November installment: A triple header of acts intent on re-imagining the possibilities of their respective instruments…
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15th
DOORS 7:30pm / SHOW at 8:00pm
9:45pm – SANDY EWEN, DAMON SMITH, WEASEL WALTER
8:50pm – JOHN McCOWEN
8:00pm – WARREN NG
Outpost Artists Resources
1665 Norman st. Ridgewood, NY (Queens)
$10 advanced tickets / $10-15 suggested donation at door.
All proceeds go to performers.
tickets: HERE
facebook event: HERE
From Fire Over Heaven series organizer Che Chen:
Sandy Ewen has quickly become one of the most exciting improvisers in the city in recent years. Her guitar preparations hinge upon unlikely detritus like giant hunks of cast iron, street sweeper tines, fistfuls of scotch-brite, unidentifiable handheld LED lights and clouds of sidewalk chalk dust, objects that take on a talismanic intensity during performances that are simultaneously visceral and completely abstract. She’s joined here by two players equally hell-bent on putting their instruments through the ringer, upright bassist Damon Smith and drummer Weasel Walter. Together, they joyfully (and noisily) deconstruct, ex and dis-tend the notion of the guitar/bass/drums trio beyond any sense of recognition…John McCowen is a recent transplant to the city, a clarinetist who plays both the Bb and contrabass varieties of the instrument. McCowen’s dogged pursuit of the sonic properties and possibilities of each instrument make a lot of sense when you learn that he was mentored by none other than Roscoe Mitchell, but his sound seems like it could be equally indebted to Helmholtz’s “Sensations of Tone”. His own characterization of the clarinet as an “acoustic” synthesizer is particularly apt, and in his hands the instrument is revealed to be an acoustical pressure system, replete with a kind of feedback and weather all it’s own…I had spotted Warren Ng at many a Fire Over Heaven before it dawned on me that he’d be perfect for the series. His unassuming and sure handed guitar work under the Somnabulists and This Invitation (w/ C. Farnum) monikers occupies a sweet spot somewhere in between say, Sonic Youth under the influence of Glen Branca’s harmonic guitar and the understated slow rock anthems of Low… – C.C.
Sandy Ewen is a rising talent hailing from Houston, Texas best known for her work with the active rock band Weird Weeds. Her vision expands upon the likeminded approaches of heralded deconstructionists like Kevin Drumm and Keith Rowe while never imitating. Her setup is simple: a guitar, stereo amplification, distortion and various preparations. She prefers to extend the vocabulary of the instrument with raw ingenuity, eschewing the overly complicated electronic enhancements of many of her contemporaries. This release is a very clear statement of her intent. She is backed by the prolific improvisers Damon Smith and Weasel Walter. The duo has worked regularly as a rhythm section in varied contexts since 2006 and the music here is an excellent example of their urgent, brisk interplay. Smith is a master of the extended bass lexicon, following in the footsteps of the great Peter Kowald, forging ahead towards the beyond. Walter’s percussion is ceaselessly restless, defying logic and breaking speed records with glee.
http://balancepointacoustics.com/projects/view/ewen-smith-walter?fbclid=IwAR0jYnFdig8RDUDXT5eV408FO7e44gCyhP5K01gFZlZh77n-60y0cx1Do9w
sandyewen.bandcamp.com
John McCowen is a New York based composer and performer whose work focuses on the extended possibilities of the clarinet/contrabass clarinet. Within solo work, John embraces long-form drones, difference tones, and beating harmonics as a means to extrude the dimensionality within – treating the clarinet as an acoustic synthesizer. John was a founding member of the Chicago avant-rock group, Wei Zhongle, where he performed on amplified clarinet/electronics. His most recent albums have been released by International Anthem, Astral Spirits, and an upcoming release on Editions Wandelweiser on 11/30.
Warren Ng has performed and released numerous recordings solo and collaboratively under the names Somnambulists and This Invitation, all linked by an interest in minimalism, string drone, and the hidden internal hum of the electric guitar. He has also contributed recorded and performative scores for experimental cinema works in collaboration with various filmmakers throughout the years.
https://somnambulistsmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://thisinvitation.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/distinctmirrormusic
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