Live performance, site specific music by Ben Neill’s brass quintet and electronics players.
Category Archives: Music
Inspired by Byetone
Live show at John Zorn’s Experimental Music Performance Space, NYC, July 1, 2015
Inspired by their live show at, “The Stone”, NYC July 1, 2015.
Loving Miles Davis
Inspired by Listening to Miles Davis’ “Concierto de Aranjuez”. This reads left to right with the clicky sounds of castanets on the left, and a general gestalt of the song on the right.
Il Sogno: Catania, Campania & Lucca
9.5”x8.5”
This is a cover for an Artist Book I designed prior to our trip to Italy in 2013. We made this visit to my nine Italian composer/musician friends who lived in Catania, Campania or Lucca, and who created the music that was my soundtrack of healing when I was very ill in 2009. This poem by Tagore and the five drawn color variations of the hand sewn cover, are included in the Book.
The eternal Dream
Is borne on the wings of ageless Light
That rends the veil of the vague
And goes across Time
Weaving ceaseless patterns of Being.
The mystery remains dumb,
The meaning of this pilgrimage,
The endless adventure of existence –
Whose rush along the sky
Flames up into innumerable rings of paths,
Till at last knowledge gleams out from the dusk
In the infinity of human spirit,
And in that dim-lighted dawn
She speechlessly gazes through the break in the mist
At the vision of Life and Love
Emerging from the tumult of profound pain and joy.
Tagore
September 16, 1929
Wonky/Pet Monster Shotglass (2013)
Cotton, metallic thread and floss, cotton thread and floss
10.75”x13.5”
Inspiration: Flying Lotus. “Pet Monster Shotglass.” 2006. 1983. Plug Research. | Length: 6:40 minutes; Musical Genre: Wonky
I love the staticky crackle of the irregular/regular dub rhythm. The addition of space between the gamelan bell sound bumps, interrupts the static perfectly.
Wait for the Summer (2014)
19”x26”
Inspiration: Yeasayer. “Wait for the Summer.” 2007. All Hour Cymbals. We Are Free. | Length: 4:53; Musical Genre: Psychedelic Indie Rock
The tribal vocalizations and rhythms of Yeasayer snake through my brain in sparkling iridescent patterns. The fact that I also see voices the same way as I see the timbres of musical instruments means I didn’t hear the words as words, or know what the words were saying until long after I had created this piece.
Making Friends and Having Fun: Theo, Ben and David (2013)
Inspiration: Ben Neill, Theo Metz, and David Rothenberg. Live Performance. June 6, 2013. Kingston, NY. | Musical Genre: Experimental Ambient
This was created as a result of my being an audience member experiencing musical performances by these three composer/musicians. Ben and Theo teach in the Ramapo College of New Jersey music department and David teaches philosophy and music at NJIT.
Dream Phase (2013)
9.25”x11.75”
Inspiration: Ben Neill. “Dream Phase.” 1996. Triptycal. Verve Records. | Length: 6:14 minutes; Musical Genre: Experimental Ambient
Although this piece is named after a specific Ben Neill composition, it is a general gestalt of my several experiences with his live performances. His self-designed “Mutantrumpet with its electro acoustic computer system generates bright red and golden horizontal wiggly layers that echo, punctuated by surprising vertical interstitial skittery boxes and circles of rhythm.
Lotta Continua (2011)
8.5”x11.5”
Inspired by: Max Maffia. “L.C.” VIVA. Daybox Records. | Length: 5:36 minutes; Musical Genre: Ambient Electronic
This musical composition makes me see under water current flows and the banging of old wooden bits and boats.
Living Out Loud: The Art of Geri Hahn 