Anya M. Wassenberg's Blog: Art & Culture Maven, page 48
November 11, 2019
Rockabilly Duo: Framus and Betty - New Horizon (Independent 2019)
Rockabilly Duo:
Framus and Betty - New Horizon
(Independent 2019)
• Check It Out
If you like your blues rootsy, straight up and unvarnished, with a dash of punk and hillbilly rock, Framus & Betty have you covered on New Horizon, their 2019 release.
Framus takes his moniker from the brand of guitar he plays (the logo is tattooed on his neck). Whether it's part of the legend or not, he coaxes a range of sounds from the instrument, from a growly rhythm to jangly chords and gorgeous bell tones.
He's an idiosyncratic songwriter, blending vintage hillbilly blues with avant garde expressionism, and lyrics that take blues into the existential territory. On the drums, Betty Bomb is bombastic - the perfect foil to Framus' dramatic lyrics and tempo-bending delivery.
The tracks are short and sweet, each built around a guitar hook - natch - with variations in approach that keep it interesting. Gone Blues showcases Betty's solid work on the drum kit against a minimalist chord pattern and lyrics. On Learn to Live builds on a crescendo of slide guitar and drums.
Some tracks, like Daddy's Gone, mine vintage roots and blues territory, while Blue Betty is a folky duo to acoustic guitar.
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, a city with a gritty working class image, he's toured across Canada from Ottawa to Victoria. Look for the duo (who are also husband and wife) to take on live gigs in support of the new release through 2020.
Framus and Betty - New Horizon
(Independent 2019)
• Check It Out
If you like your blues rootsy, straight up and unvarnished, with a dash of punk and hillbilly rock, Framus & Betty have you covered on New Horizon, their 2019 release.
Framus takes his moniker from the brand of guitar he plays (the logo is tattooed on his neck). Whether it's part of the legend or not, he coaxes a range of sounds from the instrument, from a growly rhythm to jangly chords and gorgeous bell tones.
He's an idiosyncratic songwriter, blending vintage hillbilly blues with avant garde expressionism, and lyrics that take blues into the existential territory. On the drums, Betty Bomb is bombastic - the perfect foil to Framus' dramatic lyrics and tempo-bending delivery.
The tracks are short and sweet, each built around a guitar hook - natch - with variations in approach that keep it interesting. Gone Blues showcases Betty's solid work on the drum kit against a minimalist chord pattern and lyrics. On Learn to Live builds on a crescendo of slide guitar and drums.
Some tracks, like Daddy's Gone, mine vintage roots and blues territory, while Blue Betty is a folky duo to acoustic guitar.
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, a city with a gritty working class image, he's toured across Canada from Ottawa to Victoria. Look for the duo (who are also husband and wife) to take on live gigs in support of the new release through 2020.
Gladstone Hotel Toronto: Fall In Love With Deals November 15 to 30 2019
From the Gladstone Hotel:
Fall in love with Toronto
Get a deal November 15 to 30, 2019
Don't we look good in fall colours? Take in our city's favourite season with a November city escape (or staycation!) in Toronto. We've put together tons of things to keep you busy this month including art exhibitions, fairs and festivals as well as our favourite places to grab a bite along the way!
Gladstone Hotel, Toronto (photo by Ryan from Toronto, Canada under a Creative Commons (CC) license)Book between November 15-30 directly on our website & get 20% off, plus breakfast vouchers and a complimentary welcome cocktail to get the autumn party started.
• Book Now
While you're there, check out the Toronto Biennial of Art - a new international contemporary visual arts festival hosting events as culturally connected and diverse as the city itself. Throughout the Biennial, Toronto and the GTA will be transformed by exhibitions, talks, and performances that reflect our local context while engaging with the most pressing issues of our time. In an effort to make contemporary art available to everyone, the Biennial citywide programs are free!
The Gladstone Hotel is proud to be a Creative Partner for this new contemporary cultural event.
The partnership started back in April when the Gladstone invited Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves to take part in our International Residency during Grow Op 2019. During the residency, Maria Thereza spent two weeks at Artscape Gibraltar Point, researching and contemplating the city’s relationship to its waterways. She then exhibited video and installation work at the Gladstone during Grow Op, the hotel’s annual environmental design exhibition. Maria Thereza returns to Toronto to present two installations for the Biennial, which continue her exploration of water and history.
Fall in love with Toronto
Get a deal November 15 to 30, 2019
Don't we look good in fall colours? Take in our city's favourite season with a November city escape (or staycation!) in Toronto. We've put together tons of things to keep you busy this month including art exhibitions, fairs and festivals as well as our favourite places to grab a bite along the way!
Gladstone Hotel, Toronto (photo by Ryan from Toronto, Canada under a Creative Commons (CC) license)Book between November 15-30 directly on our website & get 20% off, plus breakfast vouchers and a complimentary welcome cocktail to get the autumn party started.• Book Now
While you're there, check out the Toronto Biennial of Art - a new international contemporary visual arts festival hosting events as culturally connected and diverse as the city itself. Throughout the Biennial, Toronto and the GTA will be transformed by exhibitions, talks, and performances that reflect our local context while engaging with the most pressing issues of our time. In an effort to make contemporary art available to everyone, the Biennial citywide programs are free!
The Gladstone Hotel is proud to be a Creative Partner for this new contemporary cultural event.
