Calendar
Guillermo Gregorio in St. Louis
Where: Upstairs at O'Connell's Pub 4652 Shaw Ave, St. Louis, MO
When: 2022-09-24, 8pm
Performers: Both trios will play graphic scores by Gregorio & Free Improvisations.
Set one:
String trio:
Aelx Cunningham - violin
James Annett (Canada) - viola
Josh Weinstein - double bass
Set two:
Guillermo Gregorio (NYC/Argentina) - Bb clarinet, A clarinet
Damon Smith - double bass
Jerome Bryerton (Chicago) - percussion, selected cymbals, misc. drums
Guillermo Gregorio was born in Argentina in the early 1940's, the peripatetic Gregorio also lived in Los Angeles (where he studied with saxophonist Warne Marsh) and Vienna, before eventually settling in Chicago. After moving to Vienna from California in the late 1980's, Gregorio met and began
collaborating with the free jazz flügelhornist Franz Koglmann. The Swiss hatART label discovered Gregorio through his association with Koglmann. The company released his first album, Approximately, in 1996; two subsequent efforts -- Ellipsis and Background Music -- were later released on the label's hatOLOGY offshoot.
Growing up in Buenos Aires, Gregorio's first jazz influences were early jazz clarinetists Pee Wee Russell and Jimmy Noone. He eventually became interested in the music of pianist Lennie Tristano and his circle; their cool aesthetic would have a decisive impact on his mature concept (Ornette Coleman's innovations also had their effect). Gregorio studied modern classical music, as well as art and
architecture. He's worked in the latter two fields and teaches Art Appreciation at Purdue University. In the '60s, Gregorio played experimental music in and around Buenos Aires; some of his work from
that time is documented on the Atavistic release Otra Musica: Tape Music, Fluxus & Free Improvisation in Buenos Aires 1963-70.
Jerome Bryerton has been working as a free improvising percussionist for the past eight years. In this time, he has worked with some of the most respected players in the world. In October he was once again acquainted with Berlin multi-reedist Wolfgang Fuchs and San Francisco bassist Damon Smith; presenting two concerts as well as recording on CD (balance point acoustics). In September he worked with bass saxophonist Tony Bevan; with Bevan, he performed in San Francisco with local improvisers Scott Looney and Damon Smith. Last winter Jerome toured in Paris and Monacco with Chicago improvisers Carol Genetti and Andrea Polli. These performances were aligned with the multi-media festival I.S.E.A. as, well as the Monacco dance forum. Jerome´s style
strikes a resemblance close to the likes of European percussionists Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, and Le Quan Ninh. Intent on using multi-ethnic percussion as well as western percussion - simultaneously
furnishing them with an odd assortment of orchestral metal and Chinese cymbals/gongs. Jerome believes that it is necessary to keep intact many of the European aesthetics revolutionized in the sixties and seventies; but which is also crucial is the synthesis of wit and
experience of a modern American improviser. As a side note, Jerome has
also worked with the following people: trumpeter Axel Dörner, reed player John Butcher, guitarist Henry Kaiser, reedist Peter van Bergen, reedist Jack Wright, cellist Fred Lonbergholm, trombonist Jeb Bishop, and also bassist Kent Kessler.
Damon Smith studied double bass with Lisle Ellis and has had lessons with Bertram Turezky, Joëlle Leandré, John Lindberg, Mark Dresser and others. Damon’s explorations into the sonic palette of the double bass have resulted in a personal, flexible improvisational language based in the American jazz avant-garde movement and European non-idiomatic free improvisation. Visual art, film and dance heavily influence his
music, as evidenced by his CAMH performance of Ben Patterson’s
Variations for Double Bass, collaborations with director Werner Herzog on soundtracks for Grizzly Man and Encounters at the End of the World,
and an early performance with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
Damon has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including, Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen (of Sun Ra’s Arkestra), Henry Kaiser, Keith Rowe, Jaap Blonk, Roscoe Mitchell, Michael Pisaro, Wadada Leo Smith, Weasel Walter, Marco Eneidi, Wolfgang Fuchs, Peter Brötzmann
and Peter Kowald. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and six great years in Houston, Texas working regularly with Alvin Fielder, Sandy Ewen, Thomas Helton, David Dove & Chris Cogburn. Damon moved to the Boston area in the fall of 2016 and began working with
