FIRE MUSEUM EVENTS
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Fire Museum Presents: Architeuthis Walks On Land Dan Blacksberg Trio Daniel Levin & Kelvin Pittman Thursday, February 9th 7:300PM Highwire Gallery 2040 Frankford Ave Philadelphia, PA $6
Architeuthis Walks On Land (Brooklyn/Philadelphia): “Sawing, sputtering, gurgling and wailing, Architeuthis Walks on Land is every bit the displaced and terrifying cephalopod that the name suggests. The viola and bassoon are two instruments rarely associated with free improvisation and noise; yet Amy Cimini and Katherine Young rip it up with particular aplomb, weaving disjunct lines, constructing chaotic sound masses, and raising towering monoliths. Crafting their improvised materials into tight structures, they capture the compositional, timbral and expressive breadth of this uncommon coupling: from divergently soloistic to profoundly intertwined playing, from a slowly unfolding intimacy to a jagged and kinetic style. Cimini and Young lunge and flutter through their materials with the intuition and energy of constant discovery. Violist Amy Cimini and bassoonist Katherine Young have been performing together as Architeuthis Walks on Land since 2003, drawing on their mutual interests in free music, rock, and contemporary classical music. The duo developed their early style within Chicago’s rich experimental music community, relocating to New York in 2008, where they have collaborated with artists like Anthony Braxton, Peter Evans, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jessica Pavone, Jason Ajemian, !!! and Hans Joachim Irmler from Faust. Known for a charismatic stage presence that contrasts their aggressive playing styles, Cimini and Young are equally at home in rock clubs and concert halls and Architeuthis maintains a busy performing schedule in New York and Brooklyn." – bio Dan Blacksberg Trio (Philadelphia): Dan Blacksberg, Matt Engle, and Mike Szekely are the Dan Blacksberg Trio. “With the vinyl-only release of Bit Heads, we can add Philadelphia-based trombonist Daniel Blacksberg to the short list of players chancing a trio stretch. Blacksberg is a player who has clearly done a lot of listening to his forebears—Mangelsdorff, Moncur, and George Lewis—as well as other brass instrumentalists who explore the wide point of extended technique. But what's notable is that, as an improviser, Blacksberg is far from showy, eschewing the rampant brashness of BassDrumBone and Brahma for a cooler, introspective detail and an easy egalitarianism with his trio mates.” - Clifford Allen/All About Jazz Daniel Levin & Kelvin Pittman (Philadelphia): "Kelvin Pittman and Daniel Levin explore the meditative improvised possibilities available to saxophone and guitar. The music evokes the sounds of insects and leaves rustling quietly during a slightly breezy forest evening. Expect pops, scrapes, screeches, rubs, swells, and silence." - bio
Fire Museum Presents: Soar Trio Feeler Gauge Owen Stewart-Robertson Sunday, February 12th 7:30PM Highwire Gallery 2040 Frankford Ave Philadelphia, PA $6
Soar Trio (Detroit/San Francisco): “Soar Trio's sound encompasses a world of energetic music-making that is part erudite composition, part virtuosic improvisation and part populist affability. The group combines musicians who have an affinity for taking innovative music directly to the people. Savage melodicism, soulful economy and ecstatic Free Jazz all inform the trio’s direction. Skeeter C.R. Shelton is one of the most under-recognized saxophonists in free jazz/creative music. His father, drummer Ajaramu Shelton, was a charter member of the AACM who played with Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Abrahms, Kalaparusha, Fred Anderson, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons. Skeeter grew-up around these influences and absorbed a whole lot of tenor playing. His status as a leading figure in Detroit’s creative music community is undisputed and his obscure national status is due to reticence, not talent. He has worked with musicians like James Blood Ulmer, Fred Anderson, Faruq Z.Bey, Hakim Jami, Dennis Gonzales and others. Also based in Detroit, multi-instrumentalist Joel Peterson has performeda wide array of music as a member of groups like Immigrant Suns, The Scavenger Quartet (with Frank Pahl), Odu Afrobeat Orchestra (with Adeboye Adegbenro), Lac LaBelle, Xenharmonic Gamelan, ECFA and in trios and quartets with Faruq Z Bey, Kenneth Green and Michael Carey. As an improviser, he has performed with people like Tatsuya Nakatani, Amy Denio, Luk Houtkamp, Eugene Chadbourne, Rhys Chatham, Damo Suzuki and many others. Besides the double-bass, Joel also performs on clarinet, oud, qyteli, guitar and more. Thollem