Composers Concordance: Eclectic Bands
Free
- Gene Pritsker, electronics
- Wayne DuMaine, trumpet
- Amanda Ruzza, electric bass
- David Cossin, drum set
- Mike Handelman, guitar & voice
- Jeremy Blynn, drums
- Ean Valte, electric bass
- Dan Cooper, electric bass
- Evan Francis, flute & alto saxophone
- Yayoi Ikawa, keyboard & piano
- Tommy Campbell, drum set
Dan Cooper — Selected works
Mike Handelman — Selected works
The Doors — Selected works
Aretha Franklin — Selected works
Jimi Hendrix — Selected works
Herbie Hancock — Selected works
"The human mind is not a dignified organ, and I do not see how we can exercise it sincerely except through eclecticism." – E.M. Forster
On Saturday, January 6th, 2024 at 8pm at Silvana, Composers Concordance presents the next installment of its Eclectic Bands series. At a charming uptown venue featuring delicious food and drinks, diverse musical groups assemble for an evening of wide-ranging music, presented in quick tandem.
Sound Liberation is an eclectic chamber ensemble/band. Its musical philosophy, developed by band founder Gene Pritsker, is based upon "ending the segregation of sound vibration (i.e. musical Genres)". The Di.J, Quartet is a new configuration of the ensemble focusing on Gene Pritsker's music that utilizes him as Di.J. (Digital Jockey – since he uses a computer to manipulate samples, grooves, etc.) This event will be an album release for their new recording on Composers Concordance Records. (More information: https://songwhip.com/soundliberation/sound-liberation-dij-quartet)
Mike Handelman is a multi-disciplinary artist who uses his guitar to blur the lines between rock, jazz, blues, and every so often, comedy. He's performed in numerous contexts and in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, Clarksdale, Boston, and Madrid. His guitar playing can be found on all music streaming services with artists including Jennifer Elster, We Eat Monsters, and The Big Time Nobodies.
Dan Cooper Quartet: Dan's compositions have been described as "full of instrumental virtuosity and sly humor" (Fanfare) and "invigoratingly eclectic to the max." (Strings Magazine). Performing on 6-string bass guitar, Dan shares the stage with Evan Francis (flute and alto saxophone), Yayoi Ikawa (piano and keyboard), and Tommy Campbell (drum set).
The concert will be livestreamed on Composers Concordance's Facebook page.
About Composers Concordance
Staying in rotation for 40 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past but also an ethic of keeping one's ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene.
Composers Concordance, founded in 1984 by Joseph Pehrson and Patrick Hardish, advised by Otto Luening, strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Debra Kaye, and Seth Boustead.
Composers Concordance has also created a Naxos-distributed record label: Composers Concordance Records, co-directed by Peter Jarvis. Composers Concordance's overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
http://www.composersconcordance.comAbout Sound Liberation
Sound Liberation, an eclectic chamber ensemble/band, was formed in 1996. The band has gained exposure in the New York city area and has generated a loyal core following playing such notable venues as Joe's Pub, Wetlands, Knitting Factory, The Blue Note, Downtime, New Music Cafe, Cutting Room, Le Poisson Rouge, and many other performing spaces.
Sound Liberation's musical philosophy, developed by band founder Gene Pritsker, is based upon "ending the segregation of sound vibration (i.e. musical Genres)". The group incorporates its philosophy by performing compositions that encompass a diverse range of musical genre, heavily influenced by hip-hop and rock rhythms. This enables one to hear elements from classical music to Jazz to music of various cultures at a Sound Liberation show.
The group performed at the Outreach Festival '06 and '07 and '14 in Schwaz, Austria. In '07 Sound Liberation performed at the Estonian House and presented Gene Pritsker's opera Money at the Players Theatre and Flea Theatre in New York. In May of '08, Money was performed at the Etna music Festival in Catania, Sicily and Sound Liberation played in Ragusa, Sicily. In July '08, they performed at the Blaine jazz Festival in Blaine, Wa. In May of '09, Sound Liberation presented 2 nights at the Flea theater, performing Gene Pritsker's one-hour VRE Suite written for the Sound Liberation Quintet and a concert with B3+ of music from their albums on Col-Legno records. In September 2011, they performed at the Bremen Musik Fest in Germany. In past years the group was part of the Peekaboo Festival of New Music, 21st Century Schizoid at Cornelia Street Cafe and Theater, and toured Newfoundland, Canada in April of '99.
In August of '09 the Song No Truth was featured in the Universal Home Videos motion picture The Wedding Bothers. In the fall of 2010, Human Condition was featured on PBS's Road Trip Nation series. The band played a very publicized concert at New York's Le Poisson Rouge in January '10. The New Yorker wrote: "Pritsker, a rule-breaking composer-guitarist (and rapper) who impresses funk and rock beats onto classical structures, fronts this eclectic jazz-type combo of singers and instrumentalists."
https://noizepunk.wixsite.com/soundlibAbout Dan Cooper Quartet
Dan's compositions have been described as "full of instrumental virtuosity and sly humor" (Fanfare) and "invigoratingly eclectic to the max" (Strings Magazine). Performing on 6-string bass guitar, Dan shares the stage with Evan Francis (flute and alto saxophone), Yayoi Ikawa (piano and keyboard), and Michael C. Vetter (drum set).
https://www.mmm.edu/live/profiles/2156-dan-cooperAbout Gene Pritsker, electronics
Composer/musical polymath Gene Pritsker has written over nine hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. His compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles, that are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation, an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble. He also Co-Directs Composers Concordance. Gene's music is performed all over the world at internationally recognized festivals and by highly respected ensembles and performers.
He co-founded the Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble with Kristjan Jarvi and has been a composer in residence and guitarist since its creation in 1993. He worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including Cloud Atlas, for which he wrote additional music and composed his Cloud Atlas Symphony. He is also the lead orchestrator for such TV series as Babylon Berlin, Jett, Netflix's Sense8, and Messiah. Gene is the lead orchestrator and has additional music in the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.
"My music is extremely eclectic, for me music has no bounds – I view the world of music as one big genre. My motto for my art is ending the segregation of sound vibration."
Gene is also a guitarist/rapper/Di.J./ and producer he incorporates each of these musical attributes to create music that is "not designed for easy listening or to melt into the background. It is insistent. It demands attention and curiosity." (New York Newsday) "Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent. Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker." (Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine)
https://www.genepritsker.com/About Wayne DuMaine, trumpet
About Amanda Ruzza, electric bass
About David Cossin, drum set
David Cossin is a specialist in new and experimental music who has worked across a broad spectrum of musical and artistic forms to incorporate new media with percussion. He has recorded and performed internationally with composers and ensembles including Bang on a Can All-Stars, Steve Reich and Musicians, Philip Glass, Yo-Yo Ma, Meredith Monk, Tan Dun, Cecil Taylor, Talujon Percussion Quartet, and the trio Real Quiet. Numerous theater projects include collaborations with Blue Man Group, Mabou Mines, and director Peter Sellars.
Cossin was featured as the percussion soloist in Tan Dun's Grammy and Oscar-winning score to Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He joined Sting for the world tour Symphonicities and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, São Paulo State Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
His ventures into other art forms include sonic installations, which have been presented in New York, Italy, and Germany. He is an active composer and has also invented several new instruments that expand the limits of traditional percussion. David Cossin is the curator for the Sound Res Festival, an experimental music festival in southern Italy, and he also teaches percussion at Queens College in New York City.
https://www.msmnyc.edu/faculty/david-cossin/