Click here to download the MP3

Hartford Sound Alliance performs along with the Jacob Zimmerman Quartet and The Sophisiticates.

…Improv, electronics, jazz, composition etc etc

We hope to see you all there!

~-~-~-~

Jacob Zimmerman Quartet is:

Jacob Zimmerman – sax (Berkeley, CA), Randy Pingrey – trombone (Boston, MA), Jesse Ward – guitar (Houston, TX) and Joe Moffett – trumpet (Brooklyn, NY)

http://www.jacobrexzimmerman.com/2010EastCoastTour.html

`’`'`’`'`’`'`’`

The Sophisticates (Hartford) are:

Tom Crean – guitar, Crystal Pascucci – cello and Ryan Ford – bass

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Sophisticates/127514600601737?v=wall&ref=ts

\_/_\_/_\

Hartford Sound Alliance is:

Lief Ellis – electronics, Steven Haynes – trumpet, Todd Merrell – keyboards, etc., Matt Sargent – electronics/guitar, Bill Solomon – percussion

http://www.hartfordsoundalliance.com/

The film, created by Beloved Binge drummer Eleni Vlachos (or Eleni Binge) is a humorous pro-vegan documentary. According to Mary Jessica Hammes of the Athens-Banner Herald, “Seeing Through the Fence accomplishes an impressive feat: It’s a documentary about animals, food and veganism that will not only appeal to omnivores, but actually is quite often funny. It’s not dour and earnest; it’s poignant and warm…” Wikipedia defines veganism as a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. As part of their year long tour, Beloved Binge has been playing music and screening this film at various venues, including universities and D.I.Y. spaces, and receiving a very warm welcome.

Rock yer Socks is an independent collective of musicians, activists, and artists intent on bringing quality, independent music to central CT. We strive to provide a positive atmosphere for the exchange of thoughts, art, and music. For more information, to listen to these and other local bands, or to contact RYS please visit www.myspace.com/rockyersocksbooking or write rockyersocks@gmail.com. For more information on the Charter Oak Cultural Center please visit www.charteroakcenter.org or call 860-249-1207.

On Saturday, May 30^th , 8pm, at the Annex inside the Windham Arts Center, 866 Main Street, Willimantic, art and music will collide in one sticky situation. This evening will feature many of CT’s finest independent bands. The music though is merely a backdrop for an event which, at least in this region, may be a first of its kind- an international, underground art, sticker showcase.

The impetus for this show began about one year ago as an internet phenomenon known as The Figurehead Experiment. Started by Willimantic resident and artist, Chad Heston, the Figurehead Experiment was a call to artists and non-artists alike to take the image of one man’s face, “The Figurehead”, provided by Heston, and manipulate it in as many unique and creative ways possible. At first these manipulations were shared through online postings. However, it wasn’t long before the Figurehead made its way out of cyberspace and began appearing, in sticker form, on signs, mailboxes, and just about anywhere with a pliable surface. And not just in Willimantic either as the Figurehead has begun to spring up in all corners of the state.

This form of art, much like graffiti, raises an interesting quandary: What separates art from vandalism? Can something be both? Banksy, an internationally known graffiti artist, has argued, “Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.” As for Heston, while it is true that he conceived of the Figurehead Experiment, he never advocated for the proliferation of the face on public property. Can he really be blamed for the actions of others?

Seeing as this argument involves an idea that began online and then moved into the real world, it calls to mind the recent controversy surrounding the website Craigslist.com and its Adult Services section (previously titled Erotic Services). In a recent NPR interview, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster claimed that their website was merely an online forum for its users, that Craigslist itself could not be held responsible for the user-made content. Why then has Craigslist cowed to social and political pressures? Besides the name change, Craigslist employees will now screen each posting to the Adult Services section for compliance with Craigslist’s content rules as well as state and federal laws.

Political debates aside, the main purpose of this May 30th show is pure fun. Sticker makers from around the world have submitted their wares to be showcased at this event and local sticker makers will be in attendance as well. Many of the stickers will be manipulations of the Figurehead, while others will be original works. As for the music, the lineup for the evening is: Anne Castellano, Night of the Rabbit, Zoo Front, and Panda and Child.

For more information please contact Maria Yates (Panda and Child) at pandaandchild@gmail.com or visit www.windhamarts.org. Doors open at 7pm and the cost is $5 per person.

