"No one dreamed they could possibly exist! One person stands at the precipice of our destruction!"
Road to Aacheron, a creation by composer, saxophonist, producer Rent Romus, is an original work of odd musical suspense and mystery inspired by the writers of fantastic fiction of the 1930's. The project features musicians and vocalists from the improvisation, experimental and theatrical music communities interweaving abstract film.
Featuring film by Michael Mersereau, music from Life's Blood Ensemble, the voices of Cardew Choir, and aria performances by Tom Bickley, Bob Marsh, Polly Moller, Mantra Plonsey, and Kattt Atchley, this world debut in association with Outsound Presents and supported by San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music will take place at the Finnish Kaleva Hall located at 1970 Chestnut Street in Berkeley, California March 25 and 26, 2017. ...
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"No one dreamed they could possibly exist! One person stands at the precipice of our destruction!"
Road to Aacheron, a creation by composer, saxophonist, producer Rent Romus, is an original work of odd musical suspense and mystery inspired by the writers of fantastic fiction of the 1930's. The project features musicians and vocalists from the improvisation, experimental and theatrical music communities interweaving abstract film.
Featuring film by Michael Mersereau, music from Life's Blood Ensemble, the voices of Cardew Choir, and aria performances by Tom Bickley, Bob Marsh, Polly Moller, Mantra Plonsey, and Kattt Atchley, this world debut in association with Outsound Presents and supported by San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music will take place at the Finnish Kaleva Hall located at 1970 Chestnut Street in Berkeley, California March 25 and 26, 2017.
The Players
Aria Performance by
Tom Bickley, Bob Marsh, Polly Moller, Mantra Plonsey, Kattt Atchley
Life's Blood Ensemble
Joshua Marshall - tenor saxophone, Rent Romus - alto saxophone, Mark Clifford - vibraphone, Heikki Koskinen - e-trumpet, Timothy Orr - drums & percussion, Max Judelson - double bass, Safa Shokrai - double bass, Amber Lamprecht - oboe, Erika Oba - flute, CJ Borosque - percussion, David Leikam - moog synthesizer
The Cardew Choir
Tom Bickley, Bob Marsh, Dean Santomieri, Eric Theise, Jaime Robles, David Samas
Film by
Michael Mersereau
Narration by
Roderick Repke
About the composer
Rent Romus is a saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, music producer, and community leader hailed by Downbeat as having "...a bold sound, unmistakable sincerity and conviction". A third generation Finnish American born in the great north of upper Michigan and growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Romus' work on the saxophone has been dubbed "ferocious" by the San Francisco Weekly and "central to the creative music world of the West Coast" by writer jazz critic Frank Rubolino. From his very beginnings as a student of jazz while being exposed to the twilight tutelage of Stan Getz he found himself drawn to the outer realms of Sun Ra and Albert Ayler, as well as Arthur Blythe, Derek Bailey and Merzbow. He leads the Lords of Outland a free improvisation unit since 1994, the Life's Blood Ensemble a compostional contemporary ensemble, and works with pianist Thollem McDonas in the Bloom Project as well as the collective improvisation group The Ruminations.
He has recorded over 40 albums exploring improvisation and composition in a wide variety of musical settings both as a leader and sideman which have included Chico Freeman, John Tchicai, Vinny Golia, Thollem McDonas, Stefan Pasborg, James Zitro, Heikki "Mike" Koskinen, and Jon Bridsong to name a few. He is the founder of Edgetone Records with over 30 years of independent music production, and performance experience as well as the founder and Executive Director of Outsound Presents under which curates the bi-weekly music series known as SIMM at the Musicians Union Hall, the weekly Luggage Store Gallery Creative Music Series, as well as annual Outsound New Music Summit, the Bay Area's creative music festival held every summer in San Francisco.
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