7ate9 on Hiatus for June and July

7ate9 is taking a short break.  Have a great summer!

May 19th, 8pm, Seven Ate Nine #4! Courtney Brown, D&spair Club, RPM Orchestra, Argentine Tango Milonga

RPM Orchestra

RPM Orchestra is a Phoenix-based Proto-Industrial Americana act, best known locally for its ongoing silent movie/live film score series (incl. Tod Browning's The Unknown, D.W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms) screened/scored live at downtown's FilmBar theater. The orchestra's music also enjoys airplay on freeform radio stations, including Radio Panik (105.4FM, Brussels) and WFMU (91.1FM, NJ).
https://www.facebook.com/rpmorchestra
http://soundcloud.com/rpm-orchestra

The D&SPAIR Club

The D&SPAIR Club (dance & sonic performance art improvisation research) is an experimental movement and sound improvisation collage comprised of four interdisciplinary artists working in movement, sound art, and technology. The members bring individual interests into a space, push them around, and see what collides, what sticks, and what remains. TDC offers workshops and tours the west coast and southwest.Julie Cruse directs movement, with untrained and trained 'dancers'. This ensemble is a platform to troubleshoot the body in dimensions of sound, space, gravity, emotion, and body-y-body.Courtney Brown directs sound. She is a composer/performer interested in exploring the intersection between movement and music, the consequences of being an embodied performer with limitations, with a background in classical and avant-garde music as well as Argentine Tango. Brent Brimhall dances, bringing a movement vocabulary based in martial arts, yoga, and Argentine Tango. Julie Akerly is a dancer and innovative choreographer with experience in a multitude of dance disciplines and history.

http://sites.google.com/site/thedspairclub/

http://www.facebook.com/7ate9performance

Courtney Brown

Courtney Brown is a composer, performer, tango dancer, and software developer. She has long harbored aspirations of becoming an Edward Gorey heroine, but her attempts have thus far been foiled. In lieu of her unlikely but tragic demise, she makes strange dark music and fiddles with electronics. Her most current work is the recreation of the sounding apparatus of the hadrosaur Corythosaurus, which is hypothesized to use its hollow crest as a resonating chamber for its calls. Her work ranges from the composition of instrumental music to the creation of musical robots and novel interfaces. She has been featured in many festivals / conferences in the U.S. including the Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar, SEAMUS, NYCEAMF, Dartmouth Festival of the New Musics, Vox Novus' 60X60, and she has toured her solo cabaret, Every Night I Lose Control, throughout the east coast including The Tank in NYC, the Red Room in Baltimore, and more. She founded and curated the performance series Sidewalk Tzara in Boston in 2008-9. She also founded and performed accordion, voice, guitar, and live electronics with the experimental groups Electrocab and The Woo Brown Duo. She has collaborated with many dancers an choreographers, including Nu Dance Theater, Insurgio Stage Project, and her current ensemble, The D&spair Club. She was an associate artist at Atlantic Center for the Arts, as well as the software developer for the audio engine of DJ Scratch Academy's Mix, software for amateur DJs and beat-matching. She is a graduate of Dartmouth’s Electro-Acoustic Master’s Program and holds a B.S. in Music (concentration in soprano voice) and Computer Science from Loyola University New Orleans.  She is currently a doctoral candidate in Music composition with a concentration in Arts, Media, and Engineering at Arizona State University.

http://courtney-brown.net

Alternative Tango Milonga

Selections from modern tango orchestras (eg. Orquesta El Arranque) , non-traditional music (eg., Yann Tiersen), sprinkled with Golden Age Era favorites like (eg. Gardel & Pugliese), nuevo tango (Piazzolla) and electro-tango (Gotan Project).  Interactive video installation during part of the milonga.  Short lesson for beginners in the back after the performances.

April 21, 8pm, Seven Ate Nine #3: John Cage Turns 100!! Jeremy Muller, Suzie Berndt, LorkAs, D&spair Club, Argentine Tango Milonga

John Cage Turns 100!!

A Celebration of the life and works of Composer John Cage. An innovator in the use of chance operations, modern dance and art collaboration, electronic music, and a leader in the avant-garde. With works performed by Jeremy Muller, Suzie Berndt, D&spair Club, and the Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State.

Argentine Tango AfterParty starts after the show, around 9pm. A brief lesson in tango dance for beginners will be taught at the beginning of the milonga.

