Category Archives: live experimental music

The Orlando Weekly’s Review of Midaregami

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I wanted to post this review of the Tangled Bell Ensemble‘s performance of Midaregami here as I am very proud of that piece and it is a stellar review.

This Little Underground: Jim Ivy’s Tangled Bell Ensemble debuts at the In-Between Series

The local rule is that if Jim Ivy is involved, it’s gonna be weird or smart, often both.

For the consistently intriguing music monthly the In-Between Series, he rolled out a rather grand conceptual experiment with the debut of his Tangled Bell Ensemble (May 18, Gallery at Avalon Island). Using the early 20th century poetry work of Japanese author Akiko Yosano as impetus, the idea of the performance – titled “Midaregami (Tangled Hair)” – was to explore orchestrating heterogeneity into concert. To do that, he assembled a cast of 11 members – the biggest to perform the series yet – from an intentionally wide spectrum of musical backgrounds. Many of them looked and sounded like more classical players, but musicians I recognized from my usual beat included members of weirdo acts like Moon Jelly and Happy Valley. The resulting body was a small orchestra expanded with guitar, piano, accordion, voice and modern drum kit. At its head was Ivy pulling double duty as conductor and player on his trademark sax.

Sonically, the four-act journey was a tapestry of music and word (English and Japanese) that slithered from mystery to beauty to excitingly unchained bedlam at the end of the second act. Though structure and arc formed the program’s narrative, the individual pieces were composed loosely to allow some placed pockets of improvisation, moments that seemed to make Ivy beam with the most joy and that at some point engaged each and every player. Further testament to the extemporaneous spirit of the performance was the fact that the first time the entire ensemble was in the same room together was about 40 minutes before the show. Though the end was an interesting, fully in-the-moment display in itself, this was a demonstration of the art of process and spontaneity. As such, the result was adventure not recital, and it was an experience of unfolding, evolving tension.

by Bao Le-Huu

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Spring Forward

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A quick note on a pair of shows coming up in the next week:

Dels in a boxThe Delusionaires make a (seemingly) triumphant return to one of our favorite stomps from the good ol’ days, The Emerald Bar in St. Petersburg. It’s been many a year since we’ve walked through that beer-stained doorway and can’t wait to swill our fill alongside St. Pete’s finest. Don’t know if anyone we knew then still works there, but I’m sure whoever is serving will do The Emerald proud. We’ll be there Saturday, March 8 along with The Intoxicators and Crippled Masters. It’ll be epic, if not downright terrifying.

Milton_bradley_portraitThe next afternoon, Sunday, March 9 at 2pm, has me still in St. Pete, this time at the main library for New Music on a Sunday Afternoon, presented by The New Music Conflagration, Inc. This will be the final performance of Milton Bradley, a game piece I created for the 2012 CageFest in Jacksonville. Although this is the fifth or sixth performance of the piece, it is the first time I will present it on Florida’s west coast. Joining me in the quartet will be Kris Gruda on guitar, electronics and voice, A.J. Herring on trombone, guitar and alto saxophone, and Elizabeth A. Baker on piano, theremin, and an as yet unnamed third instrument. You can read more about the game piece here.

Hope to see all of you on the dreamy shores (or side streets) of St. Pete.

2014 Off and Running

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A slew of upcoming shows to begin the year:

January 10 and 11: Midnight Exterminations: A tribute to William S. Burroughs. Here’s the full event disclosure:

1461572_10202380018879145_740552842_nA tribute reading of William S. Burroughs accompanied by segments of avante garde musical arrangements. This productions orations will be performed by: Megan Faubel, Patrick Greene and Christian Kelty. All musical composition is written by Dana Fasano , Jim Ivy, Kris Gruda and Todd Elliott. Please come and enjoy this event with us and celebrate what would have been Mr.Burroughs 100th birthday upcoming on Feburary 5. 2014…. 12a.m. Janurary 10th and 11th… $ 5 cover @ The Venue.

January 31: The Delusionaires with D.J. Dots at Nobby’s St. Augustine. Our favorite vinyl spinner joins us for an over-the-top party.

Fun_house_reissueAn as of yet unannounced special performance of the entire Funhouse recording by The Stooges in February. More details to come.

And more shows in March including the final performance of the game piece, Milton Bradley and another surprise appearance by The Delusionaires.