The partnership started back in April when the Gladstone invited Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves to take part in our International Residency during Grow Op 2019. During the residency, Maria Thereza spent two weeks at Artscape Gibraltar Point, researching and contemplating the city’s relationship to its waterways. She then exhibited video and installation work at the Gladstone during Grow Op, the hotel’s annual environmental design exhibition. Maria Thereza returns to Toronto to present two installations for the Biennial, which continue her exploration of water and history.
November 9, 2019
Review: ProArteDanza - The 9th! Makes Exciting Dance From Beethoven's Symphony
Review:
ProArteDanza - The 9th!
Fleck Dance Theatre, Toronto
November 8, 2019
Dancers: Taylor Bojanowsk, Ryan Lee, Sasha Ludavicius, Daniel McArthur, Victoria Mehaffey, Connor Mitton, Jake Poloz, Kelly Shaw.
• One More Chance To See It Tonight
In casual wear costumes, with a minimalist stage set, the focus is all on the dancers as they create a fascinating tableau of movement out of Beethoven's symphony in ProArteDanza's The 9th!
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicCampanella uses a very modern choreographic language to explore Beethoven's 9th Symphony, with an intriguing dramatic undertone to the movements. At times agitated or combative, searching and connecting, the dancers weave on and off-stage, in and out of patterns together and as soloists. It creates a rich fabric of movement through the four movements of the symphony.
His interpretation of the emotional Romanticism of Beethoven is thoughtful, leaving the most dramatic moment of the music as more contemplative, and playing with the ebb and flow of tensions.
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicCreative use of projections enhances the performance, at times amplifying the movements of the dancers, and at others adding interesting lighting effects. My favourite was the pile of chairs slowing collapsing in the background.
Like the costumes, the staging is spare, occasionally using a row of wooden chairs as props. A little smoke, and coloured lights shining from offstage, were all that was needed to create atmosphere. The lighting is dramatic, enhancing the movement with a play of shadow.
The dancers are superbly athletic, going from agitated movement to slow contemplation - even singing along with the chorus at one point.
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicOne quibble is the sound system at Fleck Theatre, which made the higher registers of the music a little shrill in parts.
Putting the whole symphony together took time, but the result - innovative and exciting dance - is a fitting tribute to the company's 15th anniversary season.
ProArteDanza - The 9th!
Fleck Dance Theatre, Toronto
November 8, 2019
Dancers: Taylor Bojanowsk, Ryan Lee, Sasha Ludavicius, Daniel McArthur, Victoria Mehaffey, Connor Mitton, Jake Poloz, Kelly Shaw.
• One More Chance To See It Tonight
In casual wear costumes, with a minimalist stage set, the focus is all on the dancers as they create a fascinating tableau of movement out of Beethoven's symphony in ProArteDanza's The 9th!
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicCampanella uses a very modern choreographic language to explore Beethoven's 9th Symphony, with an intriguing dramatic undertone to the movements. At times agitated or combative, searching and connecting, the dancers weave on and off-stage, in and out of patterns together and as soloists. It creates a rich fabric of movement through the four movements of the symphony.His interpretation of the emotional Romanticism of Beethoven is thoughtful, leaving the most dramatic moment of the music as more contemplative, and playing with the ebb and flow of tensions.
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicCreative use of projections enhances the performance, at times amplifying the movements of the dancers, and at others adding interesting lighting effects. My favourite was the pile of chairs slowing collapsing in the background.Like the costumes, the staging is spare, occasionally using a row of wooden chairs as props. A little smoke, and coloured lights shining from offstage, were all that was needed to create atmosphere. The lighting is dramatic, enhancing the movement with a play of shadow.
The dancers are superbly athletic, going from agitated movement to slow contemplation - even singing along with the chorus at one point.
Dancers of The 9th! - Photo by Alexander AntonijevicOne quibble is the sound system at Fleck Theatre, which made the higher registers of the music a little shrill in parts.Putting the whole symphony together took time, but the result - innovative and exciting dance - is a fitting tribute to the company's 15th anniversary season.
November 1, 2019
Cindy Sherman At The Vancouver Art Gallery October 26 2019 to March 8 2020
From a media release:
Cindy Sherman's First Major Canadian Retrospective in Twenty Years
The Vancouver Art Gallery
October 26, 2019 to March 8, 2020
• Check It Out
Vancouver, BC – Featuring 170 works by the American artist known for her conceptual portraits, this exhibition focuses on Sherman’s manipulation of her own appearance and her deployment of material derived from a range of cultural sources, including film, advertising and fashion. Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, it is the first retrospective of Sherman’s work in Canada in twenty years.
Cindy Sherman at the Vancouver Art Gallery - Untitled #92, 1981 (chromogenic print)Cindy Sherman at the Vancouver Art Gallery showcases a selection from every major photographic series the artist has produced, from the early Untitled Film Stills of the 1970s, through to her newest Untitled #602 created in 2019, which highlights the artist’s consistent engagement with the fashion industry. Exploring the development of Sherman’s work from the beginning of her career in the mid-1970s to the present, the exhibition includes rarely-seen photographs and films created while Sherman was an art student at the State University College at Buffalo from 1972 to 1976.
This exhibition also features a digital version of A Cindy Book, a personal album of family photographs tracing back to the artist’s childhood. Another exhibition highlight are the depictions of Sherman’s studio in New York with a selection of source materials including her notes, sketches, and other behind-the-scene elements that have influenced her work. Additionally, the Vancouver Art Gallery presentation includes a number of Sherman works from its permanent collection.