The D&SPAIR Club

The D&SPAIR Club (dance & sonic performance art improvisation research) is an experimental movement and sound improvisation collage comprised of four interdisciplinary artists working in movement, sound art, and technology. The members bring individual interests into a space, push them around, and see what collides, what sticks, and what remains. TDC offers workshops and tours the west coast and southwest. Julie Cruse directs movement, with untrained and trained 'dancers'. This ensemble is a platform to troubleshoot the body in dimensions of sound, space, gravity, emotion, and body-y-body.Courtney Brown directs sound. She is a composer/performer interested in exploring the intersection between movement and music, the consequences of being an embodied performer with limitations, with a background in classical and avant-garde music as well as Argentine Tango. Brent Brimhall dances, bringing a movement vocabulary based in martial arts, yoga, and Argentine Tango. Julie Akerly is a dancer and innovative choreographer with experience in a multitude of dance disciplines and history.

http://sites.google.com/site/thedspairclub/

http://www.facebook.com/7ate9performance

Jeremy Muller

Jeremy Muller is a contemporary percussionist often performing as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America. He is dedicated to exploring new aesthetics of music by collaborating with performers, composers, and experimental artists. Jeremy has worked with the world-renowned Percussion Group Cincinnati, Phoenix’s premier contemporary music ensemble Crossing 32nd Street, the New Paradigm Percussion Quartet, and composers like Stuart Saunders Smith and Alexandre Lunsqui. An ongoing project of Jeremy’s is the continual development and experimentation of the music of virtuosic maraca traditions as well as the Brazilian caxixí, and other subtle means of texture and sound. As a composer and arranger, he has written many chamber works and arrangements for solo and large ensembles.

Jeremy is currently a Doctoral candidate at Arizona State University in percussion performance. Prior to ASU, he earned his MM from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and BM from Appalachian State, both in percussion performance while studying under Allen Otte, Jim Culley, and Rob Falvo.

http://jeremymuller.com/

Suzie Berndt

Suzie Berndt is a percussionist, educator, and arts coordinator in the East Valley. Throughout her career, she has studied and/or performed with the internationally-renowned percussion group So Percussion, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, and composer David Maslanka, among others. She is also an avid multiethnic percussionist, having studied West African drumming, Javanese Gamelan, and steel pan, the latter of which she plays frequently with the Phoenix-area group JT's Island Steel. Suzie has additionally taught percussion, general music, and marching band front ensembles throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Arizona. Suzie holds a BM in Music Education from James Madison University, and will receive the Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from ASU this May.

Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State (LOrkAS)

The Laptop Orchestra of Arizona State (LOrkAS) is an experimental sonic art performance collective, which integrates technology with sonic art, visual displays, and interactive expression. They are composed of graduate, undergraduate, and industry researchers from various academic backgrounds and disciplines. Director Diana Siwiak, a Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) alumna and ASU Media, Arts, and Sciences doctoral student, founded the troupe in Fall 2010. They aim to push the envelope by contemporizing the paradigm of art performance into a trans-disciplinary entity.

LOrkAS is produced by urbanSTEW

http://sites.google.com/site/lorkas2010/

http://www.facebook.com/lorkas

March 17, 8pm, Seven Ate Nine #2: Diana Siwiak, D&spair Club, Argentine Tango Milonga

Jordan Drum, wine and electronics

Jordan Drum is a percussion performer, arranger, educator and adjudicator living in Tempe, Arizona. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Texas Tech University and is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Percussion Performance from Arizona State University Herberger Institute of the Arts.

As a percussionist, Jordan has performed with several classical, contemporary and world groups, including the Phoenix Symphony, the Scottsdale Arts Orchestra, the Lubbock Symphony, the Midland Odessa Symphony, the MOtU Percussion Quartet, Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Crossing 32nd Street Percussion Group, and the Millea/Drum Duo, which was awarded 1st Place at the Southern California International Marimba Competition in the Collegiate Duo Category. Most recently, Jordan presented a masterclass and the world premiere of Francesco Pavan's “Isle. 1” at the Conservatorio di Musica “Antonio Buzzolla” in Adria, Italy, and was selected to perform with the historic 50 Marimba Ensemble for the 50th anniversary of the Percussive Arts Society in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Jordan has performed at the Minnesota Percussion Society's Spring Day of Percussion (2012), the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (2006, 2008, 2011), the International Society of Music Educators Conference in Bologna, Italy (2007), and the Texas Music Educators Association Conference (2005). In 2010, he made his Carnegie Hall debut as solo percussionist with the Texas Tech University Choir, and in 2007 marched with the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He performs regularly as a freelance percussionist in the Phoenix metropolitan area with various groups including the Bad Cactus Brass Band and JT’s Island Steel Orchestra.

Jordan’s principal teachers include Lisa Rogers, Alan Shinn, J.B. Smith, Mark Sunkett, Elizabeth DeLamater, Dom Moio and Simone Mancuso.

http://www.jordandrum.com/live/

The D&spair Club (& guests), dance & sonic performance improvisation research

The D&SPAIR Club (dance & sonic performance art improvisation research) was formed by 3 artists in 2012 who work together in various capacities. Often they work in cafés, and wind up brainstorming ideas for art. After working together for a concert, they decided they'd work together again, and again... thus was born The D&SPAIR Club. The D&SPAIR Club is an experimental movement and sound improvisation collage. The members bring individual interests into a space, push them around, and see what collides, what sticks, and what remains. TDC offers workshops and tours the west coast and southwest.

