Two sets of new and old musical meetings from Europe, the US and Canada.
JACK
505 1/2 Waverly Avenue
Brooklyn NY
USA
$10
http://www.jackny.org/
8 PM
Andrea Parkins (el. accordion, objects, and electronics; www.soundcloud.com/andreaparkins)
Frank Gratkowski (saxophones, clarinets; http://www.gratkowski.com/)
9 PM
Frank Gratkowski (saxophones, clarinets)
Charity Chan (piano; http://www.charitychan.com/)
Emilie Lesbros (voice; http://www.emilielesbros.com/)
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ANDREA PARKINS:
Andrea Parkins is a composer, sound/installation artist and electroacoustic instrumentalist who engages with interactive electronics as compositional/performative process, and explores strategies related to Fluxus’ ordered, ephemeral activities. An integral participant of the New York sound art and experimental music scene, and worldwide, she is acclaimed for her pioneering gestural/textural approach on her electronically-processed accordion and self-designed virtual sound-processing instrument. Described as a "sound-ist," of "protean," talent by The New York Times music critic Steve Smith, Parkins’ laptop electronics and Fender-amped accordion create sonic fields of lush harmonics and sculpted electronic feedback, punctuated by moments of gap and rift.
Parkins records and performs as a solo artist and in collaboration with sonic innovators such as Otomo Yoshihide, Rova Saxophone Quartet, David Watson, John Butcher, and Nels Cline, among many others. Her sound works include multi-diffusion site-based installations featuring amplified objects; electroacoustic solo and ensemble pieces; electronic music compositions; and scores/sound design for dance and film. This work has been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Kitchen, Diapason, and Experimental Intermedia; Mexico City's, 1st International Sound Art Festival, NEXT in Bratislava, Cyberfest in St. Petersberg, and q-02 in Brussels. On an ongoing basis, Parkins develops her primary performance project, a series of interactive audio/visual works inspired by Rube Goldberg’s circuitous machines.
FRANK GRATKOWSKI
Frank Gratkowski has been working as a soloist in various international formations (Grubenklang Orchester, Klaus Koenig Orchester, Musikfabrik NRW, Tony Oxley Celebration Orchestra, Bentje Braam, BikBentBraam, All Ears, Zeitkratzer, WDR Big band, etc.). Since 1990 he has been giving solo performances throughout Europe, Canada and USA. With his first solo program, he was a 1991 prizewinner in the Musik Kreativ contest. The release of the solo CD “Artikulationen” followed the same year and a new one “Artikulationen II” in 2002.
Since 1992 he has been working in a duo with the pianist Georg Graewe (CD “VicissEtudes”). The duo is often extended through the participation of different additional musicians, such as drummer Paul Lovens (CD “Quicksand”) and bassist John Lindberg (CD “Arrears”).
In 1995 he founded the “Frank Gratkowski Trio” with Dieter Manderscheid (Germany), bass, and Gerry Hemingway (USA), drums, (CDs “Gestalten” and “The Flume Factor” ). In 2000 the trio has been extended to a quartet by Dutch trombonist Wolter Wierbos (CDs “Kollaps”, “Spectral Reflections”, “Facio” and “Le Vent et la Gorge”). Since 2003 also appearing as a Double Quartet plus Tobias Delius, Herb Robertson, Wilbert DeJoode and Michael Vatcher. In 2005 he got the SWR Jazzprize.
In 1999 the duo with the Italian trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana has been formed and since 2001 Frank Gratkowski has been performing with a trio including Wilbert De Jode (NL) on bass and Achim Kaufmann (D) on piano (CDs “Kwast” and “Unearth”). Since 2006 he’s working with the Trio Gratkowski / Brown / Winant (CDs “Wake” and “Vermilion Traces/Donaueschingen 2009″). He is also a co-leader / composer of the Multiple Joy[ce] Orchestra and got a commission to compose for the ensemble Apartment House by “November Music “ (Den Bosch NL) and the “Huddersfield Comtemporary Music Fesitival” (England) in 2009. Further actual projects are For Alto, a saxophone ensemble dedicated to microtonal music and “Artikulationen E” a solo program for saxophone with 8 channel live electronic.