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #588, 2016/18, dye sublimation metal print, Courtesy of the Artist and Metro Pictures, New YorkCindy Sherman is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery. A new exhibition of the artist’s work will be shown at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in Spring/Summer 2020.
Cindy Sherman will be on view to the public October 26, 2019 to March 8, 2020.
PUBLICATION:
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication considering Cindy Sherman's oeuvre through the lens of portraiture. Featuring key examples of her work - it explores the mercurial relationship between appearance and reality. Price $60 CAD, available in the Vancouver Art Gallery Store and online.
Cindy Sherman's First Major Canadian Retrospective in Twenty Years
The Vancouver Art Gallery
October 26, 2019 to March 8, 2020
• Check It Out
Vancouver, BC – Featuring 170 works by the American artist known for her conceptual portraits, this exhibition focuses on Sherman’s manipulation of her own appearance and her deployment of material derived from a range of cultural sources, including film, advertising and fashion. Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery, it is the first retrospective of Sherman’s work in Canada in twenty years.
Cindy Sherman at the Vancouver Art Gallery - Untitled #92, 1981 (chromogenic print)Cindy Sherman at the Vancouver Art Gallery showcases a selection from every major photographic series the artist has produced, from the early Untitled Film Stills of the 1970s, through to her newest Untitled #602 created in 2019, which highlights the artist’s consistent engagement with the fashion industry. Exploring the development of Sherman’s work from the beginning of her career in the mid-1970s to the present, the exhibition includes rarely-seen photographs and films created while Sherman was an art student at the State University College at Buffalo from 1972 to 1976.This exhibition also features a digital version of A Cindy Book, a personal album of family photographs tracing back to the artist’s childhood. Another exhibition highlight are the depictions of Sherman’s studio in New York with a selection of source materials including her notes, sketches, and other behind-the-scene elements that have influenced her work. Additionally, the Vancouver Art Gallery presentation includes a number of Sherman works from its permanent collection.
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #588, 2016/18, dye sublimation metal print, Courtesy of the Artist and Metro Pictures, New YorkCindy Sherman is organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London in collaboration with the Vancouver Art Gallery. A new exhibition of the artist’s work will be shown at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in Spring/Summer 2020.Cindy Sherman will be on view to the public October 26, 2019 to March 8, 2020.
PUBLICATION:
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication considering Cindy Sherman's oeuvre through the lens of portraiture. Featuring key examples of her work - it explores the mercurial relationship between appearance and reality. Price $60 CAD, available in the Vancouver Art Gallery Store and online.
Reggae from Texas: Micah Shalom - New Single “Peace, Rights, Love” Is Out Now
From a media release:
Reggae from Texas:
Micah Shalom - New Single “Peace, Rights, Love” Is Out Now
Micah Shalom is proud to announce his latest single “Peace, Rights, Love” which is out now. The established artist is one of the leading Reggae outfits in Texas bringing both conscious roots and danceability to the mix.
Back in 2007 in Gainesville, FL, Micah Shalom formed a band of ska, reggae, and world musicians to play his brand of original and cover music from these genres. The Micah Shalom crew now resides in Austin TX with a cast of diverse musical backgrounds from Latin to Ska to Afrobeat to Reggae.
Backing artists such as Cedric IM Brooks and Kevin Batchelor of The Skatalites, and Grammy Award Winner Calton Coffie of Inner Circle, The Micah Shalom crew cut their teeth learning to play Jamaican reggae and ska, traveling with Calton Coffie to perform in Jamaica and playing a number of shows in the US with Cedric IM Brooks and Kevin Batchelor. Micah Shalom will be celebrating the release of the single performing with Kevin Batchelor on 10/18 in San Antonio, TX and 10/19 in Austin, TX.
The new single is inspired by the current political struggles facing the nation and the world.
Micah explains, “The name for the tune ‘Peace, Rights, Love’ comes from the message that we all need Peace and Love to live fruitfully in the world but also we cannot do that without the Rights that all humankind must also have. And that we must not only look at our lives, but to all lives to have the same rights, because we are not truly free while others do not live with the same opportunities.” He adds, “Trying to bring conscious thought to our system which values war over peace, as well as social movements in the USA which continue to fight for equality for all groups regardless of race color or affiliation.”
The single introduces a new vibe that captures a continuation of Micah’s lyrics of the past, having a strong message fighting for rights and peace in the world. It could be described as more explicit in that nature in this release as he call’s out the current government for its blatant corruption.
Personnel:
Micah Shalom – Vocals, trumpet; Zumbi Richards – backing vocals, trombone;
Joshua Thomson – Alto Sax; Mark Wilson – Tenor Sax; Jeremy Carlson – Drums; Evan Hegarty – Backing vocals, Keyboards; Nico Sanchez – Bass; Mario Salazar – Guitar; Ricky Gonzalez – percussion
Reggae from Texas:
Micah Shalom - New Single “Peace, Rights, Love” Is Out Now
Micah Shalom is proud to announce his latest single “Peace, Rights, Love” which is out now. The established artist is one of the leading Reggae outfits in Texas bringing both conscious roots and danceability to the mix.
Back in 2007 in Gainesville, FL, Micah Shalom formed a band of ska, reggae, and world musicians to play his brand of original and cover music from these genres. The Micah Shalom crew now resides in Austin TX with a cast of diverse musical backgrounds from Latin to Ska to Afrobeat to Reggae.
