Bill Sebastian and the Outerspace Visual Communicator, Night One: Josh Rosen & Stan Strickland at Accurate Records

Doors open at 8:00
Sets at 9:00, 9:45, 10:30

Twelve audience members at a time will don virtual reality visors and become immersed in 3D visuals which Bill Sebastian will create in response to live music. The other audience members and the musicians will see a 2D rendering of the visuals on large screens. After 30 minute set, the next group of twelve audience members will put on the visors for a 30 minute set; twelve more will wear the visors for the third and final set.

All audience members are welcome to stay through the whole performance, but each member is only guaranteed a visor for one set. ...

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Doors open at 8:00
Sets at 9:00, 9:45, 10:30

Twelve audience members at a time will don virtual reality visors and become immersed in 3D visuals which Bill Sebastian will create in response to live music. The other audience members and the musicians will see a 2D rendering of the visuals on large screens. After 30 minute set, the next group of twelve audience members will put on the visors for a 30 minute set; twelve more will wear the visors for the third and final set.

All audience members are welcome to stay through the whole performance, but each member is only guaranteed a visor for one set.

On Night One, the music will be provided by keyboardist Josh Rosen and reedman/vocalist Stan Strickland, two of the top improvisers in Boston.

You are invited to BYO beverages we'll have cups and ice. Because of the amount of electronic gear that will be in the studio, we will not be serving food.

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The back story:

In the mid 1970's, MIT refugee Bill Sebastian was inspired by Sun Ra to create a light machine unrivaled by any other in existence. Barely after the era of oil-on-glass light shows at rock concerts, Bill hand-wired thousands of electronic parts into a giant color screen on which he could improvise light gestures and patterns as wild as Sun Ra's music.

Upon being shown the OVC, Sun Ra signed up Bill to perform with the Arkestra in an epic twelve night performance in December 1978 at the Modern Theater in Boston, at that time a crumbling porn house. After the first night was cancelled due to a lack of heat in the building, the rest of the run treated audiences (including Accurate Records honcho Russ Gershon) to an unparalleled onslaught of sound and light.

The OVC was transported to NYC for another run with the Arkestra in 1979, and in June of 1981 the machine and the Arkestra performed at the Mass College of Art for four nights. After that, the cumbersome OVC, with thousands of solders, began to degrade and the OVC-Sun Ra era was over.

Bill went on to a career in tech, with over 70 patents to his credit, and began developing a successor to the OVC, based around virtual reality visors. In the OVC2, the viewer can turn their head and look around a 3D space in which the visual artist manipulates virtual objects. Bill's performances with music feature some pre-formed objects and some which he improvises in response to music.

Up until now, Bill's performances have been accompanied by recorded music, but during this five night run at Accurate Records, he will be returning to performing with top-tier musicians for the first time since his period with Sun Ra.

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