tours perpetually as a solo pianist, vocalist and collaborator regularly covering much of North America and Europe playing free music and free free music. In the past 6 years, he has added 23 albums to his discography on 10 different vanguard record labels in 4 different countries. His musical experiences are extremely diverse and his ever-expanding variety of approaches to making music result in dramatically new and different outcomes. He works regularly with film makers, dancers, poets and painters as well as a wide array of divergent musicians. He has won numerous awards and is the founding director of Estamos Ensemble, a Mexican-American cross border ensemble for musical exchange." – bio Feeler Gauge (Philadelphia): “Feeler Gauge (Dan Capecchi, drums, Matt Engle, bass, and Bryan Rogers, tenor saxophone) is three-fours of Shot x Shot, a Philadelphia compositional free-jazz group that has played with Tim Berne, Peter Brotzman, Keefe Jackson, Michael Bates, and others.” – bio Owen Stewart-Robertson (Philadelphia): "A native of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, guitarist Owen Stewart-Robertson has been an active performer, composer, and music educator for many years. He currently lives in Philadelphia, PA. Performing with such diverse groups as Vavatican, Jason Ajemian & the Highlife, This Sporting Life and others, Owen has been known to explore boredom, miscommunication and childhood." - bio
Fire Museum Presents: Sarah Bernstein Unearthish Matt Stein/Julius Masri & June Bender Alban Bailly & Charles Cohen Saturday, February 18th 8:000PM Highwire Gallery 2040 Frankford Ave Philadelphia, PA $6
Sarah Bernstein Unearthish (Brooklyn): “Beat poets used jazz as a backdrop for their prose but their approach was more parallel than integrative and more deferential than symbiotic. While Unearthish invites that comparison, violinist/poet Sarah Bernstein has instead created compositions that are post-Beat holistic works of art. Her muse is more the performance poetry of Hedwig Gorski than Allen Ginsberg's Howl set to a soundtrack of Miles or Trane. Bernstein attacks a diverse array of subjects with staccato jibes and jabs that can require some interpretation. "War" is "fear within a square" while "Normality" is feeling that escalates into insanity and is then transformed into normality. Her gift though is the exquisite interlacing of the rhythm and feel of her words with the rhythm and feel of the music. Bernstein's violin is also a versatile voice and she uses some electronics to shape its sound. Percussionist Satoshi Takeishi is Bernstein's rhythmical partner on these duets and he has never sounded more at home. His multiple percussive timbres result in a broad, at times regal, sonic gestalt that is worldly yet personal. The ironically titled opening track "It's Over" includes beautifully pure marimba tones, which are a wonderfully earthy addition to Takeishi's usual exotic palette. He provides a solid base for Bernstein's soaring violin and vocals while also displaying his own unique voicings. "Possession" has Bernstein dispassionately ticking off weighty concepts to a linear pizzicato/percussive march. The poetic faux-rocker "And I will" includes clever lyrical word play and a middle that would not be out of place as part of a Jim Morrison soliloquy. Two of three instrumental tracks enable the musicians to bob, weave and blend in a less constrained atmosphere while "Three Wishes" shines the spotlight on Bernstein's interesting solo harmonic approach." – Elliot Simon, New York City Jazz Record Matt Stein, Julius Masri & June Bender (Philadelphia): “Since moving to Philadelphia in 2002, Matt Stein has been fortunate to play with many great musicians. He was a member of the Philly/NYC rock band illuminea and played in the only live performance of the avant-rock group The Book of Knots. He currently plays in the Travis Woodson's Live Like A King (David Fishkin, Eli LItwin) and Racketshop (Dan Blacksberg, Nick Millevoi, Dave Flaherty) amongst a variety of other projects. He also has been touring the U.S. off and on for the past 4 years with the roots-rock band Hoots and Hellmouth.” - bio “Julius Masri, born in Lebanon, started playing music state side in the early 90s. He attended Bard College where he studied composition with Joan Tower, percussion with Thurman Barker (AACM), and experimental sonic improvisation with Richard Teitelbaum (MEV). Aside from focusing on trap set and circuit bent electronics, Julius stays up late at night worrying about the gray space between the immediate transcending experience of sonic phenomenon, the immediate aural complacency when confronting idiomatic music, and the attempt to reconcile both worlds in the most uncomfortable