We’re mounting A Crimson Grail (for 100 guitars) in Sydney, Australia on 12, 13 January as part of the Sydney Festival, the word’s just out! More info on this to come.
Review of Pythagorean Dream at Freakout Club in Bologna
Here is a link to a fabulous review of the Pythagorean Dream concert at the Freakout Club in Bologna from last week. It was written by Massimiliano Speri and it’s quite amusing, in addition to accurately describing the ambience of the concert (in my view).
http://www.ondarock.it/livereport/2017-rhyschatham.htm
It’s in Italian. English translation below:
Ondarock / live report / Rhys Chatham
30/09/2017
Rhys Chatham
Freakout, Bologna
by Massimiliano Speri
How to categorize a historically liminal and artistically hybrid figure like Rhys Chatham? The last of the New York minimalists or the first of Noisers no wave? Perhaps, along with his friend and accomplice Glenn Branca, it is the conjunction ring between the two universes. But there is another thing: in his almost priestly vocation for deafening avant-garde sonic performances (his drone sonata for hundreds of guitar ensembles, immortalized in the monumental “A Crimson Grail”), the now-nationalized Parisian composer is in the end, yet another happy product of that all-American tendency for the conceptual-performative gesamtkunstwerk, a contemporary abstractism without frame or caption boundaries, although more suitable to favor mystical ascent than to sound art galleries.
After the pleasing opening for the solo guitar of Bolognese JH Guraj (delightful american primitivism lying and pastoral, perhaps closer to the disciple Jim O’Rourke than to the master John Fahey), Professor Chatham comes on stage in a Mass at Burroughs / Tom Waits, makes a quick set-up of the complex equipment on the table in front of him and, with scientific discovery, presents himself, his high credentials (throwing here and there the names of Charlemagne Palestine, Steve Reich and Tony Conrad as if they had collaborated it was the world’s most deserved thing) and the recipe that’s about to propose to us: it explains that his usual orchestral armies would be too complicated to take on tour, so he decided to submit himself by presenting himself with loops with a clever game of delays to replicate the stratified rationale of his most extreme experiments; it will be a single, long suite in several parts, and the raw material of each act will be provided by a trumpet, a flute and, of course, an electric guitar; It even tells us the duration of the performance: about 55 minutes. He speaks in a quiet voice and is marked by an adorable yankee partially frantic accent, is relaxed and playful with the public, resembles more a grandfather who wants to entertain his grandchildren than an intellectual intent on épater le bourgeois. After all, we are not talking about a nihilistic rocker but a serious composer, formed in a classical setting as a harpsichord accordion, and then converted to the trial at LaMonte Young, who in the avant-punk arena moved from free beater.
It begins with an overlapping overhang of loud trumpet notes, which seem to flutter in the venue like stunned mosquitos, bouncing between the heads of the already hypnotized spectators. The sound is deliberately dirty and creates a frothy amalgam, which could recall the metaphysical layers of Jon Hassell if he did not evoke a whole urban neurosis in the lines. The second layer provides the Telecaster which, thanks to the open arrangement (“in D minor 7”, the Maestro specifies for us), creates that typical resonance, slightly dissonant, so dear to a lot of psychedelia as well as some work by colleague Terry Riley. After spreading the base of the cake with a velvety bunion garnished with scavenging arpeggios, gives the second pass with a sprinkling of more acute notes, a cobweb of small trills, and stretches the broth with liquid E-bow streaks. The resultant wall of sound is such an icastic and magmatic immobility to sink into trance, a hallucination to be taken religiously seriously. Then touches on the flute, the first instrument approached by young Rhys, here to create long, deep, pasty notes, as if a church organ was played in a rainforest. Depending on moods, this atmospheric ocean can communicate extreme relaxation or extreme tension, if not even the two things simultaneously. Finally, you return to a monotone lament in unison for guitar and voice, the ritual song with which a monk wakes up at dawn the rest of the monastery. The audience is enchanted, now completely taken by both the skill of the magician and the evocative power of the operator.
While the last notes suspended begin to blend with the intrusive delicacy with which they have taken hold of our heads and bodies, Rhys stands up and bows, jokingly excitedly for managing to play the piece within the predicted time duration (54 minutes and 33 seconds) which only went overtime by a few minutes. Then, like a pastor of the past, he sits on stage and invites those interested to reach him for a chat or an autograph: definitely not the typical serious image that tends to associate with an experimental composer …
Chatham’s avant-garde is icy and mystical, algebraic and elusive, rigorous and occult. And the key to decrypt it is perhaps in the title of his last work, “Pythagorean Dream,” from which the performance of the evening takes abundantly the moves: what expression can be more effective than that “pythagorean dream”, to describe this esoteric alchemy of technique and suggestion?
Leaving the Freakout, I start home through the steel and concrete roads of San Donato, Bologna’s most “industrial” neighborhood: perhaps, a scenario not so different from the New York lowlands where this metropolitan shaman began to theorize its fascinating pan-ethnic assault to contemporary music …
—ooOoo—
Will Guthrie and Rhys Chatham at Soy Festival in Nantes, Saturday 28 October
Next up in October:
I will be playing with drummer Will Guthrie at the Soy Festival in Nantes on Saturday, 28 October 2017. Will has just acquired some very large gongs, so we hope to be trying those out along with my usual looping set up, with me on alto and C flutes, trumpet and electric guitar. And of course, Will is going to bring along his drum kit, so those will be in the mix as well.
