February 13, 2015

Friday night live at Transistor: a quadruple bill featuring noise solo bassoon from Katherine Young, minimalist solo double bass from Rob Lundberg, minimalist solo viola from Jessica Pavone, and drum improvisation from Joe Adamik with multi-instrumentalist Steve Dorocke. Sound by Jon Monteverde.

Composer, bassoonist and improviser Katherine Young creates acoustic and electro-acoustic music that has been described by The New York Times as "raw, wailing, coloristic," and New Music Box has noted "her visceral approach to sound...her attentiveness to the smallest details of timbre; her adventurousness in using instruments in unexpected ways." Ensemble Dal Niente, Talea Ensemble, Flux Quartet, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Spektral Quartet, Fonema Consort, Till by Turning, and others have performed her compositions. Her debut solo album garnered praise in Downbeat ("seriously bold leaps for the bassoon"). About her 2012 release with her quartet Pretty Monsters, All About Jazz stated: "a sonically audacious record documenting the development of a bold young artist whose arresting improvisations are as remarkable as her engaging compositions." In 2014, her duo with violist Amy Cimini released its third record, which was recorded in residency at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s EMPAC, on Carrier Records, and her multi-movement installation-performance piece "Diligence Is To Magic As Progress Is To Flight," written in close collaboration with violinist Austin Wulliman, is out on Parlour Tapes+.

In her solo project, Young amplifies her bassoon and employs a flexible electronics set-up in order to enhance the acoustic power of the instrument, bring out interior resonances, and create monolithic soundscapes. Labeled “Bassoon colossus” by The Wire, her project was documented on the 2009 Porter Records release Further Secret Origins. For this Transistor set she incorporated effects pedals, amplification, and prerecorded materials into a continuous set.

Visit Katherine Young's website.

Also available: a previous Katherine Young Transistor performance as Young/Wildeman/Rosaly from November 21, 2014.

Rob Lundberg studied with Mark Helias at New School University and has since been performing, touring and recording with a range of groups, including killer BOB, In One Wind, and others. His solo project brings together backgrounds in classical music and improvisation, as well as a keen interest in minimalism and the timbral extremes possible with bowed, stringed instruments. Additionally, he draws on his passion for conceptual and contemporary art in the construction of his pieces and pairings with his photographs.

At Transistor, Lundberg debuted a new collection of pieces for live and prerecorded amplified double bass, paired with and inspired by his recent photographic series 'Bearings'.

Visit Rob Lundberg on Bandcamp.

Jessica Pavone (composer, viola, violin, el.bass) has performed in countless improvisation, avant jazz, experimental, folk, soul, and chamber ensembles since moving to NYC in 2000. She currently plays with Normal Love, in a duo with guitarist Mary Halvorson, with Anthony Braxton's ensembles, and as a solo violist. As a composer, The Wire magazine praised her "ability to transform a naked tonal gesture into something special," and The New York Times described her music as "distinct and beguiling...its core is steely, and its execution clear."

Pavone's recent works for solo viola and voice stem from years of concentrated long tone practice and an interest in repetition, song form, and sympathetic vibration. She combines her long tone rituals with delay, understated melodies, and sparse lyrical content while continuously experimenting with new forms. She is interested in the physicality of performing her somewhat larger-than-comfortable instrument and believes that cultivating physical bodies as a strong container for her thoughts is part of the creative process.

Pavone has toured extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe, performing in venues ranging from international music festivals, universities, and art galleries, to community centers and basements. Her music has premiered in venues in New York City such as, Roulette, Issue Project Room, and The Kitchen, and at the Klangbad Festival in Sheer, Germany. In 2011 she was featured in NPR's "The Mix: 100 Composers Under 40." She has received grants and commissions from the Aaron Copland Recording Fund, the American Music Center, The Kitchen, MATA, The Jerome Foundation, Experiments in Opera, and the chamber music collective, Till By Turning. Her 2014 release Knuckle Under, available through Taiga Records, features five pieces for viola and effects.

Visit Jessica Pavone's website.

Joe Adamik is a multi-instrumentalist performer and composer from Chicago. He plays with Iron & Wine, Lanzón, Sonoi, The Jim Becker Group, The Bob Dogan Trio, and others.

For this performance at Transistor, Joe was joined by Steve Dorocke; they performed a combination of improvised and composed pieces utilizing bass clarinet, contra alto clarinet, violin, oud, drums and electronics.

Visit Joe Adamik's website.

Also available: previous Joe Adamik Transistor recordings from:
September 21, 2012 (with Jim Baker)
June 24, 2011
April 3, 2011 (with Extraordinary Popular Delusions)