Tri-Centric Fest 2014 at Roulette

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Anybody been so far? I will be coming up from Washington to see the Saturday Trillium "doubleheader". I've seen Anthony Braxton several times in different contexts, but never one of his operas. Looking forward to it!

[Leeway]

Just back from New York City the other day, after spending several days on an improv binge, starting with Anthony Braxton Falling River Nonet at Roulette, with Fay Victor Ensemble's presentation of "Neighborhood Dynamics."

Having made 3 late night runs up to Philly and back to DC in the last month, it might be understandable that I was suffering road fatigue. I had to shove myself out the door Saturday morning and start the usual 4 1/2 hour trip north. Except in this case, the trip took 6 1/2 hours due to traffic. Nevertheless, arrived in plenty of time for a bite to eat and drink before the concert. Note: If you are driving to NY, leave yourself plenty of room; traffic can be dreadful. I know the pot-holed streets are.

The first half of the program was Fay Victor Ensemble. "Neighborhood Dynamics" is an extended piece for singer (Fay) and musicians (Nicole Mitchell, flute, Vincent Chancey, French horn, Anders Nilsson, guitar, Ken Filiano, double bass), on the dynamics of "gentrification" in formerly minority neighborhoods. I have to admit it didn't sound promising (maybe too didactic possibly), but it turned out to be a sparkling bit of social commentary sung and played with spirit. The delivery was witty and satirical, funny but astute. I recall one series of lyrics (don't take my memory of it as the actual thing please) that ran along the lines of, "Here come the restaurants.....now even the dogs are cleaner....gee, it looks like Europe now.....get out! we don't like you!" (to the previous residents). The musicians were all fine. Filiano seemed to act as musical director of the group, pushing, prodding, drawing inflections and expressions from the different members. But I was most attracted by Nicole Mitchell's flute playing. I'd probably drive the same distance again to hear her play flute like that. I think the audience was a bit stunned when Mitchell and Victor jumped into a game of "patty-cake" and really went at it! Obviously, the group was in high spirits. I could see this morphing into a musical.

Braxton's Falling River Music Nonet was the drawing card. I got lucky, sitting in the first row, right below where Braxton took his position in the group.

Here was the line-up:

Anthony Braxton, saxophones
James Fei, saxophones
Ingrid Laubrock, saxophones
Jasmine Lovell-Smith, saxophones
Mary Halvorson, guitar
Brandon Seabrook, guitar
Tomeka Reid, cello
Nate Wooley, trumpet
Taylor Ho Bynum, cornet

In essence, a group of young virtuosi. Amazing to see them perform. The group was arranged in a horseshoe form, with matching instruments on each side of the horseshoe, and guitars and cello anchoring the horseshoe in the middle. The music was wonderful. Dynamic, complex, full of variety. I don't have the program booklet at hand, don't know if there is a composition number for the piece. I'll try to find it. Best thing though was watching Braxton, who was totally into it, playing and giving occasional directions to the group. Soon after he started, the famous cardigan came off. Braxton really attacked his instruments, a sopranino, soprano, and alto. Braxton got into some spirited back-and-forths with other members of the ensemble, one in particular with Ingrid Laubrock, whom I noticed smiling and laughing a bit after one particular exchange. I had a chance to ask her a couple of days later about it, and she said it was just because the communication and spirit of the playing was so good. That's the way I felt about it too.

A bit of a bonus. They were selling prints of some of Braxton's musical notation scores (the kind that look like expressionist paintings). I bought one and Mr. Braxton was kind enough to sign it for me. A very gracious man. He mentioned he is done with Wesleyan, and is moving closer to the New Haven line (to NYC), so I expect we will see more of Mr. Braxton on the Downtown scene, which will be terrific. Imagine Braxton performing new quartet pieces, sole performances, etc. I will happily log more hours on the NJ Turnpike for that!

[relyles]

He mentioned he is done with Wesleyan, and is moving closer to the New Haven line (to NYC), so I expect we will see more of Mr. Braxton on the Downtown scene, which will be terrific. Imagine Braxton performing new quartet pieces, sole performances, etc. I will happily log more hours on the NJ Turnpike for that!

We in CT will miss the free concerts at the end of the semester.

[CraigP]

Leeway, thanks for the report. I am so jealous!

[clifford_thornton]

Leeway nailed it. This has been great. Just got back from acts one and two of Trillium J - it was a kick.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Leeway nailed it. This has been great. Just got back from acts one and two of Trillium J - it was a kick.

Seeing the opera live was very special, I don't think they come off on record very well as you miss the theatrical elements. I would have liked to have a libretto with a glossary to read (I don't begrudge them not printing one as I am sure it would have been expensive to do--maybe supertitles could have worked?), as Braxton's terminology gets arcane (and as a fan I've tried to familiarize myself with his jargon) and from where I was sitting sometimes the orchestra drowned out the singers. I was pleasantly surprised at the humor in the opera too.

This was definitely an "occasion" as I recognized Tim Berne, Wadada Leo Smith, Andrew Cyrille, and Steve Lehman in the audience. I felt like I may have been the only person there who hadn't played with Braxton!

On Friday night I went to Ibeam and saw Travis LaPlante (a new name to me) playing with Mary Halvorson, Trevor Dunn, and Ches Smith. It was pretty good, to be honest a little too samey with the almost uniformaly muted dynamics. But I just love the sound of Halvorson's guitar .

Edited April 22, 2014 by Hoppy T. Frog

[Hoppy T. Frog]

Leeway nailed it. This has been great. Just got back from acts one and two of Trillium J - it was a kick.

Seeing the opera live was very special, I don't think they come off on record very well as you miss the theatrical elements. I would have liked to have a libretto with a glossary to read (I don't begrudge them not printing one as I am sure it would have been expensive to do--maybe supertitles could have worked?), as Braxton's terminology gets arcane (and as a fan I've tried to familiarize myself with his jargon) and from where I was sitting sometimes the orchestra drowned out the singers. I was pleasantly surprised at the humor in the opera too.

This was definitely an "occasion" as I recognized Tim Berne, Wadada Leo Smith, Andrew Cyrille, and Steve Lehman in the audience. I felt like I may have been the only person there who hadn't played with Braxton!

On Friday night I went to Ibeam and saw Travis LaPlante (a new name to me) playing with Mary Halvorson, Trevor Dunn, and Ches Smith. It was pretty good, to be honest a little too samey with the almost uniformaly muted dynamics. But I just love the sound of Halvorson's guitar .

Oh man, how could I have forgotten to mention the Double Dutch Team in Act IV????????????? Totally unexpected.