musiXplore

You might think we’re hosting a jazz trio: Peter Jarvis on drums, guitar by Gene Pritsker, accompanied by Dan Cooper on bass. But all 3 of the musicians are avant-garde luminaries. They’re deeply involved in the Composer’s Concordance organization and perform frequently in the tri-state area.

L to R: Dan Cooper, Peter Jarvis, Gene Pritsker

Dan Cooper plays the formidable 7-string bass and has studied with Philip Glass, Steve Mackey and Paul Lansky. His performance and recording career is worldwide. Click here for his biography.

Peter Jarvis composed music for Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. The movie score went on to receive nominations for both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award in 2013. He has also performed music for multiple episodes of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

Peter runs the New Music Series at William Paterson University, where he presents a wonderful selection of work by 20th and 21st century composers. One of these concerts is coming up on Monday, Feb. 3 at 7pm, here are more details. There is much more about Peter on the Wikipedia page about him.

Gene Pritsker is also in Wikipedia, where it mentions his work with Joe Zawinul and Kristjan Järvi. Gene creates works that are both fun and complex, melding influences as varied as Frank Zappa, J.S. Bach and William Jame’s Varieties of Religious Experience with stellar guitar technique.

To give you an idea of the variety of music we’ll hear, we’ve included two videos of Peter and Gene performing together at DROM and at William Paterson:

There will be an introductory set by Headbrain.

On January 19, 2014, Bob Lukomski performed at musiXplore. Here is one piece from his Delicate Arch series:

There is also a longer Delicate Arch piece that he performed at the same concert. It includes an explanation from Bob about the genesis of the series. Click here to view it.

New Paltz composer Bob Lukomski has had an unusually diverse musical career. While many composers settle into a genre, Bob has been active in popular music as a songwriter and recording artist, in sacred music with works for choir and organ, in music for dance (His electronic work Look at Me (when I talk to you) was a collaboration with choreographer Lynn Neuman and the Artichoke Dance Company) and electronic music, as composer, performer and co-ordinator of the Hudson Valley Coterminous Collectiv. This only skims the surface, you can read a more complete CV here.

Composer Bob Lukomski

For his musixplore appearance, Bob will performing selections from his Delicate Arch series, on which he has been working since 2011. Below are some pieces from Delicate Arch to whet your appetite:

Delicate Arch #1

Delicate Arch #2

Delicate Arch #5

There will be an opening set by ArtCrime.

Beta Test Music played at musiXplore on November 17, 2013. Here is the theme to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that they performed:

There are also videos available for the other pieces they performed: Still Alive from Portal, Necromorphs from Dead Space 2, and the themes from Romancing SaGa, DuckTales and Castlevania.

Guitarist David Beardsley played the same day, but that video has some technical problems we are cleaning up.

Clockwise from upper left, Steve Lakawicz, Douglas Lausten, Benjamin Mulholland and Brandon Frumolt

Our next performers have a different angle no matter which way you look at them. Take a brass trio (tuba, trombone and french horn), add a guitar. Interesting! But this isn’t just any quartet. This is a group that grew up on Super Mario, so they pay tribute to the music of video games. Right there, you’ve got a sound we guarantee you aren’t going to hear anywhere else!

You’ll be hearing pieces like Necromorphs, which uses gameplay audio from Dead Space II and re-scores the theme to reflect a more traditional horror soundscape. Music from the video games Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Portal, and DuckTales re-orchestrated, re-arranged, and played by both live instruments and chip sounds, or lo-fi digital synthesis reminiscent of early generation video games. We might even hear new takes on some television theme music!

Beta Test writes: “Our goal as a group is to play music in and around video game culture. This music holds a high nostalgia factor, but much of it also stands up as interesting music that can be transformed. Beta Test Music puts our own imprint on the music we perform, whether by creating originals that fit alongside our arrangements, or by creating arrangements that feel like performed remixes and re-imaginations of the original material.”

Here is a sample of Beta Test Music:

Microtonal guitarist David Beardsley

Opening for Beta Test Music is microtonal guitarist David Beardsley. A long time resident of New Jersey, David Beardsley is one of the New York area’s foremost microtonal guitarists. Meditative and mesmerizing, his playing is steeped in Indian music and blues as much as it is the late 20th century minimalist tradition. You can hear a sample of his music here.

From the October 20, 2013 concert, Ben Neill performs an a piece from his upcoming opera about Douglas Engelbart, the Internet pioneer who invented the mouse.

There are two other music videos of this show available: Piece #1 and Piece #2 and 3. In addition, there is an interesting video of Ben talking about the history and future of the mutantrumpet, with news about the opera.

The next artist at musiXplore has such an stellar reputation, we don’t have to say a thing about him. Not when there are quotes like this about him already:

A creative composer, genius performer, and inventor of the mutantrumpet. Time Out NY

Ben Neill is a musical powerhouse, a serious and individual talent. Time Out London

Ben Neill is using a schizophrenic trumpet to create art music for the people. Wired Magazine

Neill works with harmonies based on numerical relationships that produce spiritually powerful resonances. The result is trippy, otherworldly and seamlessly groovy. Interview Magazine

Calling Ben Neill a trumpeter is like calling Mr. Spock a frequent flyer … as vibrant as the galaxies beyond, both adventurous and artful. Boston Phoenix

Neill’s astonishing mutantrumpet blends brass and computer with wit, beauty and solid musicianship. Village Voice

To hear samples of Ben’s music, click on the Listen/Shop tab at musiXplore.org, then scroll down and click on the album covers. You can also buy advance tickets on the same page. The Ivanhoe is a small room, but we honor the advance tickets over latecomers at the door.

From the September 22, 2013 concert, Terrence McManus performs an improv.

There are three other videos of this show available. These are 3 movements of a long improvised piece: Movement #1, Movement #2 and Movement #3.

This concert was dedicated to the memory of Canadian poet and publisher Richard Truhlar who passed away on September 17, 2013.

musiXplore got a very nice writeup about the new season from critic Tris McCall of the Newark Star-Ledger. Click here to read the full story.

musiXplore is proud to present avant guitarist Terrence McManus on Sunday, September 22. Terrence has played with most experimental musicians in the New York area: Herb Robertson, Gerry Hemingway, Tim Berne, Kermit Driscoll and Ellery Eskelin, among many others. His 2010 EP “Brooklyn” showcases his melding of guitar with electronics. The New York City Jazz Record wrote of him “He can present simple ringing tones that shimmer and sooth, sounding not unlike a harp, or crush and cripple strings with the best of the noisy avant-gardists.”

Terrence has performed at Carnegie Hall, the New York Guitar Festival, Jazz Festival Willisau (Switzerland), Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Austria), the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, and the inaugural month at John Zorn’s The Stone. Terrence was featured in the book State of the Axe: Guitar Masters in Photographs and Words by legendary photographer Ralph Gibson.

The show begins at 1pm with an opening set by ArtCrime. All musiXplore concerts are held at the Ivanhoe Wheelhouse, 4 Spruce Street in the historic district of Paterson, NJ. Admission is $5 suggested donation.