An evening of fierce electronics

Tuesday, June 9
Admission: $10, $10 minimum
Showtime: 8pm
reservations are recommended

You'll search in vain for a wall to bash your head against, blood pummelling your temples into a dull ache, as huge rumbling bubbles host a gathering of a million squeaking mice against a backdrop of earthquake and thunder. Cybertermites munch their way through your floorboards over a Jackmanesque wave of harmonics and low-frequency interference, irregular convulsions perched nervously above Tammen's extra-terrestrial tampoura, and the music crumbles and splinters into a cauldron of earth loop and suffocated volume swells. Your padded cell has been invaded by a battery of radioactive rats, tiny irregular heartbeats amplified in sickening, Chernobyl-like oppression... (Massimo Ricci)

SET 1
Hans Tammen - endangered guitar
Matthew Ostrowski - digital electronics & controllers
Hisao Ihara - visuals

SET 2
Dafna Naphtali - electronics, voice
Darius Jones - tenorsax
Mike Pride - percussion
Jannene Higgins - visuals

Hans Tammen creates music that has been described as an alien world of bizarre textures and a journey through the land of unending sonic operations. He discovers hidden sound properties through means of his modified ENDANGERED GUITAR, interactive software programming, stereo and multichannel sound systems, and by working with the room itself. Signal To Noise called his works "...a killer tour de force of post-everything guitar damage", All Music Guide recommended him: "...clearly one of the best experimental guitarists to come forward during the 1990s." --

A New York City native, Matthew Ostrowski has been working with electronics since the early 1980s, working in improvised music, music theater, and audio installations, with a continuing interest in density of microevents, rapid change, and using technology to stretch the bounds of perception and experience. He has shared the stage with everyone from John Zorn and David Behrman to a trio of Elvis impersonators.

Originally from Tokyo, Hisao Ihara lives in New York City. His work explores the intricate overlay of time and visual perception within immersive video environments. He has worked in animation, live action video, video performance and hybrid digital media. Ihara's works deals with culture, history and the physical experience of time and space. He is interested in the possibilities of digital media as tools to contextualize his subject of interests.

Dafna Naphtali is a sound-artist/improviser-composer from an eclectic background of music-making. A singer/guitarist/electronic-musician she performs and composes using her custom Max/MSP/Jitter programs for sound processing of voice and other instruments that she has been writing since 1992. Besides her composing and improvised projects, she co-leads the digital chamber punk ensemble, What is it Like to be a Bat? with Kitty Brazelton.

Darius Jones is an alto saxophonist, composer, and producer. He joined the New York music community in 2005, after living and studying in Richmond, Va. Darius comes from a diverse musical background that has lead to his unique, alternative, and soulful approach to music. Jones has composed and performed in a wide variety of areas such as electro-acoustic music, chamber ensembles, contemporary jazz groups, free jazz groups, modern dance performances, and multi-media events.

Mike Pride was born and raised in the Portland, Maine area. He has been playing & composing music since he was a child. While living in Maine, Mike studied with Les Harris, Jr., Bill Street and Matt Wilson, performed with legendary composer & jazz educator David Baker, was involved with experimental, shock-rockers Ned Muffleburger & the DSL's, and co-lead the new music ensemble IMAGINARY QUARTET with guitarist/composer Stik Fortier. Mike moved to New York City in the year 2000 where he studied briefly with drum & bass master, Amir Ziv. Mike then began studying with the legendary percussionist/healer/teacher, Professor, Milford Graves. Since his move to NYC, Mike has performed and recorded throughout the U.S. and North America, Europe, Asia, & Australia with many wonderful musicians.

Janene Higgins' videos and digital media have been described as "abstract narratives: undefinable journeys filled with sudden layerings and allurings." Her videos began as a direct offshoot of her graphic design, incorporating collage, text, and image-layering into a time-based artform. Long a fan of the computer and all its possibilities, she was introduced to video via Quicktime movies. Her work today is generated from a combination of analog and digital methods.