An electronic-improv trio of Lief Ellis (laptop), Bill Solomon (percussion), and Matt Sargent (laptop) performs an innovative multimedia concert at Creative Cocktail Hour.  We’ll be performing soundtracks to films by our friends Liz Stephens and Devan Mulvaney. 6-10 pm — we’ll be performing three sets during the evening (starting at 7, 8, and 9 pm). See www.realartways.org and www.hartfordsoundalliance.com for more information.

Lief Ellis and his guitar

The Hartford Sound Alliance performed at Capital Community College on Thursday, October 30. It’s an amazing building, converted from the old Fox Department Store. The concert was held in an 11th floor room where I imagine muffs and other things like that used to be sold.

Matt Sargent’s meditative piece that started the concert, “Living in the Pulsing Light,” was written in the programming language Max/MSP, which is one of the most popular tools used by electronic composers. (Johnnie Greenwood from Radiohead uses it a lot.) Matt’s piece was a blend of sliding and steady pitches. It had a shimmery wailing sound, with certain steady notes grounding the sound. Ascending sounds seemed to trigger bell-like bursts. Sometimes it sounded like sirens, sometimes bells, while the sound source was in fact guitar and some accordion. At times the piece like the calling of whales or mysterious aquatic lifeforms.

Pieces of wood and kick drum from the piece for pieces of wood and kick drum

As a person that already probably has too many visions of things when listening to music, my experience of the next piece by Jessica Rudman was definitely influenced when the composer described her piece for solo marimba as being about “the ambivalence of human relationships.” At first, the lower register of the marimba kept up a persistent pulse, while the higher part picked out a delicate melody. The two parts would come together in a sort of dissonant duet from time to time. Eventually the melody switched to the higher part, then drifting away like a continuing conversation you overhear passing you on the street.

Lief Ellis’ piece, Study for Electric Guitar and Video No. 1, was “inspired by recent study of John Lennon as an artist and as a protester.” A work for solo guitar with electronics and visuals, it was made possible through using both Max/MSP/Jitter (Jitter is a video component of the Max program), and from the look of Leif’s tricked-out guitar, a good deal of soldering. It had at least seven cords and some sort of box dangling from it.

The piece began with a thin digital line of different colors flashing horizontally across otherwise black screen. The guitar volume triggered the video so that the line on the screen widened. The piece began quietly but built up in volume and distortion so that the horizontal line jaggedly opened to reveal grainy explosion footage, trigger sights, tanks rolling over things, and green colored shots of nighttime gunfire. The result was overwhelming, and things became more and more out of control. As piece ended it becomes quiet again, diminishing the view of the footage back to a thin ribbon flashing grayish blue and green, which on second sight seems rather mournful and shameful. As a political commentary I was struck by how it draws attention to remoteness of the wars we are currently engaged in. The ending left me uneasy.

Kate Swanson-Ellis’ piece, Fantasia in Green for flute, marimba, and cello, was the perfect follow-up. She said she wrote it in a “green mood,” and I can see how it was inspired by the vibrancy and mystery of the natural world. A lyrical flute melody carried throughout the piece and was accompanied by a cello sometimes plucking, echoed by the marimba, and sometimes bowing in a light feathery manner. Sometimes one instrument would sound strangely like another, and the flute used all kinds of neat methods to bring about an atmosphere that was both lively and contemplative.

Dave Cutright’s solo piano piece was a compositional study based on a set of disturbances with an underlying regular pattern. He was inspired by a Rachmaninoff etude with the same idea. The beginning portion of the piece was set within the upper middle portion of the piano, and then the piece became lower in a knot from which a bass melody emerged.

Bill Solomon and his pieces of wood

The last piece on the program, “Music for 24 Pieces of Wood and 4 Kick Drums” by Bill Solomon, was performed by the composer along with four other percussionists from the Hartt School of Music. The pieces of wood cut like a marimba (see photo) made an interesting hammering sound when hit. The effect of five percussionists playing different rhythms on wood blocks and stomping on kick drums was exciting, like crazy carpenters, especially when they became synchronized at a racing tempo. Bill, who didn’t have a kick drum, made up for it with his hands flying over the twelve wooden planks in front of him.

Many of the Capitol Community College students seemed into the music, and I, for one, left the concert feeling inspired by all the possibilities of sound. So there you have it. It’s not rock or jazz, but it’s very cool and it’s here in Hartford, right on Main Street.

The Hartford Sound Alliance’s next concert will be an electronic improvisational concert at the Hartford Art School on November 12. Visit www.hartfordsoundalliance.com for more info about the group.