Thomas Dimuzio, Aria Rostami + Daniel Blomquist, CTRL-Z and Bryan Von Reuter
Thomas Dimuzio &
Phillip Greenlief (live sampling and saxophone)
Promulgator of live sampling and real-time sound manipulation, San Francisco-based
Thomas Dimuzio transforms the techniques of the recording studio into a real-time digital musique concrete machine. Augmented by his flair for improvisation and an ardent musical approach, Dimuzio's sonic transformations recontextualize live sound sources from ambient microphones, shortwave radio, field recordings, MIDI-controlled-feedback, self-oscillating circuits, to live sampling of musicians, DJs and even entire bands. A veteran of live concerts, Dimuzio has performed solo in the USA, Canada, and Europe and with collaborators including Joseph Hammer, Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Illusion Of Safety, Nick Didkovsky, Matmos, Negativland, Wobbly, Due Process, David Lee Myers, Elliott Sharp, Voice of Eye, and many others. “His work has a narrative, filmic tug that will draw you into its dark corners, ears alert… brilliant and rarely less than entertaining.” —Peter Marsh, BBC
Since his emergence on the west coast in the late 1970s, Evander Music founder and saxophonist
Phillip Greenlief has achieved international critical acclaim for his recordings and performances with musicians and composers in the post-jazz continuum as well as new music innovators and virtuosic improvisers. He has performed and recorded with Fred Frith, Meredith Monk and They Might Be Giants; albums include THAT OVERT DESIRE OF OBJECT with Joelle Leandre, and ALL AT ONCE with FPR (Frank Gratkowski, Jon Raskin,
Phillip Greenlief). Recent residencies have included Headlands Center for the Arts and from 2012 to 2014 he was the curator at Berkeley Arts, a home for progressive music. He is the recipient of a San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award. "The Bay Area's do-it-yourself ethos has produced a bevy of dazzlingly creative musicians, but few have put the philosophy to work as effectively as
Phillip Greenlief." – Andrew Gilbert, San Francisco Chronicle (www.evandermusic.com)
Aria Rostami & Daniel Blomquist are from San Francisco, CA. Rostami and Blomquist's work occurs at two stages, the gathering/preparation of source material and the live performance.
Primarily, Rostami and Blomquist's source material focuses on, digital information and the exchange of that information, repetition and decay, and non-involvement or surrendering aspects of creative control. Some of the piano recordings were created by answering a simple questionnaire Rostami made that uses letters, colors, numbers, major verse minor, and picking between flat, natural and sharp to create a framework for a composition. After the framework is created, Rostami creates a song on the piano, records and sends it to Blomquist who in turn manipulates it. In some cases, Rostami recorded the material using the audio recording option for the app Viber. Rostami used Viber to communicate with a friend who was visiting Iran. Since he had asked her to fill out the survey through the app, he also recorded the material through the low quality recording interface. Sometimes this material is thrown back and forth and sometimes it's processed only once or barely touched. The recording is then turned into a loop and recorded to tape. This system was developed to surrender control and allow the origin of the composition to come from somewhere else much like field recordings or sampling does (two other ways Rostami and Blomquist gather source material.)
Time, entropy, and decay are central factors in Rostami and Blomquist's work. For live performances Blomquist works with samples gathered and manipulated digitally and then dubbed to analog tape, reconstituting the quality and predictability of the digital source material. By using loops, Blomquist can take a short audio clip and concentrate on processing it live and allow for improvised changes to that recording over long periods of time. Rostami adds in an extra layer of drones, fuzz, melodic ambience and crescendos with his synthesizer. Their compositions explore dynamic relations between digital and analog sound creating quiet transitions and soaring peaks.
Ctrl-Z is a new electronics trio made up of Ryan Page, Daniel Steffey, and Nick Wang. Using an array of synthesizers, computers, junk, and other performers, they play composed material written for, or adapted to, live electronics, and video; often bringing in other performers to participate in their realizations. They are currently accepting new works submitted by composers, as well as realizing classic works by pioneers of the genre.
Current repertoire includes these works:
--- Pauline Oliveros - Sound Piece (1998)
--- John Cage - Fontana Mix, Aria, and WBAI (1958/60)
Ryan Page - modular synthesizer (Fontana Mix)
Nick Wang - modular synthesizer (Fontana Mix)
Christina Stanley - voice (Aria)
Daniel Steffey - machines (WBAI)
Bryan Von Reuter
soundcloud.com/bryan-von-reuter
Visuals Provided by: Ryan Page
vimeo.com/83439829