January 29th, 2011:
Trevor Dunn
Travis Laplante
Laughing Horse Books & Video Collective. 12 N.E. 10th Ave, 97232 Portland, OR
8pm
with
Thicket
U Sco
Sliding Scale $5-$15
Trevor
Dunn was born in 1968 behind the Redwood Curtain in The Emerald
Triangle traversing a fine line between hippies and rednecks. His first
instrument was the clarinet and he began to focus on the electric bass
at age 13. Four years later he co-founded the avant-rock band Mr.
Bungle. In 1990 he received a BA in music from Humboldt State where he
performed Koussevitsky's Concerto for Double Bass with the HSO. In 2001
he was commissioned by the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center to write a
solo bass piece for Jon Deak. Mr. Deak performed "Depaysemant" for
prepared contrabass later that year at Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center.
Currently Dunn lives in Brooklyn, NY and can be heard on over 80
recordings including a disc of original film music entitled Four Films
(Tzadik). Recent projects include his rock band MadLove, the quartet
PROOF Readers which plays the music of Ornette Coleman as well as The
Nels Cline Singers and a new, original quartet Endangered Blood. He
continues to perform with John Zorn's Electric Masada, Erik
Friedlander's Broken Arm Trio, Curtis Hasslebring's New Mellow Edwards
and occasional appearances with Andrew D'Angelo and John Hollenbeck's
Claudia Quintet.
Travis
Laplante is a powerful new voice in New York City’s experimental music
scene, and has toured extensively with his band Little Women, whose
acclaimed full-length debut was recently released on AUM Fidelity
Records; with his trio, which features bassist Michael Formanek and
drummer Gerald Cleaver; and with under- ground experimental rock bands
Extra Life and Skeletons. Laplante has also worked with Anthony Braxton,
Mark Dresser, Mat Maneri, Trevor Dunn, and many other luminaries of
improvised music.
Laplante’s
debut album, 'Heart Protector', features original music for solo tenor
saxophone. 'Heart Protector', the first vinyl release on Skirl Records
was recorded by Laplante himself and Ryan Power at the Big Barn in
Putney, Vermont. The music itself was largely inspired by the heart
protector, Laplante’s term for the pericardial sac that surrounds the
heart."
Local
improvising trio Thicket is Ben Kates, John Niekrasz (Why I Must Be
Careful) and Brian Mumford (Grandfather Claws). Ben Kates is a
saxophonist who moved to Portland in 2006 where he has played in the
groups Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly!, the Naked Future, Barges, and Thicket.
He has played with John Gruntfest, Gino Robair, Tatsuya Nakatani, Wally
Shoup, Urs Leimgruber, John Weise and Smegma among others. John
is a drummer and composer originally from Chicago. He earned his MFA
from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has studied drum set with Hamid
Drake, James Dreier, Dean Radzik, and Tatsuya Nakatani. John lived in
Cuba and India where he studied Afro-Cuban percussion and classical
Hindustani tabla, respectively. He performs with and composes for
ensembles such as Why I Must Be Careful, Sporting, and Poor School.You may have seen Brian Mumford in Jackie O Motherf**cker or Dragging an Ox Through Water..
Portland's
U Sco consists of Ryan Miller (Guitar), Jon Scheid (Bass), and Phil
Cleary (Drumset). Equal parts experimental, avant-rock, kraut, and
pysch influenced - the trio crafts a sound that is tragically complex,
aggressive, and explosive. Members of With Eyes Abstract, Duck. Little
Brother, Duck! and The Jezebel Spirit.
