Archive for the 'Experimental' Category

Improvisers Anonymous

Monday, May 5th, 2008

Sometimes I feel like experimental improvisers are a lot like alcoholics—they don’t know when to stop. I go to a lot of improv shows and in general I leave vowing to never speak of what I’d just witnessed and wishing for that 2 hours of my life back. Now that’s not to say that there […]

Unsilent Aftermath

Saturday, December 22nd, 2007

Baltimore’s 2nd annual performance of Phil Kline’s amibient Christmas masterpiece Unsilent Night took place last night and was by all accounts a smashing success. We had a record crowd of nearly 100 totally awesome participants. New for the 2007 edition of Unsilent Night in Baltimore was the summoning of aliens as we gathered in a […]

Unsilent Eve

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

The batteries were all placed in the boombox with care . . . It’s the day before Unsilent Night in Baltimore and we’re ready to go. The press has been rolling in:

Baltimore City Paper: Critic’s Pick
Baltimore Sun: The Free Sheet
Washington Post: The Scene (scroll down)

Though it won’t be as cold as last year, it’s still […]

Unsilent Night is next Friday

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

The countdown to the 2007 edition of Unsilent Night in Baltimore has begun.

Forget about BK…

Friday, November 30th, 2007

This from an article about the Brooklyn music scene in the Guardian today:
The Maryland city of Baltimore plays a big role in Brooklyn’s musical renaissance. Sitek lived there, and is an old friend of Celebration’s singer, Katrina Ford, still a resident. Brian DeRan, the manager of Gang Gang Dance and Animal Collective, is a Baltimorean. […]

Unsilent Baltimore 2007

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

Phil Kline’s Christmas masterpiece, Unsilent Night, makes a triumphant return to Baltimore next month (Friday, December 21 at 8 p.m., to be exact). New for 2007: check out the brand new website and be sure to catch the

High Jinx

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

For some reason, performing on the sidewalk is beginning to become commonplace for me in Baltimore. Pictured above is yours truly with Baltimore-based experimetal saxophonist extraordinaire John Berndt performing looping improvised soprano saxophone duets in front of Normal’s Books & Records as part of this year’s High Zero Festival’s High Jinx performances.

Ones of a kind

Sunday, May 20th, 2007

Every pursuit has its innovators, people who are synonomous with their field and without whom we couldn’t imagine that field existing the way it does today. This thought came to mind twice yesterday. The first time was while I was watching Dogtown and Z Boys, Stacey Peralta’s documentary about the birth of modern skateboarding. Would […]

An anecdote about Alvin

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

Reminiscing about last year’s SPARK Fesitval a couple of posts ago reminded me about the experience of meeting Alvin Lucier, who was the event’s feautred guest composer. On my third concert of the festival—actually a joint recital with violinist Maja Cerar—I performed Lucier’s Spira Mirabilis for bass sustaining instrument (a.k.a. baritone saxophone) and amplified electric […]

In praise of silence

Monday, February 5th, 2007

The Red Room played host to two of Boston’s finest last Friday as Tim Feeney and Vic Rawlings schooled the faithful on the sound of silence. Although Tim confessed that Friday’s set was one of their louder efforts, both musicians operated in a dynamic space that ranged from niente to about mezzo piano. Yet within […]