Entries associated with the tag "eighth blackbird":

Pre-existing plans preclude me from seeing it, but I suspect tonight's Glenn Kotche/Eighth Blackbird show at the Harris Theater tonight will be excellent. The latter is wonderful live--they exude a joy and a sense of showmanship that makes their more outré selections inviting. And some of what they play is pretty outré; on tonight's program is Louis Andriessen's agitprop Worker's Union, a "symphonic movement for any loud sounding group of instruments," which you can preview here; here's an interview with Andriessen from the BBC.

Speaking of Eighth Blackbird, their blog is worth taking a look at. I highly, highly recommend Beginnings. You can listen to some of Kotche's work on his Web site. Don't miss his Technical page, which has diagrams of his Wilco and solo drum kits. Not to mention his writings, which include pieces on DIY percussion and a great essay on Steve Reich's "Clapping Music":

"When I began to learn the piece I was intrigued by how much some of the hand combinations were reminiscent of the advanced rudiments I was exposed to as a performing member of the Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (Rosemont, IL), while others were completely fresh and unlike anything I had seen or studied in any method book or rudimental solo."

Stuff that isn't about the election, assassination plots, or high-profile murder cases:

* Blues Fest and Jazz Fest will be shorter and have fewer stages next year.

* "Although CPS math scores have improved since 2003, fourth-graders still tested worse than all but Cleveland and Washington, D.C., in the United States. Just 13 percent of CPS eighth-graders were proficient in math, putting them on par with students in countries such as Bulgaria, Cyprus, Jordan and Macedonia."

* Ever since a friend showed me the Motor Club building I've been wondering when something would happen with it. Not sure if being forclosed on counts.

* The Grand Rapids Press has an obit of artist Ben Schaafsma, founder of InCUBATE.

* The Sun-Times has a short article on Chicago new-music groups; looking forward to the Eighth Blackbird/Glenn Kotche collaboration: "Lisa Kaplan, the ensemble's pianist, will give the concert premiere of Kotche's solo piano arrangement of 'On the Corner' by Chicago rapper Common."

Wow: Steve Reich wrote a piece for the great local new-music ensemble eighth blackbird, which they've been rehearsing. (If Reich is going to be writing for local groups, he should consider doing some field recording in Union Station, where the cacophonous, out-of-phase audio locators for each track--presumably for the blind--always make me think of his work Different Trains.)

This Saturday eighth blackbird plays the Harris Theater, performing works from their 2006 album strange imaginary animals, as well as Cliff Colnot's arrangement of Radiohead's "Dollars and Cents," with live remixing by composer Dennis DeSantis. Check out their blog for more on the performance, as well as instructions for getting an invite to their "very open rehearsal" concerts.

The Chicago-based new-music ensemble eighth blackbird kicks off a three-part series of concerts at the Harris Theater of Music and Dance on Tuesday. They're a wonderful, playful group, far from the elitist, imposing image of new-music-type classical that the genre is saddled with. They're also a great example of how music groups, particularly less penetrable ones like experimental classical ensembles, can leverage technology to their advantage. Their podcasts have shows, studio tours, tour marginalia, conversations, and the like; last month they put up a rehearsal video for Tuesday's show.

Befitting their tech-geek bent, they'll be collaborating with NYU prof/artist Daniel Rozin, whose mechanical mirrors--made of wood, trash, painted circles, and more--are really quite marvelous. They're also doing pieces by Thierry de Mey, Martin Bresnick, and Frederic Rzewski. John von Rhein has a preview in the Trib.