Todd Reynolds
Headquarters for All Things ToddArchive for June, 2007
An evening with The Books, Bowery Ballroom, July 7th
The Books with Todd Reynolds and Rich Remsberg
July 7, 2007, The Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey Street, New York, NY
Doors at 8:30, Tickets available at the door and via Ticket Web.
A HUGE surprise for all of us as The Books rang me up to say that they’re doing a very sudden show at The Bowery Ballroom on July 7th. Both I and Rich Remsberg will do opening sets of our own material, then I will join The Books for their set with some new material that we haven’t done together yet like 8Frame and Owl With Knees. For my set, expect a lot of Live Looping as usual, and a few favorites, including Requiem, Icy Sleeves of Green, and Outerborough, together with its film of the same name by Bill Morrison, of Decasia fame.
Rich Remsberg is a wonderful archival image researcher for PBS and other documentarians, who will offer up an opening set called Common Pictures, a slideshow exhibition of found photography, unveiling an unintended power and poignancy in the casual images of everyday life. A short but compelling description follows:
“With the seasoned eye of a documentary photographer, this artist has spent twenty-five years sifting through tens of thousands of orphaned snapshots at junk shops, flea markets, and antique stores to find amateur photos that have accidentally complex compositions and other formal qualities that make them far more sophisticated than they were intended to be. This assembled collection creates a compelling portrait of the American psyche, at once dark and hopeful and always haunting.”
I’ve been hankering to do a show in New York with my good colleagues The Books, after having toured so much together around the country, and now we will! If you’re in town, I hope you’ll consider joining us. Click here to get your tix now
Focus :: NIME 2007 :: Luke DuBois and Dan Trueman
If you’ve been with us long, you know Luke’s name. In the most recent incarnation of Still Life with Microphone :: A View From the Microscope, Luke has taken such a central role that the piece has become a symbiotic collaboration between the two of us. I love working with Luke. He is the perfect blend of musician, visual artist, and programming genius, and overall one of the best collaborators I’ve encountered, full of depth and concept. If you’ve seen us work together, you know how technologically transparent his contribution is, not to mention beautiful. Luke’s primary tool is a software package called Jitter, by Cycling 74, a program which he had a pretty large hand in writing. This month, C74 did released a video on their site where Luke explains what he’s about and how that program gives him immediate access to film and live video interactive expression. Click here to watch the video, then come see us together at NIME (info above)
Alright, now you tell me who has the chutzpah to form a Laptop Orchestra at Princeton University, and call it PLOrk! It’s this guy. I’ve been a longtime admirer of Dan’s. Few people I know have spent so much time, effort and brainpower on turning the violin into a sensor driven, computer-enhanced monster. A fantastic composer who’s interest in Swedish Hardanger Fiddle informs his approach to both rhythm and sonority, Dan has written for NIME LassoCorral, a composition driven by four separate yet synchronized audible click tracks which slow down and speed up bringing into view a new way of seeing and feeling pulse. I’ve long wanted to do something with Dan, and this commission marks the first.
In most recent news, Luke spent last semester as composer-in-residence with PLOrk, and Dan’s new band, QQQ is quickly lighting up the pavement as it takes off.
The Garden of Memory @ Chapel of the Chimes
The Garden of Memory, a summer solstice celebration in the Bay Area curated by Sarah Cahill
I am so looking forward to returning for the second year to this wonderful all day Solstice Concert in Oakland to offer up sets of my own material throughout the day. The biggest treat for me, though is the opportunity to join Terry Riley for a few sets as well as we did last year. This is a not-to-be-missed event with an overflow of great music and performers, including Paul Dresher and Amy X. Neuberg, Terry Riley, Sarah Cahill and many others.
New Music Bay Area and Chapel of the Chimes present Garden of Memory 2007: a Columbarium Walk-Through Event at Chapel of the Chimes, a labyrinthine Julia Morgan-designed columbarium and mausoleum replete with gardens, fountains, and stained-glass skylights
4499 Piedmont Ave., next to Mountain View Cemetery, in Oakland on Thursday, June 21 from 5 to 9 pm.
Admission is $10 general, $5 students and seniors.
That’s not ALL Sarah Cahill has been up to. She recently interviewed Meredith Monk and Bjork in their first conversation together. The result is powerful. Check it out below.