Backing artists such as Cedric IM Brooks and Kevin Batchelor of The Skatalites, and Grammy Award Winner Calton Coffie of Inner Circle, The Micah Shalom crew cut their teeth learning to play Jamaican reggae and ska, traveling with Calton Coffie to perform in Jamaica and playing a number of shows in the US with Cedric IM Brooks and Kevin Batchelor. Micah Shalom will be celebrating the release of the single performing with Kevin Batchelor on 10/18 in San Antonio, TX and 10/19 in Austin, TX.
The new single is inspired by the current political struggles facing the nation and the world.
Micah explains, “The name for the tune ‘Peace, Rights, Love’ comes from the message that we all need Peace and Love to live fruitfully in the world but also we cannot do that without the Rights that all humankind must also have. And that we must not only look at our lives, but to all lives to have the same rights, because we are not truly free while others do not live with the same opportunities.” He adds, “Trying to bring conscious thought to our system which values war over peace, as well as social movements in the USA which continue to fight for equality for all groups regardless of race color or affiliation.”
The single introduces a new vibe that captures a continuation of Micah’s lyrics of the past, having a strong message fighting for rights and peace in the world. It could be described as more explicit in that nature in this release as he call’s out the current government for its blatant corruption.
Personnel:
Micah Shalom – Vocals, trumpet; Zumbi Richards – backing vocals, trombone;
Joshua Thomson – Alto Sax; Mark Wilson – Tenor Sax; Jeremy Carlson – Drums; Evan Hegarty – Backing vocals, Keyboards; Nico Sanchez – Bass; Mario Salazar – Guitar; Ricky Gonzalez – percussion
Guitar Rock | Happy Freuds - Echo Of Sounds Independent: May 31, 2019
Guitar Rock
Happy Freuds - Echo Of Sounds
Independent: May 31, 2019
• Stream/Buy on Bandcamp
• Stream it on Spotify
With tight musicians and intriguing lyrics, Happy Freuds delivers high energy guitar rock with stylistic flair on Echo Of Sounds, their debut release. Produced with a minimum of overdubs or fixes, the album consists of a mix of original material, rearrangements of works from others and selected, less known, classic rock.
A kinetic rhythm section is the bones of the music, offering interesting patterns that augment sometimes unexpected harmonic changes. It's brainy rock, in other words, meant for music lovers who can appreciate the quality. Teo's vocals are raspy and expressive, growly when necessary - perfect for the musical mode. Teo also covers lead guitar, adapt at ear worm leads, with a tone that can be clean or dirty as required
Their sound ranges from straight up hard rock in tracks like The Mountain to the pop-flavoured acoustic Background Noise and folky To Blue. In Black is anxious and angsty, the vocals alternately low and subdued/raspy and overwrought. The contrast striking, and makes it a standout track. There's a tip of the hat to you-know-who in Allman's Big Feet, a track with an appropriately retro flair.
A live version of Push (August 2019):
Chauncey is another highlight of the release, a strongly rhythmic track with shades of prog rock and even classic glam rock in the mix. Overcome is an acoustic ballad with a haunting sound.
Lyrics are clever and thoughtful, with a message about the world we live in. From Mountain,
Now is the time to be content
To feel so moral and free
No is the answer, but what was the question
Is that what you're telling me?
Happy FreudsBased in Javea, Spain, Happy Freuds was formed by Swedish brothers Teo and Victor Holmstrom at the age of 17 and 14 respectively, covering lead guitar and vocals, and drums. With the original line-up, they've played around the Marina Alta area since 2016, including club and festival gigs.
Track List:
1. Push
2. Allman's Big Feet
3. The mountain
4. Background Noise
5. In Black
6. To Blue
7. Chauncey
8. Song-X
9. Low Are The Punches
10. Overcome
11. Rocking and Stumbling.
Personnel:
Teo Holmstrom: Lead guitar, Vocals; Victor Holmstrom: Drums; Maverick Domene: Rhythm Guitar; Donato Asensio Giner: Bass
Stay in touch:
http://www.happyfreuds.com/#about
https://www.facebook.com/HappyFreuds/
https://twitter.com/HappyFreuds
https://soundcloud.com/happy-freuds
https://www.youtube.com/c/happyfreuds
Chauncey - Official:
Happy Freuds - Echo Of Sounds
Independent: May 31, 2019
• Stream/Buy on Bandcamp
• Stream it on Spotify
With tight musicians and intriguing lyrics, Happy Freuds delivers high energy guitar rock with stylistic flair on Echo Of Sounds, their debut release. Produced with a minimum of overdubs or fixes, the album consists of a mix of original material, rearrangements of works from others and selected, less known, classic rock.
A kinetic rhythm section is the bones of the music, offering interesting patterns that augment sometimes unexpected harmonic changes. It's brainy rock, in other words, meant for music lovers who can appreciate the quality. Teo's vocals are raspy and expressive, growly when necessary - perfect for the musical mode. Teo also covers lead guitar, adapt at ear worm leads, with a tone that can be clean or dirty as required
Their sound ranges from straight up hard rock in tracks like The Mountain to the pop-flavoured acoustic Background Noise and folky To Blue. In Black is anxious and angsty, the vocals alternately low and subdued/raspy and overwrought. The contrast striking, and makes it a standout track. There's a tip of the hat to you-know-who in Allman's Big Feet, a track with an appropriately retro flair.
A live version of Push (August 2019):
Chauncey is another highlight of the release, a strongly rhythmic track with shades of prog rock and even classic glam rock in the mix. Overcome is an acoustic ballad with a haunting sound.
