I’m going to start out this post by writing about the work of the artist Christiane Baumgartner. Baumgartner is a visual artist, and the medium that she works in is woodcutting. Woodcutting is a long, taxing process that requires a great deal of cumbersome equipment, and each woodcut requires hours of work. In this age of mass reproduction, it’s an anachronistic medium--actually, it’s one of the oldest ways that images have been reproduced. Baumgartner doesn’t always work with ancient methods. While she learned the art of woodcutting first, she then broke into the field of digital video art. Following that, it seemed a natural progression for her as an artist to explore combining the two mediums. This is where things get particularly interesting. It seems so simple, but this act of combining this extremely modern medium, video, whose rewards are immediate and ubiquitous, with this old, laborious process whose rewards are painstakingly slow is so effective. In her woodcuts, she recreates digital stills, which she does by making many lines of varying thickness. This is a very simple way to represent very complex images. She often captures the images by filming a playing video, which creates a digital interference, which she is able to recreate in her woodcuts. In this way, her very medium is infused with meaning, and the statements her pieces make is heavily enforced by the process by which they were created. This efficacy is evident in viewing these images over the Internet, but in seeing them in person, these large woodcuts are pretty astounding. I won't bother going into an exhaustive analysis of her work, breaking down the intricate double codings taking place, but I hope you look into exploring more of her work. (A good interview with Baumgartner can be found here.) And from that discussion of a really great artist, I'd like to transition to talking about my own work. Hm. Well, here goes... In our piece exit crafting, Anna Weisling, Eric Sheffield and I hoped to create a piece that conveyed an effective experience to the audience. The process we used to develop the piece was one of performative collaboration--starting from some snippets of musical material I'd developed, we three sat down together and honed the segments of the piece into something that felt right, by playing through things together, giving each other feedback, and developing our own parts. Here's a video of us performing for a class at UW-Whitewater in December: The presentation of this piece is similar to that of much contemporary classical music. We premiered the piece at the Electroacoustic Juke Joint in Alabama in November. There was a lot of great music at that festival, but our piece stood out because of the process by which it was created. This is the connection I want to make with Baumgartner's woodcuts--that the process hopefully infuses the work with another layer of efficacy. I don't think that this is an inexperiential, intellectual efficacy, I think that the event of the performance is notably affected by this process. We developed the piece together, and we perform it together--not to appease the composer, but for a collective contribution to the piece itself.
Here are my 'formal' notes on exit crafting: exit crafting collaborative performance by Ben Willis, double bass Eric Sheffield, electronics, guitar Anna Weisling, visualizations The process for creating exit crafting was/is a collaborative one. That is, each member of the ensemble is responsible for their own part, and, in composition, responsible for effectively reacting to and critiquing the other parts of the ensemble. To those of us musicians who have been involved in musical groups within ‘popular’ idioms, such as rock bands, and, to an extent, jazz combos, this process doesn’t sound unfamiliar in the least. But in the world of Western Classical music, which is instilled with a separation of composers and performers--the idea that there is one composer, and the ensemble has only the creative liberty to interpret the piece--this process is rarely seen. The compositional language of exit crafting is intentionally located in a space between ‘art music’ and ‘popular music.’ The harmonies created are largely consonant, often based around fourths, fifths, triadic and tonal-sounding material. Formally, each section works through a series of changes--the first a gradual evolution of the pitches ascending in the bass, the second a series of sections that treat similar material in several ways (a repeated arpeggiating guitar pattern with melodic bass sounds layered on top), and the third a sort of merging of the two: sections that are different and moved through gradually elaborated material, but based in a distended pop-song form of verse-chorus-bridge, but is stretched in a way that disallows the sections from being repeated. The video element of exit crafting ties the material into a combined sensory experience. The video material was developed alongside the musical material, rather than sculpting one to fit the other, as when music is written for films, or music videos are made to complement pre-existing music. A couple of days ago, Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps played her first show of the new year, and she's definitely made a few resolutions. This was our first performance in a rearranged format, and we rehearsed a few tunes for the occasion. The group included: Corey Murphy, trombone Brian Grimm, pipa/cello Pat Reinholz, electric cello Abe Sorber, vibraphone Me, bass Mike Koszewski, drums Anna Weisling, video We played a couple of my compositions, one of Corey's and a new tune of Brian's. We hope to continue working on these pieces, and develop some more, and make a good recording in the coming months. Also coming soon: more shows! Here's a video that Tom Teslik took of us playing my piece, To Thicken The Plot: Because it can be confusing what Lovely Socialite is without that dastardly thing called web presence, we have a handy new WEBSITE now!
