An evening of solos by by three wildly different, yet equally engaging bay area performers: Tom Nunn performs improvisations on his original instruments; bran(…)pos performs a piece for mouth, synth, face, and live video; and Matt Ingalls performs his decades-in-the-making clarinet solo that explores extended techniques that interact with the acoustic space.
Free improviser and instrument builder Tom Nunn has designed, built and performed original musical instruments since 1976. His instruments (over 200 to date) typically utilize commonly available materials (metal sheets, nails, balloons, steel and bronze rods, combs, etc.) and are sculptural in appearance. They are amplified using contact microphones and are designed specifically for improvisation with elements of ambiguity, unpredictability and nonlinearity. But what is most unique about this instrument builder, is that Tom Nunn has the dedication and musical talent to learn and master his instruments. His performances are just as enjoyable for their music as they are for their instrumental design.
bran(…)pos is the ongoing audio-visual-performance-noise-musique-brain-bend of Jake Rodriguez from San Francisco. Rodriguez has been performing and recording under this moniker for 15 years with releases on C.I.P., Resipiscent, Ratskin Records, Animal Disguise, and Chitah! Chitah! Soundcrack. Synthesizer and mouth manipulations are the most common audio elements, rounded out with rubber face and a live video component to complete the human-analog-digital-human circle. “With a background in theater performance and sound (and a seriously demented mind), Rodriguez with his bran(…)pos project has boiled down the most absurd elements of our ongoing ritual into an amalgamation of human, sound, and light that is at once ridiculous and terrifying.”
Reviled for his “shapeless sonic tinkering” by the Los Angeles Times, Oakland musician matt ingalls is a composer, clarinetist, concert producer, and computer music programmer. Often incorporating elements of improvisation, his music is heavily influenced by his long involvement in computer music. His composerly solo improvisations explore extended clarinet techniques that interact with the acoustic space, often as combination tones. Matt is the founder and co-director of sfSound, a new music series, ensemble, and internet radio station devoted to new ideas and traditions of experimental music, performance art, live electronic music, Bay Area composition, and the various facets of contemporary improvisation.