Lyrics are clever and thoughtful, with a message about the world we live in. From Mountain,
Now is the time to be content
To feel so moral and free
No is the answer, but what was the question
Is that what you're telling me?
Happy FreudsBased in Javea, Spain, Happy Freuds was formed by Swedish brothers Teo and Victor Holmstrom at the age of 17 and 14 respectively, covering lead guitar and vocals, and drums. With the original line-up, they've played around the Marina Alta area since 2016, including club and festival gigs.Track List:
1. Push
2. Allman's Big Feet
3. The mountain
4. Background Noise
5. In Black
6. To Blue
7. Chauncey
8. Song-X
9. Low Are The Punches
10. Overcome
11. Rocking and Stumbling.
Personnel:
Teo Holmstrom: Lead guitar, Vocals; Victor Holmstrom: Drums; Maverick Domene: Rhythm Guitar; Donato Asensio Giner: Bass
Stay in touch:
http://www.happyfreuds.com/#about
https://www.facebook.com/HappyFreuds/
https://twitter.com/HappyFreuds
https://soundcloud.com/happy-freuds
https://www.youtube.com/c/happyfreuds
Chauncey - Official:
October 15, 2019
Common Sense Composers' Collective: Spark (Innova Recordings - May 10 2019)
Common Sense Composers' Collective: Spark
(Innova Recordings - May 10, 2019)
Eight quartets
Composers: Marc Mellits; Dan Becker; John Halle; Belinda Reynolds; Melissa Hui; Ed Harsh; Carolyn Yarnell; Randall Woolf
Performers: Friction Quartet
• Buy The CD
The collection of tracks on Spark showcase the range of the Common Sense Composers' Collective in eight pieces for string quartet. Alongside the compositions, the Oakland-based Friction Quartet displays impressive versatility, and ability to play with both virtuosity and restraint from a strongly rhythmic foundation.
Consisting of tracks by several different contemporary composers, the CD offers a broad pallet of styles and approaches. Marc Mellits' V: Five, from his String Quartet No. 3 (Tapas) is all mood and melody, and the Friction Quartet plays with delicacy and warm tones that illuminate the emotional and musical heart of the piece.
Dan Becker's Lockdown is a kinetic ride of inexorable rhythm and harmonic changes, with flourishes of melody that soar above it. John Halle's music is romantic in its sweeping range and scope - even cinematic in tone. The quartet seizes hold of the music through all its changes in tempo and mood with an energy both wild and harnessed. It's a standout track.
Melissa Hui's Map of Reality, in five parts, is ambitious in its scope, and gives the quartet a chance to flex their musical muscles. It begins with a jumpy, tense rhythm and a minimalist approach, with a measured control that makes it sing. The composition creates waves of sound that rise and ebb in energy and volume.
Carolyn Yarnell's dramatic is another standout track, beginning with a spare first movement. The second movement takes melodic elements of American folk music and weaves them into a moving musical narrative.
The Friction Quartet (image courtesy of their website)Contemporary music truly comes alive with gifted musicians like the Friction Quartet, whose superb technique is woven into sensitive interpretation.
Not quite a school, a movement, or a tribe, the composers that decided to form the Common Sense Composers’ Collective in 1993 nevertheless share musical and professional dreams and values that find strength together. Now in its third decade, the Common Sense Composers’ Collective is comprised of Dan Becker, John Halle, Ed Harsh, Melissa Hui, Marc Mellits, Randall Woolf, Belinda Reynolds, and Carolyn Yarnell. The group, now its third decade, has created over 70 new works, released four albums, (with Spark as their fifth,) and produced five new music marathons (Opus415) in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Friction Quartet performing selections from Spark, an album of works by members of Common Sense Composers’ Collective: Dan Becker, Marc Mellits, John Halle, Carolyn Yarnell, Belinda Reynolds, Melissa Hui, Ed Harsh, and Randall Woolf, at Inn-fest, the annual Innova label showcase, held in the Bay Area, May 4-5, 2019
(Innova Recordings - May 10, 2019)
Eight quartets
Composers: Marc Mellits; Dan Becker; John Halle; Belinda Reynolds; Melissa Hui; Ed Harsh; Carolyn Yarnell; Randall Woolf
Performers: Friction Quartet
• Buy The CD
The collection of tracks on Spark showcase the range of the Common Sense Composers' Collective in eight pieces for string quartet. Alongside the compositions, the Oakland-based Friction Quartet displays impressive versatility, and ability to play with both virtuosity and restraint from a strongly rhythmic foundation.
Consisting of tracks by several different contemporary composers, the CD offers a broad pallet of styles and approaches. Marc Mellits' V: Five, from his String Quartet No. 3 (Tapas) is all mood and melody, and the Friction Quartet plays with delicacy and warm tones that illuminate the emotional and musical heart of the piece.
Dan Becker's Lockdown is a kinetic ride of inexorable rhythm and harmonic changes, with flourishes of melody that soar above it. John Halle's music is romantic in its sweeping range and scope - even cinematic in tone. The quartet seizes hold of the music through all its changes in tempo and mood with an energy both wild and harnessed. It's a standout track.
Melissa Hui's Map of Reality, in five parts, is ambitious in its scope, and gives the quartet a chance to flex their musical muscles. It begins with a jumpy, tense rhythm and a minimalist approach, with a measured control that makes it sing. The composition creates waves of sound that rise and ebb in energy and volume.
Carolyn Yarnell's dramatic is another standout track, beginning with a spare first movement. The second movement takes melodic elements of American folk music and weaves them into a moving musical narrative.