Jeb Bishop, Pandelis Karayorgis, Joe McPhee and Ra-Kalam Bob Moses and
many others. Damon has run Balance Point Acoustics record label since 2001, releasing music focusing on transatlantic collaborations between US and European musicians
Luke Stewart / Damon Smith (solo and collaborative sets)
Where: Online, New Music Circle St. Louis
When: 2021-10-04, 8:15 CST
Performers: Luke Stewart, Damon Smith - double basses
https://newmusiccircle.org/2021/08/03/luke-stewart-damon-smith-(solo-and-collaborative-sets/
Concert Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnkx3o1aqWo
https://balancepointacoustics.bandcamp.com/album/bpa3cd1-bass-duos-2000-2007
Sound work for Joseph Beuys
Where: Online : Goethe Pop Up Houston
When: 2021-10-22, 6:30PM CDT
Performers: Damon Smith - basses
David Dove - trombone
Program:
Variations for Double Bass 1961
Ben Patterson
Ausfengen 2006
Damon Smith
Facebook Event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/992678431578500
Concert Link:
https://youtu.be/-NLN7OfRxpM
https://balancepointacoustics.bandcamp.com/album/variations-for-double-bass-1961-benjamin-patterson
https://balancepointacoustics.bandcamp.com/album/bpa-012-ausfegen
(Archival) Plane Crash + Ra-Kalam Bob Moses & Vinny Golia
Where: The Lillypad, Inman Sq, Cambridge, MA
When: 2018-04-14, 8pm
Performers: : Ra-Kalam Bob Moses - drums
Vinny Golia - Woodwinds
Plane Crash is:
Henry Kaiser - guitar
Damon Smith - double bass
Weasel Walter - drums
CD from this project here:
https://balancepointacoustics.bandcamp.com/album/bpa-18-astral-plane-crash
$15
A rare appearance by the long-running Plane Crash trio, featuring Henry
Kaiser (guitar), Damon Smith (bass) and Weasel Walter (drums), featuring
special guests Vinny Golia (reeds) and Ra Kalam Bob Moses (drums). Kaiser
was amongst the first wave of 1970's US free improvisers and his diverse,
endless discography is legendary. Formed in the Bay Area, the core trio
is a long-running unit, having worked together extensively in numerous
contexts and releasing "Plane Crash" (ugEXPLODE, 2009) and "Plane Crash
Two" (New Atlantis, 2015). Smith and Walter are now located in various
spots on the East Coast, making the trio collaborations a special event.
The Kaiser/Smith/Walter axis generally summons up wild, volcanic,
telepathic, loud free improvisation which takes no prisoners. The
complexity and intensity levels will undoubtedly be raised to
unprecedented new heights with the first time addition of both Los
Angeles-based workhorse mult-reedist Vinny Golia and mythic journeyman
drummer Ra Kalam Bob Moses.
(Archival) No Idea Festival 2018
Where: Austin, TX
When: 2018-02-22,
Performers: Thursday 2/22 set 3:
Birgit Ulher - trumpet, radio
Mij Yelend - flute, saxophone
Thomas Lehn - synthisizer
Damon Smith - double bass
Chris Cogburn - percussion & electronics
Friday 2/23 set 4
Akira Sakata - alto saxophone
Damon Smith - double bass
Stefan Gonzalez - drums
Feb, 22- 25
http://noideafestival.com/2018
Thomas Lehn analog synthesizer → vienna
Marcus Schmickler electronics → cologne
Judith Hamann cello → melbourne
Damon Smith double bass → Quincy
Bonnie Jones electronics → baltimore
Bhob Rainey soprano saxophone, computer → philadelphia
Juan García double bass → mexico city
Juanjosé Rivas electronics → mexico city
Birgit Ulher trumpet, radio, objects → hamburg
Sean O'Neill electronics, light → austin
Chris Cogburn percussion, electronics → austin / mexico city
Liz Tonne voice → dallas
- - percussion, electronics, text → vancouver
(Archival) Joe McPhee/Jeb Bishop duo with Graham, Nicodemou, Smith
Where: First Parish Cambridge Unitarian Universalist 3 Church St, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
When: 2017-11-02, 8pm
Performers: Joe McPhee - brass & reeds
Jeb Bishop - trombone
with
Forbes Graham - trumpet
Andria Nicodemou - vibraphone
Damon Smith - double bass
https://joemcphee.bandcamp.com/album/the-brass-city
Non-Event presents
in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the recording of Joe McPhee and Jeb Bishop's classic The Brass City CD
(released on Okka Disk, 1999)
JOE MCPHEE + JEB BISHOP (duo)
FORBES GRAHAM, ANDRIA NICODEMOU, DAMON SMITH
playing duo and quintet sets
FIRST PARISH IN CAMBRIDGE (Helverson Chapel)
3 Church Street, Harvard Square
8pm | $15 gen / $10 students & Non-Event members
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
"...His magical take on avant-garde sax remains one of the wonders of the scene. He still has one of the most beautiful tones on the planet, even when he’s reaching for jazz’s outer limits."
JOE MCPHEE is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, conceptualist and theoretician.