Also on the bill that evening was the effervescent ASUMAYA, a one-man operation that involves the intricate weaving of electric bass, drums, african percussion, and conscientious vocals. Check out his record HERE; it's really great. Like a lot of Americans, this week I headed Home (not to be confused with my home of Madison) to spend a few days with my parents. (Sure, the holiday of Thanksgiving has a sordid and not entirely wholesome history, but its purpose and role today is one of the purest of holidays: relatively free of commercialism and religious dogma, it's an opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the company of others.) For me, Home is the icy tundra of rural northwest Minnesota. I left Madison on Monday 45 degrees and raining, and found Pennington County eleven hours later 2 degrees and snowing. Spending so much time isolated in a vehicle--often on deserted country roads, staring into the bleak darkness through splatters of ice that were quick to form on the windshield--provided a great opportunity to spend some time reflecting on the slurry of events that preceded this week. On Nov. 12, I had an adventure driving a different direction, due south, to Florence Alabama, to perform at the Electroacoustic Juke Joint festival. This was my first real experience traveling to perform at a music festival, and I couldn't be more glad this was the one. Everything added up: I was visiting a state I'd never been to before, (one warmer than the one I live in) I was traveling with two of my dearest friends and favorite collaborators, Anna and Eric, and I got to hear some new and creative music by a very inspiring and personable group of talented composers. The event was hosted by composer/performer Mark Snyder, a really amazing person who was gracious enough to put us up at his house, and whose heartwrenching pieces represented some of the best moments of the weekend for me. (A composer after my own heart, he's actually written a bass concerto!) All of the other composers and performers at the festival were amazing as well, and I highly recommend spending some time looking them up through the EAJJ website. We made the trek back north on Sunday, Nov. 15th, and arrived in Madison at about 3:30 Monday morning. I took a shower, threw on a shirt and tie, and got a ride to the airport, (thanks, Pat) from whence my plane departed at 6 for Hartford, CT. (I wear a tie and jacket when I fly, because I've found that I'm treated much better that way. Go figure.) While at Hartford, in sort of an excited haze of adventurous sleepiness, I met and had a lesson from a hero of mine, Robert Black. I also got to hang out with the bass studio there, and sit in on Professor Black's free improv class. Really inspiring! That evening, I hopped the bus to Boston. I went to Boston to visit a dear friend of mine from back North, Derek. Derek's a bang-up violist--really probably the best musician I know (don't tell anyone) -- and spending time with him is always really great. While visiting, I got to sneak in to the MFA (thanks to Chris, whose student ID we found on the street), take in an amazing concert at NEC that celebrated Gunther Schuller's 85th birthday, visit a great (if a bit claustrophobic) used and rare bookstore, and see the aquarium. (In case you'd forgotten, sharks are terrifying.) Gunther Schuller's music is some of the greatest I've heard, and his level of talent and sense for detail are mindblowing. Here's a great interview with Schuller by Ethan Iverson. It's lengthy, and worth it. Here's a video of me performing his Quartet for Double Basses at the Richard Davis