Frank Gratkowski played on nearly every German and on numerous international Jazz and contemporary music Festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Seattle, Quebec, Les Mans, Muelhuus, Groeningen, Nickelsdorf, Barcelona, Lithuania, Warsaw, Zagreb, Prague, Bratislava, Sofia, Bucharest, Odessa and Roma, Huddersfield, London.
He has been teaching saxophone and ensembles at the Cologne, Berlin and Arnhem Conservatory of Music and is giving workshops all around the world.
Furthermore he has performed with Robert Dick, Phil Wachsmann, Radu Malfatti, Herb Robertson, Marcio Mattos, Eugenio Colombo, Peter Kowald, Ray Anderson, Michael Moore, Ken Vandermark, Greg Osby, Kenny Wheeler, Louis Sclavis, John Betsch, Jane Ira Bloom, Connie and Hannes Bauer, Xu Fengxia, James Newton, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Lindberg, Michael Formaneck, Ernst Reijseger, Fred van Hove, Theo Jörgensmann, Phil Minton, Peter Brötzmann, Mark Dresser, Mark Feldman, Hamid Drake, Michiel Braam, Han Bennink, Mal Waldron, Misha Mengelberg a.m.o.
CHARITY CHAN
An active member of Montreal’s music community, author-composer-performer Charity Chan is a pianist by training who has had the opportunity to perform and present her works throughout Canada, Europe, Oceania, and the United States. Her live performances emphasize the hidden resonant abilities of the piano, often using alternative performance techniques in the process of live creation.
A unique voice in the world of contemporary and free improvisation, Charity’s music draws from a wide-array of sonic practices as part of her creative inspiration and development. Furthermore, her compositions and improvisations are strongly rooted in the immediacy of physical gesture and the importance of collaborative communication.
While her creative work is primarily in contemporary improvised music, she has also worked and studied extensively in the classical and contemporary classical idioms. This was particularly the case during her course of studies at McGill University, Mills College and Princeton University. She has played with musicians from a wide array of backgrounds, including jazz, pop-rock and electroacoustic. Her performances on piano and accordion have led her to collaborations with a number of international and nationally acclaimed musicians, including : Fred Frith, Jean derome, Lori Freedman, Joëlle Léandre, Lukas Ligeti, DiDi Kern, Ragga Gisla, Bill Nace, Frank Gratkowski, Pauline Oliveros, Nicolas Caloia, Roscoe MitchellHer performances on piano and accordion have led her to collaborations with various international musicians, including: Fred Frith, Jean Derome, Joane Hétu, Lori Freedman, Joëlle Léandre, Rosoe Mitchell, Damon Smith, Peter Evans, Tom Blancarte, and Weasel Walter.
Over the last several years, her music has appeared on a variety of labels, including Innova Records, Mills College Records, Tzadik, Carrier Records, and Ambiances Magnétiques.
More recently, as the subject of a recent series of video works by Sylvia Safdie, Charity's music and peformances have been exhibited at Les Flaneries Musicales de Reims.
EMILIE LESBROS
Through her atypical experiences, the singer Emilie Lesbros blurs the boundaries between improvisation, experimental jazz and contemporary music. Her training, between classical education – she studied classical singing and jazz at the conservatory – and eclectic musical projects in various formations ranging from rock to electronic music, leads her to develop an insatiable curiosity regarding sound. she was the lead singer of Rosa, a really untypical rock band.
Her encounter with the bassist Barre Phillips is crucial and results in her fully exploring the field of improvised music. Emilie Lesbros expands her vocal and corporal investigations by working with theater, contemporary dance and contemporary circus companies. These many collective experiences enabled her to refine her own choices and to explore on-stage performance, thereby allowing her to forge a singular presence before the public.
After passing through many by ways, Emilie Lesbros decided to concentrate on solo expressions, occasionally accompanying herself at the piano, the bass or the violin. These solos, which go beyond simple sound performances, blend finely melodic compositions with moments of pure improvisation. Her music exudes strong theatrical and poetic elements in unstable equilibrium between humor and seriousness. Like an intimate and zany self-portrait… Her first solo album, “Attraction terrestre,” released on May 23, 2011 by DFragment Music/Full Rhizome.
She is actually the lead singer of Single Room with Julia Kent (cello and electronic) and Rafaelle Rinaudo (electric harp) for an eccentric Pop music, and Speaking Tube with poetry, songs, and improvisation, with Frantz Loriot (viola), and Pascal Niggenkemper (double bass).
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