New Music/Jazz; high-energy, sometimes humorous, always quirky music that sizzles the airwaves.

12 MP3 Songs
AVANT GARDE: Structured Improvisation, JAZZ: Modern Creative Jazz



Details:
CERBERUS: CHAMBER MUSIC AT SHORT NOTICE

Cerberus is like no other chamber music experience. Every concert is unique as the players create the lionâs share of the program on the spot. The result is high-energy, sometimes humorous, always quirky music that sizzles the airwaves. In concerts, the audience â to its surprise â is often asked to take part in several pieces and invariably does so with glee and gusto. Cerberus is the worldâs largest, frequently adding versatile musicians for specific pieces or concerts. For instance, at a recent concert where Cerberus improvised an hour of music in a concert with The Architects (a troupe improvising dancers), the trio added improvisers Dani Reynolds (Tuvan throat singing, flutes, clarinet, percussion) and Laura Goddard (viola, piano, vocals). âSide Show Timâ is Cerberusâ first CD and is created with the help of versatile composer/performers Walter Thompson and Laura Weaver and poet David Hulm.

WHAT & HOW
The trio part of Cerberus boasts a combined total of over seventy years of national and international professional experience in a huge range of styles â classical, jazz, ethnic, chamber music, opera, musicals, and more. Two improvising classical players (horn and tuba) join forces with a jazz trumpeter (and three big bags of assorted percussion) to create off-the-wall never-before never-again concatenation of sounds that is by turns melodious, strident, dramatic, humorous, soulful, dancelike, dolorous, sparse, dense, cacophonous, sonorous, and mischievous. One of the many approaches the group uses is the live composing sign language Soundpainting, often employing the services of such master Soundpainters as Walter Thompson (inventor of Soundpainting), Evan Mazunik, and Laura Weaver.


A WORD ABOUT SOUNDPAINTING
Soundpainting is the universal multidisciplinary live composing sign language created by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, dancers, actors, poets, and visual artists working in the medium of structured improvisation. At present the language comprises over 1000 gestures. The gestures are signed by the Soundpainter indicating the type of improvisation desired of the performers. Direction of the live composition is gained through the parameters of each set of signed gestures.
For more information on Soundpainting see www.soundpainting.com



THE PLAYERS

JEFFREY AGRELL has taught horn at The University of Iowa School of Music since 2000 after a 25 year career with the Lucerne (Switzerland) Symphony. He has won awards as both a writer and composer. He is very interested in creativity in music and in improvisation for classical musicians, frequently giving concerts and workshops nationally and internationally. His most recent CD is "Mosaic" with Duende (horn, cello, piano) on MSR Classics. He has trained as a Soundpainting composer and is the author of Improvisation Games for Classical Musicians (GIA Publications).

JOHN MANNING teaches tuba at The University of Iowa and is a founding member of the world-renowned Atlantic Brass Quintet. He has served as principal tubist with the Albany Symphony (NY), the Vermont Symphony, and the Air Force Band of the Golden Gate. He has taught and performed worldwide, including at the White House and Carnegie Hall. Outside of classical music, his eclectic musical activities range from klezmer and world music to rock and jazz. He recently recorded his debut CD entitled âFour Corners: Tuba Music from around the Worldâ for Summit Records.

BRENT SANDY is adjunct professor in Jazz Studies Department of The University of Iowa and Grinnell College. He is a lead jazz trumpet and flugelhorn performer who is a member of the OddBar Trio, Orquesta Alto Maiz, and Chris Merzâs Equilateral. Sandy has performed and/or recorded with numerous jazz notables, including Paul Smoker, John Carlson, Steve Swallow, Carla Bley, Paul McKee, Bobby Shew, Steve Turre, and Dick Oatts. Brent is an educational specialist with United Musical Instruments and a Conn Vintage One Trumpet and Flugelhorn Artist. Mr. Sandy is also a member of the executive board of the Iowa City Jazz Festival.

WALTER THOMPSON - Soundpainter, woodwinds, percussion, and educator. He is the creator of Soundpainting, the universal live composing sign language. He has composed Soundpaintings with contemporary orchestras in many cities around the world including Barcelona, Paris, Oslo, Berlin, Bergen, Copenhagen, New York, Los Angeles, and Reykjavik, and has taught Soundpainting at many major universities in the US and Europe. He is the recipient of many awards including the National Endowment on the Arts, Rockefeller Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and the Jerome Foundation.

POET DAVID HULM earned a MFA degree from the Iowa Writer's Workshop in 1988 and a MA degree in African American World Studies in 1991, both from The University of Iowa. As a graduate student and Visiting Assistant Professor/Instructor, he taught at Iowa from 1986-2002. Currently he teaches English full-time at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City. Hulm is a published freelance writer: prose, public relations, poetry, and nonfiction.

LAURA WEAVER has performed all types of music as a trombonist and is the founder and Soundpainter of Limn, a Soundpainting Ensemble based at the University of Iowa. She is currently completing her degree in Music Education at the University of Iowa.