Foundation Bass Conference this past April with some of my UW bass comrades (feel free to skip to 1:45 to get past my blithering at the beginning): I flew back to Madison on Thursday, Nov. 18th, where I had to almost immediately run to the tech rehearsal for the UW Dance Faculty recital that was on Friday and Saturday. The Weather Duo made an original piece of music to accompany a piece for choreographer Li Chiao-Ping. This was a really exciting project for us--it's really amazing to work with a dance, trying to come up with material that is appropriate, but not distracting, interesting, but not busy. Li Chiao-Ping's piece was an amazing and complex display of interlocking and contrasting movements. The dancers were really impressive. Here's the Isthmus review of the Friday performance. It is very positive about Chiao-Ping's piece, which is exciting, and the Weather Duo even gets a flattering mention. ("Engrossing!" -Isthmus) It describes well the other pieces on the program also, which I was really happy to be able to see three times. Especially notable for me was "Here/So (12 lines)" by Bill Young. The piece covered a lot of ground, from humorous and sporadic dog-barking, to really moving and eerie interactions. Also great was Jin-Wen Yu's "March Into Sunlight," which featured not only great narrative choreography and nice use of projected visuals, but the music of Prof. Steve Dembski (played live by the Gramercy Trio) and the dancing of my great pal Kenny, who can be seen on my left in the video above! Getting a preview of the holiday season, that weekend marked the start of rehearsals for A Wonderful Life, which is being put on by the Children's Theater of Madison this December. As much as I love avant-garde and challenging music and art, good old musical theater can be really refreshing sometimes. The music for A Wonderful Life is surprisingly fun and endearing, and the people involved are great. As one more artistic treat before embarking for Home, I contributing some bass tracks to a project of ambient guitarist Chris Bocast. The atmospheres he's creating with this project are really beautiful, and I can't wait to hear the finished album. And this brings me back to where I started this post, in the blustery plains of rural Minnesota. It was really peaceful and centering to spend some time up in the white silence, with time to read and get a grasp on who I am. I spent 18 years of my life waiting to leave my home town, but whenever I go back, I feel like a sea turtle surfacing to fill my lungs with air for another plunge out into the real world. Sea turtles can stay underwater without breathing for like 10 hours--holy shit! This past Sunday, I played a set of music in a show at the Frequency in Madison organized by Mine, All Mine! records. We threw together a set of wholly-improvised 'free jazz' that was really fun. We performed under the name Lovely Socialite Mrs. Thomas W. Phipps, which is a group that's been on hiatus for a while, but I hope to bring back. Only three of us were emeritus Lovely Socialites, me, Pat Reinholz (of the WD) and Corey Murphy (of Fambly Fun and K. Wilhelm). We also played with the badass guitarist Ben Schapiro (whose birthday was that day, prompting a deconstructionist Happy Birthday To You to be our closer) and an awesome drummer named Mike, who I'd never played with before that night. The night made me nostalgic for the original Lovely Socialite, so I've uploaded this track from our performance last year of my piece to float before sinking.
It occurs to me that I should make more frequent blog posts, else my life appears stagnant.
