ISSUE Project Room : an open and versatile environment in which established and emerging artists conduct, exhibit and perform new and site-specific work
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zlayton on 05/11/2009 at 07:14PM
Acid Birds
Here is an excerpt from a rare live performance by Acid Birds at ISSUE Project Room. Acid Birds is a trio composed of Andrew Barker (Gold Sparkle Band, Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra), Charles Waters (Gold Sparkle Band) and Jaime Fennelly (Peeesseye). Barker formed the trio in order to perform the composition of the same name, featured here. Along with saxophonist /clarinetist Charles Waters and multi-instrumentalist Jaime Fennelly, the trio premiered in 2004 for the artist collective Free103point9 and their creative music event titled Assembled: Free Jazz + Electronics. This recording is from the second live performance of Acid Birds.
Combining elements of free jazz, collective improvisation and low harmonium drones, Acid Birds creates a mystical sound that falls somewhere between Braxton and Cardew. Each piece is based on a graphic score composed by Barker; the sound produced is distinctly spatial. Fennelly’s constant drone provides the ground, which is sometimes reinforced by Waters’ playing and sometimes punctured by his sharp notes. Barker’s drumming contributes to the expansive and tactile feeling of the project: each hit is hard and indicative of the material of the percussive instrument. Barker plays with a five-foot wide aluminum picnic tabletop in his drum kit. Acid Birds explores the notion of the visual score translated through the haptic exploration of sound as form. Lets hope to see more of them soon.