Julie Cruse directs movement, with untrained and trained 'dancers'. We use this club as a platform to troubleshoot the body in dimensions of sound, space, gravity, emotion, and body-y-body. We perform once a month with Seven Ate Nine. Kind of like Survival Research Labs, we don't exactly know what we're doing, but we'll risk a little safety to show our research, if you'll watch.

Courtney Brown directs sound. She is interested in exploring the intersection between movement and music/sound, the consequences of being an embodied performer with limitations, and the danger of performance.

Brent Brimhall dances, bringing a movement vocabulary based in martial arts and yoga.

February 18, 8pm, Seven Ate Nine #1: Rules of Play, Spencer Goad, Improvisation #1, Argentine Tango

Rules of Play, voice and percussion

Rules of Play is Robert Esler and Lisa Tolentino - an experimental music duo featuring voice, percussion, and esteemed friends. Esler and Tolentino studied contemporary percussion performance at University of California, San Diego, with renowned percussionist Steve Schick. They have performed nationally, internationally, and most recently in critically acclaimed performances at Make Music New York. They will be performing Nico's "Frozen Warnings".

Links:

http://leafbit.com/rulesofplay/
http://urbanstew.org/people/

Blake McConnell, performance artist

In I Am Not Service, Blake McConnell reflects upon his former life as a server and bartender. A tightrope walk along the porous border between the performance of authentic self and the structural rules governing the behavior of the service sector worker, this work questions the meanings of service in our post industrial society. From behind his portable bar, Blake will have you asking yourself: "how can I be of service?" Read more here.

Blake McConnell is an artist and musician in the second year of his Masters in Fine Arts, Digital Technology at ASU. He uses his grab bag of skills to perform, record, and design installations. Most find he's at his best when he's up to no good. Find out more at blakemcconnell.net

Spencer Goad, mbira

Spencer Goad is a freelance percussionist and music educator in the greater Phoenix area. He was born in Los Angeles, California where he studied percussion with orchestral and TV/film studio musicians as well as mbira, Zimbabwean thumb piano, with Dr. Ric Alviso. Spencer has been playing mbira, the sacred thumb piano of the Shona people, on and off for the past three years and has also studied Ghanian djembe and dun-dun drumming with John Magnussen, A. O. “Bongo” Sidibe, and master drummer Mamady Keïta.

Spencer received his Bachelors of Music in Percussion Performance at California State University Northridge and his Masters of Music in Percussion Performance at Arizona State University. Spencer was raised with the Los Angeles studio musician mentality of being a "jack of trades," so you can find him in musical theater pits, Brazilian samba bands, Salsa bands, church praise bands, and jazz combos all over the Phoenix area. Music education has always been a big part of Spencer's life and he currently teaches percussion ensembles at St. John Bosco Interparish K-8, Shepherd Junior High as well music classes at South Mountain Community College; he also runs his own private teaching studio in Tempe.

Photo by Steve Lee.

Improvisation #1, Sound and Movement Ensemble

Sound and Movement Ensemble organized by Courtney Brown and Julie Cruse. Guided improvisation in response to written prompts.

Links:
http://www.courtney-brown.net
http://juliecruse.com/

Poster for February 18th!!

Call for submissions for new performance series in Phoenix

Experiential / avant-garde / contemporary performance series with the first performance tentatively scheduled Feb. 18 at the Modified Arts Gallery in Phoenix, AZ. This will be a monthly event, happening the 3rd Sat. of each month.

I'm booking 2-4 acts each performance, with each act lasting around 20-40min, possibly with some kind of theme for each complete show. I'm interested in any type of performance (music, performance art, puppets, dance, spoken word poetry, etc.), with the caveat that it be experimental / avant-garde and/or contemporary classical (in the case of music). I am also interested in featuring a type of guided improvisatory performance for each performance that would require only maybe one rehearsal or so before each show. (eg. instant composition/choreography via written prompts, game pieces like Zorn's Cobra, etc.). The venue does not include a piano, etc. or any amplification, so acts will have to bring their own.

The show will include a $5-7 cover which should help defray the costs of space rental and production/promotion. Remaining proceeds will be divided among the performers / artists.

I am very open to additional ideas and input! If you are interested in being a part of this in any way -- if you would like to help organize, plan, book or perform (whether a complete act or being part of an improvisatory ensemble) please contact me at redsonola [at] gmail [dot] com in the next week or so and let me know your availability.

Please circulate to any other individuals or groups that you feel would be interested in participating!