Also slated is a Gatto Pazzo release and my TrIP Project contribution, Discarded Angel, full release. More detail to come.

New CDs From Gatto Pazzo…

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We are hard at work to bring you the first two releases by Gatto Pazzo. Both releases are home-made, limited edition productions. There will be a total of 15 of each release made and that will be it. They will be available at the B.L.U.R.T show on Wednesday, October 10th at Sip.

The first CD is “Doberman Dalmatian”. It comes in a custom Dalmatian fur jewel case. The music is one long improvisation that has been split for listener convenience.

The other release that will be available at Sip is the EP length “Japanese Lunches/Lamb Package Toe Prick”. This will come in a custom translucent sleeve containing original artwork by the band, one framable piece per song title. There will be a total of 15 prints along with the CDEP.

Very excited about these creations!

Another new development that I am excited about is the addition of The Dex Romweber Duo to the Tav Falco/Panther Burns show with The Delusionaires as opening act in Atlanta on October 19th. This will be an amazing show, one that you will be very sad if you miss it!!!

Great shows coming up. Hope to see everyone there.

Summer Comes To A Close

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The onslaught of sweltering humidity and routine afternoon thunderstorms marks the last full month of summer, although in Florida, September brings little relief. No new releases yet, but at least two are in the works.

The Delusionaires will soon have a new vinyl release of all new recordings. Artie Mondello has been putting in much overtime to make sure it moves forward as quickly as possible.

I have been sifting through hours and hours of Gatto Pazzo recordings to compile a sampling of what we do. I find editing to be the most difficult part of preparing a new release. Should be out in a few months. Could be a multi-disc release.

Two upcoming shows of note:

On Friday, August 17th, the one-time-only performance of Vrrrooom! by Son of CHANG will occur at Uncle Lou’s in Orlando. An all-star cast of Danny Feedback, Evan Shafran, and Todd Elliott will join me as we cue card the terrain of my imagination. 10pm start time. Son of CHANG will be only a portion of the evening’s event know as B.L.U.R.T. Other performances include Hal and Mark McGee, C.A.N.S., The Jim Parsons Project, and more. Also, as part of the B.L.U.R.T. show, I will be performing in an improvised trio with Dana Fasano and Dan Reeves, founder of B.L.U.R.T.

Urban ReThink will be the location of the second performance of my game piece, Milton Bradley, as improvisors from all over Florida will gather in Orlando for an afternoon of musical mayhem. Joining me for Milton Bradley will be Kris Gruda, Jamison Williams, and Jason Dean Arnold. The afternoon event will start at 3pm. To read more about the Milton Bradley game piece please follow this link. Also scheduled on this event will be SugaWack, Fresh Ground Umlaut, and more.

A couple of new/unavailable tracks have been added to the soundcloud page. Have a listen.

Celebrating Sun Ra, Heading North, and Heading South

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May has become a nearly overwhelmingly busy month, and it’s already a third over.

An event that has consumed much of my attention and that I am very excited about is the organizing and presentation of The Angel Race Big Band celebrating the life and work of Sun Ra. This show will be part of the grand opening of +Solo, a new experimental music gallery in Jacksonville, FL, and will take place on Friday, May 25th.

+Solo co-founder Jamison Williams has put together an amazing grand opening that will take place on the 25th and 26th. Experimental and improvising artists from all over will be on hand. Definitely, an event not to be missed.

The Sun Ra commemoration is in remembrance of the anniversary of Sun Ra leaving this plane of existence in 1993. The Angel Race Big Band, named after one of Ra’s compositions, will include many of the musicians performing during the +Solo grand opening. The piece will consist of Sun Ra compositions, improvisations conducted in the manner of Ra, as well as spoken word audio from the man himself.

Before this is to take place, there is the matter of my visit across the northern border to the town of Victoriaville, Quebec to experience the mecca of experimental and improvised music, FIMAV. This year’s line-up looks extremely tasty, even for a seasoned visitor as myself. In the years since my first FIMAV, 1989, I have missed very few. Go and check out the schedule!