This performance will be in the context of a five day festival the Soy Association is producing, and it looks like a good one! Will and I will hit on the Saturday at 3 pm.
SAMEDI 28 OCTOBRE
15H00
8€ / 11€
Centre Chorégraphique National de Nantes (CCNN)
23 rue noire, Nantes
Here is a link with all the info:
Charlemagne Palestine & Rhys Chatham in Leeds, UK on Thursday 12 October 2017
30 years on from the first time we played together, Charlemagne and I will be performing our duo concert in Leeds, UK at Opera North in the Howard Assembly Room, on Thursday 12th October 2017.
Get your tickets here:
Tickets for Charlemagne and Rhys in Leeds.
Rhys Chatham at Freakout Club and Santeria Social Club – Italy
Rhys Chatham will be playing Pythagorean Dream this weekend in Bologna and Milano, Italy:
Saturday, 30 September at the Freakout Club, Via emilio zago 7/c, Bologna 40128;
Sunday 1 October at the Santeria Social Club
via paladini 8, Milano, Italy.
Saturday – 30 September 2017 9:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Freakout Club
Via emilio zago 7/c, Bologna 40128 Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Freakout Club.
Sunday – October 1st, 2017 – 8:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Santeria Social Club
via paladini 8, Milano, Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Santeria Social Club.
G3 40th Anniversary at the London Jazz Café – Weds. 27 September
Guitar Trio 40th Anniversary at the London Jazz Café
http://thejazzcafelondon.com/event/guitar-trio-40th-anniversary
Buy tickets here: http://bit.ly/27_09Chatham
A legend of the New York avant garde scene, Rhys Chatham’s influence cannot be understated.
With an extended body of work that touches on everything from minimalism and no wave to experimental and punk rock, he stands tall alongside his contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich.
For this special one off show, Chatham will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of his timeless Guitar Trio composition. With a single, repeated chord, Chatham permanently altered the DNA of rock by splicing the gritty, overtone-drenched minimalism of John Cale and Tony Conrad with the elemental fury of the Ramones.
While Guitar Trio in the 70s was performed with 3 electric guitarists, one electric bass and drummer, today’s version uses six electric guitars (including Chatham), plus a drummer and bass player.
For this special occasion, Rhys has personally chosen a lineup of London-based friends and collaborators, some of whom he has been friends with since the inception of G3.
Rhys Chatham – guitar
Nik Colk Void – guitar
Thurston Moore – guitar
Ashley Paul – guitar
James Sedwards – guitar
David Toop – guitar
Charles Hayward – drums
Susan Stenger – bass
After the jazz Café engagement, Rhys Chatham will be playing an the following locations in September and October 2017:
Saturday – 30 September 2017 9:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Freakout Club
Via emilio zago 7/c, Bologna 40128 Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Freakout Club.
Sunday – October 1st, 2017 – 8:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Santeria Social Club
via paladini 8, Milano, Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Santeria Social Club.
—ooOoo—
www.rhyschatham. net is under construction
The Rhys Chatham Site is temporarily under maintenance, sorry for the inconvenience. As of 12 September 2017, the following three tabs have been completed, containing information that you can peruse: (1) Bio, (2) Calendar of past performances, (3) Current works and projects.
Soon to come will be tabs containing the discography, selected press, and also a tab containing links to pages from older versions of the site.
Rhys Chatham will be playing in the following locations in September and October 2017:
Wednesday – 27 September 2017
Guitar Trio 40th Anniversary at the London Jazz Café
http://thejazzcafelondon.com/event/guitar-trio-40th-anniversary
A legend of the New York avant garde scene, Rhys Chatham’s influence cannot be understated.
With an extended body of work that touches on everything from minimalism and no wave to experimental and punk rock, he stands tall alongside his contemporaries Philip Glass and Steve Reich.
For this special one off show, Chatham will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of his timeless Guitar Trio composition. With a single, repeated chord, Chatham permanently altered the DNA of rock by splicing the gritty, overtone-drenched minimalism of John Cale and Tony Conrad with the elemental fury of the Ramones.
While Guitar Trio in the 70s was performed with 3 electric guitarists, one electric bass and drummer, today’s version uses six electric guitars (including Chatham), plus a drummer and bass player.
For this special occasion, Rhys has personally chosen a lineup of London-based friends and collaborators, some of whom he has been friends with since the inception of G3.
Rhys Chatham – guitar
Nik Colk Void – guitar
Thurston Moore – guitar
Ashley Paul – guitar
James Sedwards – guitar
David Toop – guitar
Charles Hayward – drums
Susan Stenger – bass
Saturday – 30 September 2017 9:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Freakout Club
Via emilio zago 7/c, Bologna 40128 Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Freakout Club.
Sunday – 1 October 2017 – 8:30 pm
Rhys Chatham Pythagorean Dream
at Santeria Social Club
via paladini 8, Milano, Italy
Rhys Chatham plays Pythagorean Dream at the Santeria Social Club.
—ooOoo—