The Friction Quartet (image courtesy of their website)Contemporary music truly comes alive with gifted musicians like the Friction Quartet, whose superb technique is woven into sensitive interpretation.Not quite a school, a movement, or a tribe, the composers that decided to form the Common Sense Composers’ Collective in 1993 nevertheless share musical and professional dreams and values that find strength together. Now in its third decade, the Common Sense Composers’ Collective is comprised of Dan Becker, John Halle, Ed Harsh, Melissa Hui, Marc Mellits, Randall Woolf, Belinda Reynolds, and Carolyn Yarnell. The group, now its third decade, has created over 70 new works, released four albums, (with Spark as their fifth,) and produced five new music marathons (Opus415) in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Friction Quartet performing selections from Spark, an album of works by members of Common Sense Composers’ Collective: Dan Becker, Marc Mellits, John Halle, Carolyn Yarnell, Belinda Reynolds, Melissa Hui, Ed Harsh, and Randall Woolf, at Inn-fest, the annual Innova label showcase, held in the Bay Area, May 4-5, 2019
New Classical - Juri Seo: Respiri (Innova Recordings - May 24 2019)
New Classical
Juri Seo: Respiri
(Innova Recordings - May 24, 2019)
Composer Juri Seo: Respiri, Suite for Cello; String Quartet (Infinite Season)
Performers: Argus Quartet, Joann Whang
• Buy The CD
Composer and pianist Juri Seo paints with a full palette of colours in this second release on the Innova label, spotlighting her compositions for strings. Through the affecting and evocative music, Seo explores universal notions of life, death, memory, and change.
The opening track, Respiri, is Seo's homage to the late British composer Jonathan Harvey, who was a practising Buddhist. Seo uses Harvey’s signature musical concept, which was to emulate the sound of breathing, while expanding on the idea. The music is meditative in nature, building melodically to a peaceful release from life.
The Argus Quartet plays with a wonderful sense of expression and superb phrasing. After a two-year collaboration with Seo, they clearly understand and are fully immersed in her music. While not traditional in structure or musicality, there are nonetheless flashes of recognizable melody along with sonic experimentation, and the quartet handles all the changes in a seamless flow.
The Suite for Cello is a virtuoso turn for soloist Joann Whang. She plays with wonderful abandon, squeezing a surprising range of sounds and moods from the instrument. The piece, in five movements, is Seo's exploration of memory and identity. It's appropriately both cerebral and emotional in tone, with contrapuntal elements that are subverted by deconstruction. Whang plays with a lovely and affecting sensitivity that reaches a dramatic crescendo in the final movement. She takes on the composition's challenges and many mood changes from meditative and melodic to insistently energetic with conviction.
Composer & pianist Juri SeoSeo's String Quartet: Infinite Seasons examines the transitions of the seasons in four movements - Winter to Spring, Spring to Summer, and so on. It's evocative music with a joyful sense of exploration. Seo says in the liner notes that she was inspired by the sounds of nature, and the suite lets the Argus Quartet showcase its delicacy and versatility of approach, alongside their ability to produce a delightful array of colours and tones, from the sweetest high notes of the birds to the buzzing of insects, all woven into the swell of the music.
As a whole, the suite is romantic in its wide emotional and colouristic range. The main musical motive in the first movement is the musical equivalent of the call of a black-capped chickadee, and a number of bird songs appear in the second movement, Spring-Summer, which ends with the hum of cicadas. The call of the snow bunting resonates through the end of Fall-Winter.
Juri Seo, a Guggenheim fellow and a Koussevitsky Commission recipient, is a composer and pianist based in New Jersey. She teaches music at Princeton University.
The Argus Quartet is a first prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, as well as the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, and has served as the Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School and the Fellowship Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music.
String Quartet (Infinite Season) : IV. Fall-Winter
Juri Seo: Respiri
(Innova Recordings - May 24, 2019)
Composer Juri Seo: Respiri, Suite for Cello; String Quartet (Infinite Season)
Performers: Argus Quartet, Joann Whang
• Buy The CD
Composer and pianist Juri Seo paints with a full palette of colours in this second release on the Innova label, spotlighting her compositions for strings. Through the affecting and evocative music, Seo explores universal notions of life, death, memory, and change.
The opening track, Respiri, is Seo's homage to the late British composer Jonathan Harvey, who was a practising Buddhist. Seo uses Harvey’s signature musical concept, which was to emulate the sound of breathing, while expanding on the idea. The music is meditative in nature, building melodically to a peaceful release from life.
The Argus Quartet plays with a wonderful sense of expression and superb phrasing. After a two-year collaboration with Seo, they clearly understand and are fully immersed in her music. While not traditional in structure or musicality, there are nonetheless flashes of recognizable melody along with sonic experimentation, and the quartet handles all the changes in a seamless flow.
The Suite for Cello is a virtuoso turn for soloist Joann Whang. She plays with wonderful abandon, squeezing a surprising range of sounds and moods from the instrument. The piece, in five movements, is Seo's exploration of memory and identity. It's appropriately both cerebral and emotional in tone, with contrapuntal elements that are subverted by deconstruction. Whang plays with a lovely and affecting sensitivity that reaches a dramatic crescendo in the final movement. She takes on the composition's challenges and many mood changes from meditative and melodic to insistently energetic with conviction.
