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The soNu Ensemble to Perform April 10 in Rosen Concert Hall
On April 10, at 8:00 p.m., the Southern California based electro-acoustic improvisational group soNu will perform in Rosen Concert Hall at Appalachian State University. Contemporary classical music by Americans Anne Lebaron, Phil Curtis, and Gustavo Aguilar, Mexican Julio Estrada, and Norwegian Nina Sun Eidsheim will be featured. Sponsored by the Hayes School of Music and the Diversity Celebration, the concert is free of charge. A reception will follow.
soNu performers are Gustavo Aguilar, percussion, Phil Curtis, electronics, and Nina Sun Eidsheim-- voice/electronics
The Southern California based electro-acoustic improvisational group soNu has been described by Anthony Braxton as producing "the music of the Third Millennium." Synthesizing the wide range of musics and cultures that its members have grown up with, absorbed, and studied, the group - informed by individual sensibilities yet focused on creating a collective musical language - functions as a "laboratory" in which its members engage in the creative music process of bringing present, past and future forms, structures and textures into real-time music making practices.
soNu has collaborated and performed with luminaries from the world of post-free improvisational music, including performer/composers Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, Lisle Ellis, Vinny Golia, Earl Howard, George Lewis, and Wadada Leo Smith. soNu is committed to extending the music exemplified by these musicians and thinkers by critically (re)examining and (re)conceptualizing compositional and improvisational forms and means, with an eye toward the socio-cultural context of contemporary communities. The group has appeared at The American Composer's Orchestra's Improvise! Festival (New York City), the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, the Interpretations concert series (Merkin Concert Hall, New York City), Olavsfestdagene Festival (Trondheim, Norway), Cross Drumming International Festival (Warsaw, Poland), The University of New Mexico's New Music Festival, The University of California, Riverside's Improvisation Festival, Trummerflora's Spring Rubble festival (San Diego), and Powering Up/Powering Down, the International Festival of Technology in the Arts at University of California, San Diego.
To learn more about soNu visit: http://sonusound.com.
For more information about this event, contact Nina Sun Eidsheim at eidsheimns@appstate.edu or at 828.262.3020.
About the performers:
Gustavo Aguilar, percussionist, composer, and improviser, has been honing his craft as a music artisan for almost two decades. His commitment to combining pre-composed (notated) and present-composed (improvised) musical elements has earned him the reputation as an "intuitive, methodical mystic." His music has been called "beautiful, introspective and passionate," "thought-provoking and thoroughly fresh." A champion of Contemporary New Music, Gustavo has performed at major festivals throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, including IRCAM's Festival Agora (Paris), the Zagreb Biennale International Festival of New Music (Croatia), the Acousmania International Festival of Electro-Acoustic Music (Bucharest), the Jooksan International Arts Festival (Seoul), the Green Mills Project (Melbourne), the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella New Music Series, and the Interpretations Music Series (NYC) among others. He has worked closely with some of the most innovative composers of our time, including Ana-Maria Avram, Chaya Czernowin, Anthony Davis, Iancu Dumitrescu, Julio Estrada, Art Jarvinen, Anne LeBaron, Annea Lockwood, and Roger Reynolds, and performed and/or recorded with such creative artists as John Bergamo, Anthony Braxton, Roy Campbell, Nels Cline, Anthony Davis, Mark Dresser, Lisle Ellis, Vinny Golia, Charlie Haden, Earl Howard, Tim Hodgkinson, Kang Tae Hwan, Anne LeBaron, George Lewis, Mary Oliver, Park Jae Chun, J.D. Parran, and Adam Rudolph. Gustavo’s discography includes solo and collaborative releases on Acoustic Levitation Records, Circumvention Music, Edition Modern, Mode Records, Mutable Music, Nine Winds Records, Samsung-Ak, Sang-Joong-Ha Music, and TaRaGa. Unsettled on an old sense of place, Gustavo’s July 2007 release on Henceforth Records, features six of his latest compositions for soloist and ensemble. Currently residing in New York City, Gustavo continues to hold the position of Composer-in-Residence with Groundworks DanceTheater of Cleveland, Ohio—a position he has held since 1997.
