproduction.org. Also, Chen has just returned from touring solo and with Gebbia and SILO through Europe in February/March. Some upcoming engagements include, a USA tour with SILO and a tour through China, Japan and Taiwan with Bosetti later in 2006.
Ilya Monosov http://myspace.com/ilyamonosov Ilya Monosov has spent the last decade working with sound and objects and creating his unique form of ritualistic music performance. He has
worked in collaboration or had co publications with Preston Swirnoff, Marc Schulz, Andrew Deutsch, Pauline Oliveros, Charles Curtis, Larry Polansky, Bob Cobbing, Makoto Kawabata, Radu Malfatti and many others. His output has been highly varied and has encompassed everything from gypsy folk music, to minimalist improvisation, to heavy rock. He has also been involved in many performances and multi-media events (including performances and installations at the first lower case events in LA) and currently has a piece online in Frogpeak Unbound, as well as artist books in Printed Matter NYC. He maintains a myspace page to share some of his arrangements for guitar and voice with the public and offer links to supporting labels and distribution websites.