The Wednesday after the Sun Ra set (May 30) finds me heading southbound on I-95 to the palm fronds of Miami and another amazing performance space, PAX, where I will be performing in the quartet, Entirely Experimental Ensemble, named by the organizer of the performance, Stephen Magagodi. The quartet will consist of some of my favorite musicians, Kris Gruda, Steve Bristol and Kyle Motl. This will be fun!
 A lot going on in the next two and a half weeks. Now, back to work.

The Fortune Hits The Road

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With exactly two weeks before I hit the road with a pair of Florida electronic musicians to perform live versions of The Fortune, there is far too much to do. Using graphic scores and hand signals, the live version of the improvised music/spoken work collaboration between myself and writer John Ajac will be stretched into many different forms. Although John will not be able to make the mini-tour, his voice will be there.

Traveling with Lucy Bonk (homemade electronics, percussion), Keaton Orsborn (electronics, manipulated field recordings) and Jadi Lane (projection, documentation) will definitely be an adventure. We perform at Columbia, South Carolina’s Conundrum on Thursday, February 23. This will be the premier performance and since we have not performed together previously, it will be a new experience for all of us.

With just enough time to make it up the east coast, weather permitting, Saturday, February 25 will find us at The Stone in the East Village of Manhattan performing the 10pm slot. There, we will be adding percussionist Mario Schambon to the ensemble.

Thanks go out to Al Margolis for the invitation to participate in the Pogus curated events at The Stone, and to Tom Law for giving us the opportunity to perform at Conundrum.

As far as other things going on: Crater Tater will be performing at the Copper Rocket next weekend, The Delusionaires one-time only reunion on March 2nd, Laboratory Music #5 March 3rd in Gainesville, and I am in the process of working out the details for my chance operation performance at CageFest, a weeklong event in Jacksonville celebrating the 100th birthday of John Cage, in late March. I am hoping to present a wind and brass quartet. Stay tuned.

Now, back to work before I get too far behind…

Upcoming Shows

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As the year winds down I have a few shows around Florida to let you know about.

First up is a trio with Bryan Eubanks (Brooklyn, NY) and Kris Gruda (Winter Park, FL) at [Blank Space] Gallery & Lounge in Orlando on Friday, December 9th. Bryan Eubanks is focused on collaborative improvisation, solo musical projects, and sound installations. He has performed his work in live settings across the US, Europe, Japan, and Korea. Originally interested in the saxophone, his work has expanded to include computer music and instruments of his own design that incorporate open-circuits, samplers, radio transmission, and other electronics. More details to come.

Kris Gruda is a musician, musicologist, sound experimenter and explorer of space(s). His primary instruments are guitar and voice. He can aslo be heard on electronics, cassette tape recorder/player, kazoos, keyboards, objects, alternative plectrums (such as seashell or stone), bass guitar, ukulele, slide whistle, found objects/percussion, environmental and incidental sounds.

Next up is a mini-tour of two shows in a trio context with Wade Matthews (Madrid, Spain) and Jill Burton (Gainesville, FL): Sunday, December 11, 8:00pm at The Thomas Center in Gainesville, FL and Monday, December 12, 7:30pm at Urban ReThink in Orlando, FL.

American improviser, composer and author, Wade Matthews, has been living in Madrid, Spain, since 1989. Electronic music influences all of his work where he emphasizes the nature of sound as matter unto itself rather than as simply material from which to generate phrases. He is especially interested in the permeability of sound and sonic discourse to its surroundings and has extensively explored numerous aspects of site-specific improvisation. In 2007, he began to combine field recordings with electronic synthesis in a 2-computer setup that has since become his main instrument.

Jill Burton is a singular and extraordinary performance artist, vocalist, dancer and energy worker who has been consciously synthesizing her art form for over 40 years. She has developed such a unique style that it is difficult if not impossible to label or categorize her work. Performance healing? Energy art? Improv shamanism? With an extensive background in many traditional and modern music and dance techniques, she has always held a special interest in experimental performance and free improvisation. She has also studied and practiced many bodywork, energy work and spiritual healing modalities, always incorporating these with her performance work.

And one final duo show on Saturday, December 17 as part of Hal McGee’s Apartment Music series in Gainesville, FL. I will be partnering with the marvelous Ironing (Andrew Chadwick). It will also be available to view via justin.tv. The festivities will run from 3:00-5:00pm.

That should take us to the end of 2011. 2012 has much in store, including a late February performance of “The Fortune” at The Stone in New York City. But that is another post for another time.