fashion possible. He currently performs in Chakra Khan/Air Pirates, Electric Simcha, TinMouth, Q-1, as well as many pickup projects with creative people in any number of artistic denominations. Julius is an Aries, and loathes walks on the beach.” -bio "June Bender graduated with a B.M. in Violin Performance from Temple University in 2009, where she studied with Philadelphia Orchestra member Yumi Scott. Although classically trained, she loves the challenge of playing in diverse musical contexts; she has played everything form freely improvised music at SIM in Brooklyn to Irish fiddle tunes at local pubs. She freelances regularly in and outside of Philadelphia, along with teaching private lessons at Settlement Music School and at the Philadelphia Community Conservatory at West Catholic High School." - bio Alban Bailly & Charles Cohen (Philadelphia): "Alban Bailly is a multi-faceted guitarist who studied composition, jazz and improvisation in France. He performed regularly in Europe before moving to the US in 2005. Currently a resident of Philadelphia, he continues to be in demand and has performed extensively on the east coast. He has been fortunate to play with many wonderful musicians in various settings (Jack Wright, Ron Anderson, Carol Genetti, Fred Lomberg Holm, Alvin Curran, Tony Buck, Jack Wright, Alex Waterman, Martin Tetrault, Eve Risser, Mark Sarich, Helena Espvall, Andrew Drury, and many others). He has been a part of the improvised music scene both in Europe and US performing bowed acoustic guitar and toured the in US and Canada with Jack Wright, Mark Sarich and Heddy Boubaker among others. He is the guitarist for the contemporary tango group Oscuro Quintet, for which he’s also written several pieces. Alban is also a collaborator of the dance company Da•Da•Dance for which he composes electro-acoustic music and performs regularly.” - bio “Charles Cohen is one of the legends of Philadelphia's improvised music scene and his singular voice is one of the most enduring and unique. Creating music since 1971, his music is entirely improvisational and produced solely on a vintage Buchla Music Easel synthesizer, an extremely rare integrated analog performance instrument made by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla.” - bio
Fire Museum Presents: killer BOB Nick Millevoi Flying Sutra Saturday, February 25th 8:00PM Highwire Gallery 2040 Frankford Ave Philadelphia, PA $6
killer BOB (Brooklyn): “Sometimes straight-ahead jazz, sometimes old school no-wave, killer BOB, a band made up entirely of New School students, is a rare gem. Blending a variety of sounds, this quartet of Johan Anderson on saxophone, Dave Scanlon on guitar, Max Jaffe on drums/percussion and Rob Lundburg on bass has managed to create a hodgepodge of free jazz, psychedelic and noise rock that seems to contain influences ranging as diverse as Frank Zappa, John Coltrane, Django Reinhardt and James Chance and the Contortions." – The New School Free Press Nick Millevoi (Philadelphia): “Granted, Philly guitarist Nick Millevoi usually has help in creating the ferocious squalls of noise he conjures on a regular basis: trombonist Dan Blacksberg in the duo Archer Spade, his triomates in Many Arms, and the like-minded genre-mashers of Make A Rising and Electric Simcha. But just because he goes it alone on his new CD, Black Figure of a Bird, doesn't make him any less dangerous. On his solo debut's half-dozen tracks, Millevoi wrestles a 12-string electric into doing things it clearly doesn't want to do, creating harsh textures, blistering runs, odd-angled lines and punishing eruptions. The occasional moments of breath and clarity seem a merciful respite for the instrument.”- Shaun Brady/City Paper Flying Sutra (Philadelphia): "Flying Sutra is Bob Cozzolino (percussion) and George Draguns (guitar). Bob has played with: Ken Vandermark, Toshi Mackihara & Joanne Pow!ers. George has played with Don Caballero and Storm and Stress (both as a bass player). Recent collaborations include MFM music collective, Elliott Levin, Sixstair Films, filmmaker Geoff T. Graham (Flying Sutra for Beginners), and Jocko Wyland (Elk zine)." - bio
3/16/2012 - The New Heaven & the New Earth, Weyes Blood & Jordan Burgis 3/18/2012- Gene Coleman/Joo Won Park/Evan Lipson & Natura Morta 3/23/2012 - Many Arms release show w/ Heavy Medical @ Circle of Hope 3/24/2012 - Mia Zabelka, Northern Valentine & MPSP 3/25/2012 - Paul Motian tribute 4/1/2012 - Samarth Nagarkar, Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury & Kedarnath Havaldar @ PhilaMoca 4/6/2012 - Wolter Wierbos (of ICP), Superlith & tbd all shows at the Highwire Gallery (unless otherwise stated) & all ages
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