written by Elliott Sharp "July 31 - Three Solos and a Duo - Synesthesia - Brooklyn"
July 31 - Three Solos and a Duo - Synesthesia - Brooklyn
This evening was curated by Andrew Neumann, a composer and visual artist working with electronics and radically edited video. I hadn't known of this venue before but after an hour's journey involving subway and bus, was surprised to find a Tokyo-style "live house" run by Mio Nakai in the northern reaches of Bushwick in a mixed industrial/residential building. It opened in February. There was a large bar festooned with interesting beverages, utensils, and tchachkes, a sound-system, and a significant projection screen. Great to see fellow participants David Linton, the duo of Dafna Naphtali and Hans Tammen, and Andrew himself. The other sound checks had already been completed so I quickly set up my bass clarinet and Eventide PitchFactor and got my levels thanks to the assistance of engineer Doc. Andrew began the evening with sample-based electronic music that accompanied and extrapolated on what may be described as structuralist videos: fragmented, looped, mirrored, layered - hypnotic, and reminding me of the sadly under-appreciated filmmaker Ernie Gehr. David Linton next presented what he briefly described as a "play", an audiovisual performance within a meta-work involving a man playing guitar and singing. One heard crunching chords with billowing echoes and, moreover, songs: one by Brian Eno, a hint of Skip James, and an original. David's performance is always multi-layered, the surface giving hints of the processes within (and certainly not laying them out in the open) and yielding results that are passionate and intense. Dafna and Hans then presented a wide-ranging improvisation, she using her voice with laptop processing, he with a Buchla Music Easel. Up next was my 25-minute bass clarinet improvisation in darkness with sounds ranging from purely acoustic to heavily processed and amplified and occasionally looped; an underlying pulse continued throughout, sometimes explicit, sometimes not. Andrew closed the evening with a series of short processed sequences taken from a Fred Astaire movie featuring quick cuts and manipulation paralleling the work of Martin Arnold. The vibe in the room was fantastic boding well for this venue.
This evening was curated by Andrew Neumann, a composer and visual artist working with electronics and radically edited video. I hadn't known of this venue before but after an hour's journey involving subway and bus, was surprised to find a Tokyo-style "live house" run by Mio Nakai in the northern reaches of Bushwick in a mixed industrial/residential building. It opened in February. There was a large bar festooned with interesting beverages, utensils, and tchachkes, a sound-system, and a significant projection screen. Great to see fellow participants David Linton, the duo of Dafna Naphtali and Hans Tammen, and Andrew himself. The other sound checks had already been completed so I quickly set up my bass clarinet and Eventide PitchFactor and got my levels thanks to the assistance of engineer Doc. Andrew began the evening with sample-based electronic music that accompanied and extrapolated on what may be described as structuralist videos: fragmented, looped, mirrored, layered - hypnotic, and reminding me of the sadly under-appreciated filmmaker Ernie Gehr. David Linton next presented what he briefly described as a "play", an audiovisual performance within a meta-work involving a man playing guitar and singing. One heard crunching chords with billowing echoes and, moreover, songs: one by Brian Eno, a hint of Skip James, and an original. David's performance is always multi-layered, the surface giving hints of the processes within (and certainly not laying them out in the open) and yielding results that are passionate and intense. Dafna and Hans then presented a wide-ranging improvisation, she using her voice with laptop processing, he with a Buchla Music Easel. Up next was my 25-minute bass clarinet improvisation in darkness with sounds ranging from purely acoustic to heavily processed and amplified and occasionally looped; an underlying pulse continued throughout, sometimes explicit, sometimes not. Andrew closed the evening with a series of short processed sequences taken from a Fred Astaire movie featuring quick cuts and manipulation paralleling the work of Martin Arnold. The vibe in the room was fantastic boding well for this venue.