Phil Curtis is a composer, sound designer, and performer whose work has been featured in numerous venues for new and experimental music. Phil also creates sounds and music for film, TV, theater, dance, videogames, and the web, and has collaborated as a sound designer with composer Anne LeBaron. Films that he has scored have been featured in the San Diego Film Festival, the Festival Internacional Del Nuevo Cine Latinamerica in Havana, Cuba, and as a part of the traveling exhibit "Muestra de Cine Colombiano Años 90s." Performances of his music have been given by the Nieuw Ensemble, the New Century Players, and the New York New Music Ensemble, and he has performed laptop electronics with Anthony Braxton, Thomas Buckner, Anthony Davis, Vinny Golia, Earl Howard, Wadada Leo Smith, the Loos Ensemble, and the New York City Opera. He is a member of the soNu ensemble, and appears on soNu's Sounds from the Source CD (Nine Winds Records), on Gustavo Aguilar's Unsettled on an Old Sense of Place (Henceforth Records), as well as his own CD, Slutskya (Acoustic Levitation). His music has been described as "...predictably acerbic" by the Los Angeles Times, and Alan Rich, writing for the LA Weekly, has observed that it has "genuine wit...not at all perfunctory."
Nina Sun Eidsheim explores the voice in conjunction with electronics as a creative musician both within and outside the parameters of classical Western music. A native of Norway, Eidsheim draws upon a wide range of musical and geographical histories. She is committed to address social and political issues in conjunction with her explorations along the boundaries of current vocal techniques. Eidsheim has appeared with artists such as Anthony Braxton, Anthony Davis, George Lewis, Meredith Monk and Wadada Leo Smith.
Reviews of soNu:
Sounds From the Source - soNu | Nine Winds Records
I imagine that most devotees of avant garde jazz have their moments of advocacy to their unbelieving friends: "No, really, check out this Ornette album, it really swings" or "Oh, you'd LOVE Sun Ra, you just must not heard the right ones yet." Well, as far as that goes, there are crossover artists and crossover records; soNu's Sounds From the Source represents neither. This is fiercely experimental music that will engage some listeners intellectually but enrage others emotionally.
The improvised music scene around the California Institute for the Arts (CalArts) appears to be a common denominator for both the players and for the composers whose music that they perform--Wadada Leo Smith, George Lewis, Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, all of whom have connections to Valencia as well as to Chicago. The tone for the CD is set with the electronic bursts that inaugurate it on "The Lady of the Dark Sonnets/Mississippi Delta." The instrumentation is eclectic as it is, but sounds even more so; a diversity of sounds are coaxed from six players singing, striking percussion, blowing winds and/or manipulating electronics. The best known of them is probably guest Vinny Golia whose intensity helps inform the pieces he plays on, especially Braxton's "Composition 287 & 98a." Another guest, vocalist Arash Haile, is likely to be the most polarizing figure on the CD; imagine what Denyce Graves might've sounded like had she trained under the tutelage of Yoko Ono and that'll give you some idea of what it sounds like and whether or not it might be for you.
Not everyone is going to like Sounds From the Source, and not everyone is supposed to. Even the oldest pieces performed here still sound strikingly modern, and soNu drives them without sparing the whip. Avant gardists will find they have something to say, but mainstream listeners are likely to walk away shaking their heads.
~ Ted Kane
Sounds From the Source - soNu | Nine Winds Records
The new Nine Winds release by soNu presents the eclectic band as a cultural database that, through group improvisation and subtle compositional cues, manages to incorporate serialism, post-serialism, Mexican folkloric music, non-Western classical music, Norwegian folk song, Native American music, rock, future electronics, and hip hop into its musings. Nina Sun Eidsheim sings and interjects electronics; Phil Curtis also contributes electronics. Alan Lechusza plays woodwinds, and Gustavo Aguilar handles percussion. All four compose and have extensive resumes in and out of academia and free jazz.
The recording opens with the first of three covers of AACM members’ compositions, Wadada Leo Smith’s “The Lady of the Dark Sonnets/Mississippi Delta.” Curtis sends electro bolts squealing through the studio, soon joined by Lechusza on bass sax. The thick earthy tone contrasts nicely with the shifty synth smears. Eidsheim sings the tricky melody operatically, Curtis’s shimmery environment around her. Aguilar adds soft clatterings. Nine Winds CEO Vinny Golia joins the ensemble for “Rebound.” Lechusza plays Native American flute with Aguilar’s subtle wind chimes. Eidshem improvises processed vocals over metallic electric rumblings, and Aguilar’s loose drumset stampedes with the dark synthesizer tones. After Lechusza’s vivid trips on wood flute, Golia sweeps through on C-flute.
Anthony Braxton’s Composition Nr.287+98a sends Lechusza flying on alto, slowing for the composed duet with Eidshem. Curtis handles the aviation from his keyboard, Aguilar dropping lag time beats. Eidshem treats her vocals with Curtis’ sci-fi sounds throbbing.