Click here to hear Sarah’s interview of Meredith Monk and Bjork.
NIME Conference 2007
New Interfaces for Musical Expression
Next, if you want to really get digitized, come visit the NIME conference in the first week of June, 6-9. New Interfaces for Musical Expression. Granted, it’s one of the techiest of the techie events, but in my world these folks are fantastic fun and experts at making playable interfaces for electronic music (why wouldn’t i love ‘em?). This year, Luke DuBois is curating the performance angle and has asked Kathleen Supove and myself to share a concert and exhibit some of our work that is closely tied to electronics. Of course, try to yank me away from my laptop, and we have a problem. For my half, expect September Canons by Ingram Marshall, a new piece by Dan Trueman, new work with video by Andreas Weixler and Se-Lien Chuang and some new work of my own in collaboration with Luke DuBois’ video (see below) Kathleen will present compositions by Neil Rolnick, Eric Lyon, and Dafna Naphtali. An ensemble piece by Cort Lippe opens the program featuring the NYU New Music Ensemble.
Dan Trueman was kind enough to take on a commission from me (see below) for Hardanger Fiddle, Violin, Bass Clarinet and Piano which will serve as the finale to the evening. I’ve wanted to do something with my violin/tech colleague for a long time. However, due to an unforeseen unavoidable conflict, Michael Lowenstern cannot join us as advertised, so stepping up to the plate at short notice for the Trueman composition is another of my favorite musicians and collaorators, Ken Thomson, also known for his longtime affiliations with Cantaloupe Music and Gutbucket.
The concert:
Friday, June 8, 7:00 PM
NIME: New Interfaces for Musical Expression 07
Frederick Lowe Theater, NYU, 35 W 4th St., NYC
Bang on a Can Marathon
On June 2nd & 3rd, Bang on a Can revisits our Winter Garden Marathon from last year, but on Steroids. Alex Ross has a good encompassing post on his blog the rest is noise which will give you an idea of the breadth and scope of this 26 hour concert. And the Bang on a Can Website has the full schedule here.
You’ll find me hanging around a lot as there is a lot to see as I’m as hungry for great music as anyone. However, I’ll be performing only between 10 and 11:15 PM on Saturday night. First as a ‘guest all-star’ with Kyaw-Kyaw Naing, the great Burmese drummer, and then in a set with The Books, with tunes that we’ll perform together for the first time. Another World Premiere (grin). Show up by 10:11 PM not to miss it!
And don’t miss one of my favorite songwriters, Juana Molina at 2 AM, and a 4:30 AM performance of Steve Reich’s Music For 18 as the sun comes up. Now that is something to stay up for. Oh, and there’s a big set of Ethel on Sunday morning as well. Well, those are a few of my faves, but there’s plenty more, including the incomparable Iva Bittova.
Electric Eyes in Minneapolis
Still Life With Microphone enjoyed two really sweet nights at The Southern Theater. Check flickr for some photos by V. Paul Virtucio of the event, video to follow. Thanks to the crew of the Southern and to Electric Eyes, especially composer and colleague Mary Ellen Childs.
A special welcome to the new folks on the list from Minnesota and Cornelia Street Café!
Cornelia St. Cafe with Radio Wonderland, Composer’s Collaborative, and 4fiveVI
I hadn’t been back to Cornelia Street Café for ages, so it was the cause for much celebratizing this month… Joshua Fried and I have found new love in working together inside his Radio Wonderland Project. Even did a little recording the next week!
The event was presented by Celia Cooke and Jed Distler’s Composers Collaborative, who are hosting a huge performance of Terry Riley’s In C next month, even closing off the street for 100 or more people. If you’ve never heard the piece, or played in this history-making composition, perhaps now’s the time! If you think it might be something in which you’d enjoy participating, please email Celia here.
I had a great time performing the next week at CSC with Bohdan Hilash and 4fiveVI, which is comprised of some of my favorite improvising musicians from The Walter Thompson Orchestra. It was SO much fun, in fact, that I ended up joining all my old pals of The Walter Thompson Orchestra at the Bowery Poetry Club the next night for a gigantor reunion of that spectacular band led by The Man himself. Saw so many old friends, made some new ones, and as always, the artistic experience was as good as my favorite sushi. (can you really say that?)