He began playing the trumpet at age eight, taught by his father, himself a trumpet player. He continued on that instrument through his formative school years and later in a U.S. Army band stationed in Germany, at which time he was introduced to performing traditional jazz. In 1968, inspired by the music of Albert Ayler, he took up the saxophone and began an active involvement in both acoustic and electronic music.
His first recordings as leader appeared on the CJ Records label, founded in 1969 by painter Craig Johnson. These include Underground Railroad by the Joe McPhee Quartet (1969), Nation Time (1970), Trinity (1971) and Pieces of Light (1974). In 1975, Swiss entrepreneur Werner X. Uehlinger release Black Magic Man by McPhee, on what was to become Hat Hut Records
In 1981, he met composer, accordionist, performer, and educator Pauline Oliveros, whose theories of “deep listening” strengthened his interests in extended instrumental and electronic techniques. he also discovered Edward de Bono’s book Lateral Thinking: A Textbook of Creativity, which presents concepts for solving problems by “disrupting an apparent sequence and arriving at the solution from another angle.” de Bono’s theories inspired McPhee to apply this “sideways thinking” to his own work in creative improvisation, resulting in the concept of “Po Music.” McPhee describes “Po Music” as a “process of provocation” (Po is a language indicator to show that provocation is being used) to “move from one fixed set of ideas in an attempt to discover new ones.” He concludes, “It is a Positive, Possible, Poetic Hypothesis.” The results of this application of Po principles to creative improvisation can be heard on several Hat Art recordings, including Topology, Linear B, and Oleo & a Future Retrospective.
In 1997, McPhee discovered two like-minded improvisers in bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen. The trio premiered at the Vision Jazz Festival in 1998 but the concert went unnoticed by the press. McPhee, Duval, and Rosen therefore decided that an apt title for the group would be Trio X. In 2004 he created Survival Unit III with Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang to expand his musical horizons and with a career spanning nearly 50 years and over 100 recordings, he continues to tour internationally, forge new connections while reaching for music’s outer limits.
Trombonist JEB BISHOP has been active in improvised music and jazz since the early 1990s. Based in Chicago until 2012, he first gained attention as a member of groups including Flying Luttenbachers, Vandermark Five, and Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet. In addition to his own trio, he has led or co-led groups including The Engines, Lucky 7s, and Long Sidewalks, and has pursued free improvisation with dozens of collaborators from around the world, including Joe McPhee, Jaap Blonk, Han Bennink, Hamid Drake, and many others.
Bishop has been part of thousands of performances throughout North America and Europe, ranging from basement shows to major festivals, and has been recognized repeatedly in Downbeat Magazine's Critics' Polls and in the online El Intruso poll.
At the end of 2015, Bishop relocated to Boston, where he continues his ongoing working relationships with Boston-area musicians including Jorrit Dijkstra, Nate McBride, and Pandelis Karayorgis. New projects in Boston include the cooperative quintet Stereoscope and a brass trio with Forbes Graham (trumpet) and Joshua Reibstein (tuba).
FORBES GRAHAM is a trumpet player, electronic musician, composer, and visual artist living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked with a diverse array of musicians and currently is a member of Para Quintet, Rock Flint Contemporary Ensemble, Wild May, Grizzler, Construction Party, and Equal Time. He is the founder of the Rock Flint Artists Retreat, and has appeared at numerous festivals including High Zero, Full Force, and Vision.
ANDRIA NICODEMOU is a multifaceted musician from Cyprus, specializing in vibraphone and improvisation. She is a graduate from Corfu University in Classical Percussion and has received a Master's Degree from the New England Conservatory, in Contemporary Improvisation.
She has been working in diverse interdisciplinary art projects, with multi-media artists, dancers and actors in Europe and USA. She has worked with musicians such as Joe Morris, Anthony Coleman, Marty Ehrlich, Ikue Morri, Tayler Ho Bynum, Tatsuya Nakatani, Ab Baars, Anne La Berge, Gianni Lenoci, Jim Hobbs, Marc Sanders, among others. She was a guest performer at the London Improvisers Orchestra (2015) and the Royal Improvisers Orchestra in Amsterdam (2014).
(Archival) Gentle Traces of Transient Being - Performed by Ordinary Affects
Where: RISD Museum Providence, RI
When: 2017-07-23, 11am-5pm
Performers: Ordinary Affects:
Morgan Evans-Weiler, violin
Laura Cetilia, cello
James Falzone, vibes
Luke Martin, objects and electronics
Mark Cetilia, electronics
Luke Modolf, lap steel guitar
Steph Clarke, clarinet
Luke Damrosch, percussion
Damon Smith, bass
Ordinary Affects will perform Antoine Beuger's 'Gentle Traces of Transient Being' in its entirety. This 50 page score was written for the group in 2016 and the expected duration is to be about 5 hours. This will be the first full performance of the work.
Please come and sit with us!
