Jason Kao Hwang | 2012 Calendar

2012 Calendar

Sunday April 21, 2013

8:00PM

Tri-Centric Orchestra

ROULETTE

website: roulette.org
509 Atlantic Avenue
USA

Event Notes:

More info at Roulette

The Tri-Centric Orchestra, the resident ensemble of Anthony Braxton's Tri-Centric Foundation, will premiere three compositions for a 16-piece ensemble by composers Nicole Mitchell, Jason Kao Hwang, and Kamala Sankaram. The concert initiates TCF’s commissioning series, designed to offer the next generation of creative artists the opportunity to create ambitious new musical works, following Braxton’s tradition of innovative and uncompromising musical exploration.

Titles of works to be presented:

Shifting Shorelines (Hwang) When Life’s Door Opens: The Crossroads (Mitchell) Dark Flow (Sankaram)

Reeds: Mike McGinnis (alto, tenor saxophones, all clarinets) Matt Bauder (tenor sax, Bb and bass clarinets) Josh Sinton (bari sax, bass and contrabass clarinets) Nicole Mitchell (flutes)

Brass: Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet, flugelhorn)?Vincent Chancey (french horn) Joseph Daley (tuba, euphonioum

Strings: Jason Kao Hwang (violin) Amy Cimini (viola) Marika Hughes (cello) Ken Filiano (bass)

Rhythm: Bryan Carrott (vibes) Amy Crawford (piano) Rohin Khemani (tabla, percussion) Tomas Fujiwara (drumset)

Special Guests on "When Life's Door Opens: The Crossroads" (Mitchell): Fay Victor (voice) Carl Hancock Rux (voice) and the recorded voice of Kiran Ahluwalia

The Tri-Centric Orchestra was founded by Anthony Braxton for the recording of the opera Trillium E in the spring of 2010. The project brought together an extraordinary community of creative artists: a family of artists 60-musicians strong, equally comfortable improvising and interpreting the most rigorous notation, wholly committed to pursuing a new American music. The group has grown into a permanent entity, dedicated to performing the large ensemble works of Braxton and similarly forward-thinking composers, as well as developing the composers and conceptualists within its own ranks.

Shifting Shorelines engages primal forces at peace within dreams, but at war in the temporal world. This inversion causes shorelines to shift as layers of sand and water grasp and release, without possession or purpose, to reveal remnant streams of memory. After the past and before the future, Shifting Shorelines, through tectonic rites of passage, embraces immense elemental vibrations within a renewed consciousness.

The score employs both notation and improvisation, which is, at times, conducted through a lexicon of hand gestures indicating dynamics, colors and phrases. Each modality generates not only the outward manifestation of music, as in rhythm, melody and harmony, etc., but also inwardly, the gradations of emotional impetus and direction. The orchestration of energy and essence, pre-determination and spontaneity, as well as traditional instrumental timbre, comprise the sonic spectrum of Shifting Shorelines. Within this sound, the individual improviser, in their own unique language, creates and moves the music forward. The dynamic interactions between the individual, orchestral collective, conducted improvisations and the overarching composition, forges the meta-language and nature of this music.

- Jason Kao Hwang, 4/2/13

Monday April 15, 2013

7:30PM

Friends of Borah Bergman

Saint Peters Church

Event Notes:
A memorial for Borah Bergman will be on Monday, April 15th, starting at 7:30pm, at Saint Peter's Church, located at 619 Lexington Avenue (corner of East 54th St.). We will celebrate his life and outstanding, original contributions to the art of piano improvisation. For more information, contact: Jason Kao Hwang, jkhwang@me.com. The Saint Peter's Church phone is 212 935 2200.

Performers:

John Blum – piano, Louis Belogenis – tenor sax, Tom Buckner - voice, Andrew Cyrille – drums, Joe Chonto Trio , Katie Bull - voice, Ken Filiano – string bass, Chris Forbes – piano, Lou Grassi - drums, David Gross/Jack Callahan Duo - alto sax/drums, Stephen Haynes – trumpet, Jason Kao Hwang - violin, Sue Kranz - voice, Oliver Lake – alto sax, Matt Maineri - viola, Denman Maroney – piano, Dafna Naphtali – voice, Steve Swell - trombone, Michael Wimberly - drums

Speakers:

Tom Buckner, Peter Brotzman, Katie Bull, Joe Chonto, Paul Geluso, Michael Heffley, Michael Hittman, Erma Kranz, Hank O’Neil, John Szwed

If you have anything (pictures, letters or writings) from Borah that you would like to share/give to the family for a memory book, please bring them to the Memorial to give to Erma or Sue Kranz.

Borah Bergman, brother, uncle, friend, brilliant avant-garde jazz pianist and mentor to many younger musicians, was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 13th, 1926 and died peacefully in Boston, on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at age 85.

He had a dream that to be an extraordinary pianist you had to do something that no one else could do. As he said, “I knew there was no point in sounding almost as good as Bud Powell.” After years of relentless practice and single-minded intensity, he was able to teach his left hand to play everything his right hand could. This resulted in an extraordinary ambidextrous technique that Borah often humorously referred to as friendly “hand-to-hand combat.” He also developed a crossed hands technique, which gave him an innovative and nuanced approach to improvisation. In the end, he was able to achieve his goal. He made more than two dozen solo and ensemble recordings, receiving critical acclaim in Europe, Asia and here at home. He has collaborated with Andrew Cyrille, Evan Parker, Roscoe Mitchell, Thomas Buckner, Oliver Lake, Hamid Drake, Peter Brotzman, Thomas Borgmann and many others. He can be heard on numerous labels, including Mutable Music, Soul Note, Tzadik, Knitting Factory, Chiaroscuro and Muworks labels. A partial discography is below.

To know Borah was to be challenged, provoked, entertained, awed and ultimately inspired. He will be missed by his family, friends and loyal admirers around the world.