Rova Indoor BBQ

The Rova Sax Quartet with guests John Hanes and Tim Perkis on electronics.
All music composed by Steve Adams.
Rova will be premiering a new work for sax quartet (without electronics) called The Dark Forest Suite, which was inspired by the choral music of the Republic of Georgia.  It draws on the full-throated spirit and distinctive harmonic structures of that tradition while re-casting it in the language of the 21st Century sax quartet.
Pieces for the full ensemble include:
Provisional Star Atlas for saxophone quartet and electronics duo is a response to Kurt Weill’s brilliant song Lost in the Stars, which I’ve had stuck in my head for the last six months at least.  Using a combination of notated passages and graphically represented elements, it creates a flexibly structured environment, emphasizing the importance of each gesture.  Dialogue between the two groupings is a key concept, though there are also opportunities for interplay between each saxophone and the electronics players. While not in any way a version of Weill’s song, it draws on its emotional stance of cosmic wistfulness, as well as deriving specific deconstructed musical materials from it.
Polynodal Discourse is a structured improvisation piece where a series of overlapping duos continually re-contextualize the statement of each player, resulting in a kaleidoscopic musical journey.
 
In the Waterfall was inspired by the film “Intangible Asset Number 82,” a documentary about the Australian jazz drummer Simon Barker, who becomes fascinated by the traditional Korean singer Kim Seok-Chul and goes to Korea to try and find him.  Along the way, he meets another singer, Bae Il-Dong, whose practice routine is singing all day long while standing next to a waterfall, trying to be heard above the roar of the water.  He appears about 30 seconds into the trailer at http://youtu.be/L_y_vpIMY3k.

The Backwards Deck is a deck of cards with graphic and verbal instructions for improvisation on them.  Players deal each other cards to redirect the music in surprising ways.
The concert will be presented in the round, with Rova playing in the center of the audience and one electronics player positioned behind each half, resulting in an immersive musical environment.