Composer & pianist Juri SeoSeo's String Quartet: Infinite Seasons examines the transitions of the seasons in four movements - Winter to Spring, Spring to Summer, and so on. It's evocative music with a joyful sense of exploration. Seo says in the liner notes that she was inspired by the sounds of nature, and the suite lets the Argus Quartet showcase its delicacy and versatility of approach, alongside their ability to produce a delightful array of colours and tones, from the sweetest high notes of the birds to the buzzing of insects, all woven into the swell of the music.As a whole, the suite is romantic in its wide emotional and colouristic range. The main musical motive in the first movement is the musical equivalent of the call of a black-capped chickadee, and a number of bird songs appear in the second movement, Spring-Summer, which ends with the hum of cicadas. The call of the snow bunting resonates through the end of Fall-Winter.
Juri Seo, a Guggenheim fellow and a Koussevitsky Commission recipient, is a composer and pianist based in New Jersey. She teaches music at Princeton University.
The Argus Quartet is a first prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, as well as the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, and has served as the Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School and the Fellowship Quartet in Residence at the Yale School of Music.
String Quartet (Infinite Season) : IV. Fall-Winter
October 14, 2019
Jazz CD Release: Dan Pitt Trio - Fundamentally Flawed (Independent / October 18, 2019)
Jazz CD Release:
Dan Pitt Trio - Fundamentally Flawed
(Independent / October 18, 2019)
• Check Out The Album Release Party October 21 2019 in Toronto
• Pre-order/Order the CD on Bandcamp
Toronto guitarist/composer/improviser Dan Pitt is a relatively new player in the city's jazz scene, and he's making his mark with his first release, Fatally Flawed. Bassist Alex Fournier and drummer Nick Fraser round out the trio.
Pitt is an inventive composer who uses tone and colour to paint soundscapes in various moods and modes. Balmoral is a contemplative piece that meanders in and out of conventional melody, the shimmer of cymbals or deliberate brush strokes, like inexorable steps, leading through the moody sound of both guitar and bowed bass.
Fundamentally Flawed, the title track, is an intriguing blend of avant garde and groove, with multiple changes, and a whiff of prog rock in the mix. It builds on a simple theme to a ferocious and intense finish.
The trio is a versatile format in Pit's music, turning to a minimalist approach in Mark I, a track that puts each instrument into the spotlight even as it adds layers of texture and complexity. Mark II uses a contrapuntal approach between guitar and bass, with the percussion adding occasional punctuation. Mark III builds a jittery kind of energy in the rhythm section, with golden guitar chords that float on top. It's a high energy ride that showcases the talents, and tight timing, of the three musicians.
Guitarist/composer Dan PittOverdewitt is a compelling track, with an insistent rhythm section and a melody played on the bowed strings, giving it a dark, low tone. It begins slow and spooky, rising to an agitated crescendo. Finalizer adds a virtuoso turn for bassist Alex Fournier, who take centre stage against an understated and erratic percussion line.
It's an auspicious debut recording from an up and coming artist in Toronto's jazz landscape. The trio will also be doing a Canadian tour in November to help celebrate the release.
Stay in touch:
www.facebook.com/danpittmusic
www.instagram.com/danpittmusic
www.dan-pitt.com
Dan Pitt Trio - Fundamentally Flawed
(Independent / October 18, 2019)
• Check Out The Album Release Party October 21 2019 in Toronto
• Pre-order/Order the CD on Bandcamp
Toronto guitarist/composer/improviser Dan Pitt is a relatively new player in the city's jazz scene, and he's making his mark with his first release, Fatally Flawed. Bassist Alex Fournier and drummer Nick Fraser round out the trio.
Pitt is an inventive composer who uses tone and colour to paint soundscapes in various moods and modes. Balmoral is a contemplative piece that meanders in and out of conventional melody, the shimmer of cymbals or deliberate brush strokes, like inexorable steps, leading through the moody sound of both guitar and bowed bass.
Fundamentally Flawed, the title track, is an intriguing blend of avant garde and groove, with multiple changes, and a whiff of prog rock in the mix. It builds on a simple theme to a ferocious and intense finish.
The trio is a versatile format in Pit's music, turning to a minimalist approach in Mark I, a track that puts each instrument into the spotlight even as it adds layers of texture and complexity. Mark II uses a contrapuntal approach between guitar and bass, with the percussion adding occasional punctuation. Mark III builds a jittery kind of energy in the rhythm section, with golden guitar chords that float on top. It's a high energy ride that showcases the talents, and tight timing, of the three musicians.
Guitarist/composer Dan PittOverdewitt is a compelling track, with an insistent rhythm section and a melody played on the bowed strings, giving it a dark, low tone. It begins slow and spooky, rising to an agitated crescendo. Finalizer adds a virtuoso turn for bassist Alex Fournier, who take centre stage against an understated and erratic percussion line.It's an auspicious debut recording from an up and coming artist in Toronto's jazz landscape. The trio will also be doing a Canadian tour in November to help celebrate the release.
Stay in touch:
www.facebook.com/danpittmusic
www.instagram.com/danpittmusic
www.dan-pitt.com
Review: Alfre Woodard Gives Performance Of Her Career In Clemency
Review: Clemency
Starring Alfre Woodard
Director, screenplay Chinonye Chukwu
Cast: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce, Richard Gunn, Danielle Brook
Opens December 27, 2019
Alfre Woodard gives the performance of her career in Clemency, a film that unflinchingly portrays the human misery at the heart of the prison system, and particularly, of death row. She is entirely convincing as the prison matron whose uber efficient professional exterior hides growing fissures in her emotional life. The film won a Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and it's easy to see why.