Industrial sounds and held tone vocals announce George Lewis’ “Players.” Throughout the piece, players speak to one another, announcing the next segment (“Gustavo, play me,” “Nina, sing something nice” “Ensemble, please join me in a very very loud and furious improvisation”). Lechusza goes long on clarinet as someone effectively riffs on toy piano. Aguilar and Lechusza play a brief duet, before processed vocals and sampled noise take over. The bass sax holds a tone while quick synth spray hits a serene kalimba. Lechusza returns to clarinet, this time solo. “Sound On Sound for Roscoe Mitchell” could be a remix dance hit for Nine Winds. Arash Haile’s hip hop-inspired vocal finds a niche in the band’s ability to face the funk, and deconstruct the funk. Curtis continues flooding the track with roiling sound; Eidshem improvises and occasionally returns to “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” Lechusza brings back the rhythm on bass sax, with Aguilar following.
With each member of the quartet bringing a wealth of aural information, SoNu have realized a multi-culti vision rich in texture and imagination.
~ Rex Butters
Sounds From the Source - soNu | Nine Winds Records
SoNu features Alan Lechusza on woodwinds, Gustavo Aguilar on percussion, Nina Eidsheim on vocals & electronics, Phil Curtis also on electronics and guests Vinny Golia on more woodwinds & Arash Haile on vocals. The five pieces on this release include three compositions by Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton and George Lewis, plus two improvised works, each featuring a different guest. Can't say that I am very familiar with any of the musicians on this unusual disc (except for the ubiquitous Vinny Golia), although I do recall Mr. Aguilar from a couple of CDs he had on Acoustic Levitation. Leo Smith's "the lady of the dark sonnets/Mississippi delta" features some bizarre, shape-shifting electronic sounds, deep toned sax playing and strange operatic vocals. The overall vibe is one of restraint, so that nothing is too extreme or goes on for too long. "rebound" features Vinny Golia and SoNu together quietly weaving their sound palette with Vinny(?) on flutes. Nina's voice is well placed, minimal and rather hushed here with some fine free percussion, wooden flute and subtle electronics. Mr. Braxton's "compositions nr. 287 + 98a" sounds mostly charted with strong tenor sax, tight percussion and intricate vocal sounds. Ms. Eidsheim puts her voice through some electronic processing here, but uses it selectively. Someone (Vinny?) is playing bari sax or contrabass clarinet and doing some intense growling and grumbling. George Lewis' "players" is a wonderful work for cautious, spacious sounds, perhaps a bit scary with disembodied voices floating through the dark landscape and elegant electronic textures moving in subtle waves. Some of the electronics are triggered by other instruments like the clarinet, sax or voice. Each textural change takes us through another section of our journey. Vocalist/poet Arash Haile is featured on "sound on sound for Roscoe Mitchell", which gives us something to think about with her provocative Afrocentric words and occasional beats to back her rhythmic discourse used most effectively. You would think that a blending of these extreme ideas couldn't work, but it does work well and doesn't sound forced in any way. This is another intriguing gem and tasty sonic salad from those eclectic folks at Nine Winds.
~ BLG Downtown Music Gallery
Unsettled on an Old Sense of Place - Gustavo Aguilar (featuring soNu) | Henceforth Records
Gustavo Aguilar is a brilliant percussionist who grew up in Brownsville, where Texas meets Mexico. He now lives in New York, runs an ensemble call soNu and has located himself in music at a point where composition and improvisation geed into one another in extraordinary ways. Getting there, he has collaborated closely with defiantly heterodox musicians including Iancu Dumitrescu, Annea Lockwood, Anthony Braxton, and Wadada Leo Smith. Unsettled on an old Sense of Place features six of his own pieces, and it's a fabulously vivid experience. Xochicalco, dedicated to Mexican composer Julio Estrada, might be the soundtrack to a fever dream, its hallucinatory electroacoustics conjured up spontaneously by soNu, plus harpist Anne LeBaron and viola player Mary Oliver, in response to Aguilar's verbal cues and after preparatory listening to selections of Mexican music. Contrafactum For Scelsi is Aguilar solo, playing eclectic guitar as hand percussion - popping harmonics and pummeled clusters, his memory of Mexican serenades conflated with awareness of Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi's guitar piece Ko-Tha. RoKaMaYoHa is a stunning dramatic imagining of Japanese kabuki theatre, centered in kabuki's recurrent theme of revelation through sudden, unexpected noise. It's shrill and strange, with Nina Eidsheim's penetrating voice embedded in processed whistles and woodwinds.
Dirac's Theory is an intimate dialogue with snare drum: the percussion and percussionist drawing out all kids of unexpected nuance between themselves. With Suprachiasmatic Nuclei, Aguilar's declared intention is to address our neurological pacemakers; in practice this means 15 minutes of steady descent from well-defined articulation into ragged yet compulsive white noise. Wendall's History concludes the program, setting text by poet Wendell Barry against a glistening glockenspiel backdrop. Gustavo Aguilar is himself a defiantly unorthodox musician -- the kind we need -- and this is a wonderful CD.
~ Julian Cowley, The Wire
