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Tag: Brandon Lopez

Mat Maneri’s Quartet Seeks “. . . joy through sorrow, elation through fatigue”

Published 9 October, 2023 By John Chacona
Mat Maneri 4
photocredit: Mircea Albutiu

The improvising violist Mat Maneri recalled a conversation with his ECM Records producer, Steve Lake about the nature of music. “

“He thought it was all religious and I said, ‘No, it can’t be that.’ But there is something sacred about that stage and your relationship with the audience that once you’re onstage,” Maneri told me by phone last week.

There’s something sacred about the music that Maneri and his quartet will offer at BOP STOP Wednesday in a concert presented by Cleveland’s essential New Ghosts organization. Drawn from the violist’s latest recording Ash (Sunnyside Records, 2023), the music is a memory project that casts an oneiric spell that is simultaneously elusive and completely absorbing.

Continue ReadingMat Maneri’s Quartet Seeks “. . . joy through sorrow, elation through fatigue”
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Tim Daisy Returns To Cleveland for the World Premiere of New Ensemble Vox 4

Published 8 August, 2023 By John Chacona

Vox 4

There are many reasons to pursue the life of a professional musician, but doing a van tour of the Great Lakes in January is not one of them. Yet Chicago percussionist Tim Daisy could barely conceal his delight at piling in the van and driving across I-90 for a concert with his longtime pal Ken Vandermark at Convivium 33 (I previewed it here).

“t was the first time I started driving around the country since the—quote/unquote–end of the pandemic,” Daisy said by phone from Virginia where he was vacationing. “We show up, there’s a nice audience, the music goes well, there’s a beautiful vibe, and I kind of had the sense of like, “Ha! We’re back to touring. We’re back.”

The experience was so positive that on Friday, Daisy will be back at Convivium 33 for another concert presented by the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, this time with his exploratory chamber ensemble Vox 4.

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Solo Or In Ensemble, Brandon Lopez’s Bass Is An Uncommon Sound

Published 30 May, 2023 By John Chacona

Brandon Lopez-TAK Ensemble
Brandon Lopez and TAK Ensemble

Despite the increasing numbers of creative improvising musicians who play it, the double bass in a solo context—on record or in performance–remains a comparatively uncommon sound.

Yet Brandon Lopez, with a new recording and a showcase at this weekend’s Re:Sound festival presented by the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, is the exception that proves the rule.

Continue ReadingSolo Or In Ensemble, Brandon Lopez’s Bass Is An Uncommon Sound
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