Alfre Woodard in ClemencyWe meet Warden Bernadine Williams as she prepares to preside over an execution. She is deftly professional with family members, even as the chants of protesters swell outside her window. We see the gross spectacle of executions, the horror that goes on behind closed doors.
Director Chinonye Chukwu rightly focuses a lot of camera time on Alfre and her face - the mask of professionalism, where only the movement of an eye, or twitch at the corner of her mouth betrays the roiling emotions she stamps down. Bernadine survives by a severe kind of reliance on the rules, offering no clemency of her own when asked to bend them to allow visitors in to see the condemned prisoner.
She's a professional in the midst of human misery, and sticking to the rules is her way of wading through all that. It's what she justifies as respect - she has respect for the men under her purview, no matter what else happens, and that's what she clings to, but is it enough?
Beatrice tells her husband she's fine even as she spends another sleepless night on the couch, and her flawless professional exterior begins to crack. Beatrice is multi-layered and nuanced, and offers audiences no easy answers. The camera work emphasizes the realities it depicts. Tight shots and darker lighting emphasize the claustrophobia of prison.
The rest of the cast is solid, including Richard Schiff as the battle-weary leftie lawyer, Aldis Hodge as a death row convict, Wendell Pierce as Beatrice's long suffering husband, and Michael O'Neill as grizzled old Chaplain Kennedy, Beatrice's death row comrade in arms.
An interview with the cast:
The film got its International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019, and Alfre Woodard and Chinonye Chukwu were on hand to participate in a Q&A after the screening. Chukwu revealed that the story was inspired by the execution of Troy Davis in 2011. She thought about the idea for some time before she made the decision to go forward. Research began in 2013.
Woodard and Chukwu went to several prisons, talking to wardens and prisoners, to get a feel for how the story should be told. Alfre Woodard also one of four executive producers of the film.
Clemency talk-back with director Chinonye Chukwu and star Alfre Woodard
"We never talk about the people who carry out these executions," Chukwu said.
According to her research, Chukwu said those prison employees suffer PTSD at rates higher than the military. The depth of their research can be felt in the portrayal of both the surreal details of execution by lethal injection, and in the emotions of the characters.There's a lot to take in from this movie.
There's a good reason why the distributors of Clemency chose to skip a Christmas opening, and opt for the 27th instead. This is no feel good holiday family story. We see the stark realities of what happens when human misery is institutionalized. The film raises the veil to expose the real truth about the death penalty and the toll it takes on seemingly everyone who is connected with it.
Starring Alfre Woodard
Director, screenplay Chinonye Chukwu
Cast: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce, Richard Gunn, Danielle Brook
Opens December 27, 2019
Alfre Woodard gives the performance of her career in Clemency, a film that unflinchingly portrays the human misery at the heart of the prison system, and particularly, of death row. She is entirely convincing as the prison matron whose uber efficient professional exterior hides growing fissures in her emotional life. The film won a Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and it's easy to see why.
Alfre Woodard in ClemencyWe meet Warden Bernadine Williams as she prepares to preside over an execution. She is deftly professional with family members, even as the chants of protesters swell outside her window. We see the gross spectacle of executions, the horror that goes on behind closed doors.Director Chinonye Chukwu rightly focuses a lot of camera time on Alfre and her face - the mask of professionalism, where only the movement of an eye, or twitch at the corner of her mouth betrays the roiling emotions she stamps down. Bernadine survives by a severe kind of reliance on the rules, offering no clemency of her own when asked to bend them to allow visitors in to see the condemned prisoner.
She's a professional in the midst of human misery, and sticking to the rules is her way of wading through all that. It's what she justifies as respect - she has respect for the men under her purview, no matter what else happens, and that's what she clings to, but is it enough?
Beatrice tells her husband she's fine even as she spends another sleepless night on the couch, and her flawless professional exterior begins to crack. Beatrice is multi-layered and nuanced, and offers audiences no easy answers. The camera work emphasizes the realities it depicts. Tight shots and darker lighting emphasize the claustrophobia of prison.
The rest of the cast is solid, including Richard Schiff as the battle-weary leftie lawyer, Aldis Hodge as a death row convict, Wendell Pierce as Beatrice's long suffering husband, and Michael O'Neill as grizzled old Chaplain Kennedy, Beatrice's death row comrade in arms.
An interview with the cast:
The film got its International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019, and Alfre Woodard and Chinonye Chukwu were on hand to participate in a Q&A after the screening. Chukwu revealed that the story was inspired by the execution of Troy Davis in 2011. She thought about the idea for some time before she made the decision to go forward. Research began in 2013.
Woodard and Chukwu went to several prisons, talking to wardens and prisoners, to get a feel for how the story should be told. Alfre Woodard also one of four executive producers of the film.
Clemency talk-back with director Chinonye Chukwu and star Alfre Woodard"We never talk about the people who carry out these executions," Chukwu said.
According to her research, Chukwu said those prison employees suffer PTSD at rates higher than the military. The depth of their research can be felt in the portrayal of both the surreal details of execution by lethal injection, and in the emotions of the characters.There's a lot to take in from this movie.
There's a good reason why the distributors of Clemency chose to skip a Christmas opening, and opt for the 27th instead. This is no feel good holiday family story. We see the stark realities of what happens when human misery is institutionalized. The film raises the veil to expose the real truth about the death penalty and the toll it takes on seemingly everyone who is connected with it.
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