It's not! This past month+ has been a busy time, wherein I've done a lot of exciting things, which I will now just brashly list, rather than describe in the detail they deserve:
The month of November brings with it yet more excitement. This Thursday, I embark with Anna Weisling and Eric Sheffield for Florence, Alabama, where we will perform this weekend in the Electroacoustic Juke Joint, held at the University of North Alabama. We will be performing the piece exit crafting, which was first performed in a rudimentary state in my senior recital this past April. (You can listen to that performance here.) We've expanded it to three movements, and clarified its purpose a bit. I will hopefully post more media evidence of this on this site soon. We perform on Friday, November 12. We had a rehearsal performance yesterday for the double bass masterclass (my old stomping ground) at the UW School of Music. As long as all of Eric's drivers work, this should go pretty well. We will be packing three people, a bass, plus amps, computers, projector and maybe some sandwiches into Eric's Yaris for this sojourn. The morning after we drive back to Madison, I fly out at 6AM to visit a dear friend in Boston, as well as sneak around some grad schools. More as it happens. Weather Duo @ Stumpfest. photo: Kyle Pfister It's very trendy these days to find 'unconventional' venues, it seems. Performers and lovers of 'high art' music (things like classical music and jazz--you know, the ones no one listens to?) are worried that their art is dying out. Greg Sandow has a blog devoted to the future of classical music, that addresses some concerns, and groups like Classical Revolution are devoted to revitalizing an audience base for an art form that can come off as stuffy. I'd like to point out some people in Madison, WI, that are popping out of the woodwork on this issue. There is now a Madison branch of Classical Revolution, which hopes to bring classical music to interesting venues, and for the last year or so, a collective called Surrounded by Reality has been programming events that bring interesting music to, well, any venue that'll have it. Another group, which bills itself as a contemporary music ensemble, called New Muse, has formed with the mission to perform new music in site-specific performances. It will be very cool to see where this group goes, methinks. Their first undertaking was a flash-mob performance of Barber's Adagio for Strings as a 9/11 memorial at the Madison farmer's market. Now, I wouldn't consider Barber to be contemporary music (um, dead) but I have a stricter definition of this than some. The piece was pretty perfect for the mood, also--I wish I could have made it to the event itself. This past week, I've had the opportunity to perform in a variety of interesting venues myself, with my group the Weather Duo. The nature of this group, wherein we play improvised music with electronics, and a new/contemporary classical vibe, has led us to perform with all sorts of different folks. There's not really a scene for what we do in Madison, so this has allowed us to sort of be musical spies, traveling in and out of different genre cliques. We've performed under the guise of a 'free jazz' group, we've been the house band for spoken-word open mics, we've played living room concerts with folk groups, we've done rock club shows with indie bands, and we've performed with string quartets and the like. I've coined the term 'post-contemporary chamber music' for what we do. This was originally meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but the more we perform, it seems increasingly apt. On Thursday, we performed at a bar called the Argus with pop-rock sensation Tom Teslik, who followed us with very pleasant minimalist/rock guitar loops and drums under the name Nasty Thom and the Dirty Husbands, and our pals Pushmi-Pullyu, who play adorable electro-pop on computers and synths. Tom chronicled this night in his blog, which you should read, if only because he's a super nice guy. On Friday, we played as a part of Stumpfest, which was an all-day outdoor acoustic improvised music festival that was organized by Patrick Breiner of Surrounded by Reality. The festival was itself an installation project as a part of the [Park it!] event that was an art festival to celebrate National Parking day. A bunch of parking stalls at Schenk's Corners on Atwood street were covered with sod, and converted to a temporary park. A bunch of awesome improvisers performed throughout the day. Artist Kyle Pfister made a nice little video of Stumpfest: Weather Duo at Magnus. Photo: Tom Caw Later on Friday, we performed a pretty remarkable gig at Restaurant Magnus. Magnus is an upscale restaurant that has music often--usually jazz. Last week, composer and DJ Gabriel Prokofiev was in Wisconsin for the American Premiere of his Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra. Gabriel runs a record label called Nonclassical, which in his home city of London, hosts club nights of contemporary classical music. A friend of his in Madison helped to set up a Nonclassical night at Magnus, Friday the 17th. A call was put out to find performers of contemporary music, and this filtered down to the Weather Duo, and we were happy to take the call. Also, two string quartets were arranged by Classical Revolution, and Madison Native, the talented flautist Joanna Messer performed. The Weather Duo did two sets, one at the beginning of the night, and one at the end. Gabriel Prokofiev hosted the event. Magnus was PACKED. I've never seen that place so full. It really created a lot of excitement for us performers and lovers of 'high art' music, because it showed that there really is an interest in it in Madison. Hopefully, we will be able to find enough space for it in Madison, since Magnus will soon be closing. Time will tell if the new place will serve as a place for interesting music, or degenerate into a hipster haven. |
Authorbassist/improviser/ I send emails occasionally about upcoming performances. They're very cordial.
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