Happy New Year and Welcome to 2008!
Best wishes for the coming months. Here's a beginning of the year detail and 'season overview' for what looks like a fantastic year coming down the pike. I'll hit you again in February with more details. I realize I'm a little late with a January email, my apologies.
New Look, Even Better Taste Ahead
If you've visited the "oh, so official website" recently, you'll see that some exciting changes are "afoot". The old website is gone, and exactly what happens next is still in play, but quite a situation it will turn out to be, promise. Meanwhile, you can get to all the info you need to stay in touch directly by clicking on the image below. Enjoy the view, you may even relearn how to cross a NY city street!
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Jazz in January Since I moved to the Berkshires, my schedule hasn't allowed for nearly enough local performances, Bang on a Can summer endeavors notwithstanding. Frankly, I'm about ready to burst from desire to play out up here. (okay, drama, I know.)
To that end, two of my most esteemed colleagues from the Berkshires and one from NYC join me in two evenings of Jazz, Funk and Blues all plugged in and stuff. Gregg August, who joins us at The Bang on a Can Summer Festival every July, is drivin' up to be part of it.
The Todd Reynolds Situation appears as a Jazz Quartet for two shows in the Berkshires
featuring:
Jason Ennis, Guitars
Gregg August, Basses
Conor Meehan, Drums
 •January 18th at Café Latino, MassMoCA in North Adams, Massachussetts, from 9pm to Midnight Café Latino is part of the Mezze Inc. restaurant group, purveyors of incredible food and ambience. Chef Omar Montoya serves up some nuevo latino cuisine to knock your socks off. A favorite local hang for North Adams and the surrounding area.
 •January 19th at Spice Restaurant, Pittsfield, Massachussetts, from 9pm to Midnight
Spice is an anchor to Pittsfield's growing cultural and entertainment revolution. A menu to please any foodie, and a lounge perfect for music listening makes Pittsfield feel like the Brooklyn of the Berkshires.
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A Premier for International Polar Year and could this guy win a Grammy? •January 26
International Polar Year Conference.
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, Michigan
Grand Valley State will be the setting for the premiere of a seminal new work by Bill Ryan. The GVSU New Music Ensemble. and 'moi' perform Bill's newest creation, a piece for percussion and digital violin (MyRig, or i-Fiddle as I sometimes call it). The work is Bill's musical response to the amazing arctic photography of Ken Tape who will also be in attendance. (that's one of his many beautiful photos on the left)
You may know Bill already from these newsletters. After multiple residencies at both of his institutions, and many years of fruitful musical and educational collaboration, I'm traveling again to Grand Valley State to participate in this seminal premiere of a work for Percussion and Moi.
In other news, and in the unlikely even you haven't already heard, Bill's group at Grand Valley has put out an amazing new CD that has gotten named on 2007 top ten lists everywhere, leading me to hope for, wish for, and vote for... a well-deserved Grammy bearing their name.
Click here for sample tracks! |
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Residency and Teaching News Two universities get to chew on Still Life with Microphone this Spring, and RPI gets a dose for a semester
First, January 28th in Boulder, at the Universtiy of Colorado, John Gunther leads a department of jazz and electronic students of the craft. He has invited Luke and me to Boulder in to discuss creative collaboration, software tooling and conceptual lid removal in four days of lectures and conversation and two concerts, a Still Life with Mic in a black box and a jazz concert in a club with John on horn and John Hadfield from New York City on Drums and Percussion.
Next, to kick off February, Scott Deal has invited us to present Still Life with Mic as part of a residency for his department at Purdue University. Scott's mission is to expand the technological resources and reinforce the vision of the department, so Purdue is a very exciting place right now.
Finally, thanks to my good colleagues Neil Rolnick, Curtis Bahn and Kathy High at RPI for inviting me to teach Computer Music at iEAR studios this semester. Just met my class full of 16 brilliant folks tonight. Building sound libraries and composing our faces off - It's gonna be a riot.
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February and onward Check the Blog for more information about dates... I'll update it soon, including Ableton Live classes in Brooklyn at Lemurplex, (see the Village Voice educational supplement) and dates in just this moment for Tom Nazziola's BQE in February and March.
Feb. 5-8th, in Residence at Purdue University in Indiana
Feb. 16th, performances with Albany Symphony Orchestra as soloist with Theo Bleckmann in Neil Rolnick's Love Stories
Feb. 22nd at Issue Project Room
Feb. 25th, Neil Rolnick Music concert at NYU, Loewe
Feb. 26, March 4th and 18th, Ableton Live Classes at Lemurplex
Feb. 28th in Meredith Monk Tribute concert at Symphony space. Double Bill with Talujon, curated by Laura Kaminsky, featuring a tribute arrangement of Double Fiesta for Violin and Talujon, and a new work in honor of Meredith.
March 1st, With Andrew Sterman's Path to Peace at Joe's Pub
March 15, 19, 24 Soloist Champions project of Meet the Composer, premiering solo works by Michael Lowenstern...
March 29th in Miami for The f(x) Marathon
April 3, 5, 12. Fear and Loathing and The Zippo Songs in CT, Philly, VT
May 1st, Eye to Ear in Pittsfield, Lecture Series.
Mid-May, recording L'Histoire du Soldat, complete and Trio version with Andy Russo and Evan Ziporyn, with libretto by Kurt Vonnegut
June 22nd, Songs of Ascension, a new work by Meredith Monk, at the Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN
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