A Tribute to Susan Alcorn with Sam Wenc, Simone Baron + Toshi Makihara (solos & duo), Alma Laprida, Rose Thomas Bannister, Bill Nace, Victor Vieira-Branco/Jair-Rôhm Parker Wells duo, Nomad War Machine & Jim Strong

(photo by David Lobato)

A Tribute to Susan Alcorn with Sam Wenc, Simone Baron + Toshi Makihara (solos & duo), Alma Laprida, Bill Nace. Victor Vieira-Branco + Jair-Rôhm Parker Wells duo, Nomad War Machine and Jim Strong.

All funds raised at this event will be donated to Susan's partner David Lobato to assist with expenses related to Susan's passing.

The experimental music community is in a state of shock and mourning over Susan's unexpected death. She was someone that brought her instrument (the pedal steel guitar) into realms that were previously unexpected. Fearless in life and sonic innovation, she leaves a void with musicians and audiences that is unlikely to be filled. A group of musicians from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC and Brooklyn are gathering to pay tribute to her memory and raise funds for her family. The evening consists of performances by those that had collaborated with Susan as well as a glance of that which was to come -- a program and a grouping that were being worked on before her passing.

Program (with notes):

Sam Wenc : variations on "And I Await the Resurrection of the Pedal Steel Guitar" (Discussions were in place to bring a performance by Susan of works by Olivier Messiaen to Vox Populi).

Simone Baron + Toshi Makihara solos and duo (the final performance of Susan's that our series hosted was the duo of Susan Alcorn and Simone Baron. Originally it was to be ofa trio that included Toshi Makihara but at that time Toshi had to bow out due to health reasons).

Alma Laprida (a collaborator whose creative pursuits encompass composition, improvisation, performance, installation, and radiophonic pieces).

Rose Thomas Bannister (the singer songwriter regularly collaborated with Susan in performance and recording through the years).

Bill Nace (Bill is a long time collaborator with Susan, both in trio with Chris Corsano and as a duo).

Victor Vieira-Branco + Jair-Rôhm Parker Wellsduo (The duo of Susan and Jair-Rohm performed at Vox last last year, for their return they had asked if they could perform as a trio with Victor).

Nomad War Machine (the avant-metal grind duo of Julius Masri & James Reichard recorded an as yet unreleased album with Susan).

Jim Strong starts the evening with a sonic prayer.

Bios:

Sam Wenc is a composer, improviser, and interdisciplinary artist working with sound, text, performance and installation. He has released music on Longform Editions, Where to Now, Moone Records, Noumenal Loom, Sweet Wreath, and Obsolete Staircases, amongst others.

Simone Baron is apolyglot pianist, accordionist, improviser and composer whose work “ego-less, genre agnostic and without expectations” (JazzTimes) engages curiously and charismatically with a broad spectrum of idioms.

Toshi Makihara pursues non-idiomatic free improvised music using percussion and found objects / sound sites. Makihara studied drums and improvisation with Sabu Toyozumi and Butoh with the master Kazuo Ohno in Tokyo. His approach to free improvisation is founded on the process of “Becoming the Sound” without seeking any particular accomplishment.

Born in San Miguel, Argentina, Alma Laprida is a multidisciplinary artist. Armed with unconventional instruments and objects such as the tromba marina, field recordings, synthesizers, megaphones and lyre, her explorations traverse diverse realms in the pursuit of creating captivating sonic experiences.

Raised in Nebraska, Rose Thomas Bannister settled in Brooklyn after completing a 63-date DIY tour of the whole United States. Her second album, The Sewing Room was an underground psych folk simmer-hit.

Bill Nace is an artist and musician based in Philadelphia, PA. Some collaborators include Michael Morley, Graham Lambkin, Sakina Abdou, Twig Harper, Jooklo Duo, chik white, John Truscinski, Thurston Moore, Jake Meginsky, Jessica Rylan, Paul Flaherty, Wally Shoup, Aaron Dilloway, and Kim Gordon, with whom he regularly plays as one half of the duo Body/Head. HIs last two solo records were released on Drag City.

Victor Vieira-Branco is a Brazilian/American vibraphonist, having spent the 2010s in the vibrant São Paulo music scene. While Bark Culture is Vieira-Branco’s primary vehicle as a leader, his performances include work with Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, the Chad Taylor Quintet, and as active as an improviser having performed with Toshi Makihara, Ken Vandermark, Dorothy Carlos, Ben Hall, Jaribu Shahid and others.

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells is an American bassist and sound sculptor with a career spanning over four decades. He played with the influential German band Embryo and has collaborated with artists like Bob Belden, Tony Scott, and Karl Berger. A founding member of Machine Gun and creator of the Meeting Interdisciplinary Arts Festival in Stockholm. Born in Tacoma, WA, and raised in Germany, Wells has had a profound influence on free jazz and experimental music.

Nomad War Machine is a project consisting of microtonal electric guitarist James Reichard and drummer Julius Masri. The most active descriptor for the two piece would be as a feral execution of improvised Free-metal, with an explorative focus on the elasticity of tonal scales, timbres, and rhythms.

Jim Strong is a US based artist and musician who in recent years has left a trail of enigmatic releases on labels such as Vitrine, More Mars and Chocolate Monk. He will also be familiar to some for his past work with Melkings, Eyes of the Amaryllis, and Weyes Blood.

accessibility: five steps to first floor, there is an elevator on first floor that goes to the 3rd floor.