by Howard Landsman
Cole Porter co-exists with music made on laptop as the Madison Music Collective launches the kind of eclectic concert series for which it has come to be known. The Collective’s Fall 2009 series will range from the classic to the avant-garde, solo performances to ensemble works, vocal jazz to instrumental, acoustic sounds to advanced electronics. The series will also be moving to weekends from its former Thursday night perch.
New Faces of Madison Jazz: Patrick Breiner (tenor saxophone) and Luke Polipnick (guitar)
September 18th, 8:00 PM, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 West Main Street in Downtown Madison, $10 general admission, $8 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society
Fans of the New Breed Quintet will see a new side of saxophonist Patrick Breiner as he inhabits the persona of Vartan Mamigonian for his solo set on September 18th.
Saxophonist Patrick Breiner and guitarist Luke Polipnick are remarkably mature and sensitive young players who are full of fresh ideas. Breiner moved to Madison last year from New York City, and has quickly developed a strong local following through performances at the 2009 Isthmus Jazz Festival and weekly gigs with the New Breed Quintet at the Cabana Room’s Wednesday night jam sessions. Breiner improvises in a wide range of musical styles and contexts, and returns frequently to New York where he gigs with the likes of renowned drummer Billy Hart.
Guitarist Luke Polipnick will perform a solo set and then join saxophonist Patrick Breiner for a duo performance to close out the Collective's September 18th concert.
Luke Polipnick moved to Madison earlier this summer from Lincoln NE. He has been active in the Twin Cities creative music scene and performed in Madison earlier this year as part of a nation-wide tour with renowned Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani. His music incorporates computer-based electronics and often has a dark, brooding spaciousness that evokes the vast mysterious depths of the Great Plains.
For their MMC concert, Breiner and Polipnick will each perform a solo set, unaccompanied by other musicians, and then close with a duo performance.
The Music of Cole Porter: Vocalists Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio and Marilyn Fisher
Saturday, October 10th, 8:00 PM, Top of the Park at the Best Western on the Capitol Square, 22 South Carroll Street, $15 general admission, $12 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society
The featured vocalists for the Collective's Cole Porter concert (left to right): Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio, and Marilyn Fisher
With its panoramic view of the Capitol and its cabaret atmosphere, the Top of the Park will offer the perfect setting for for an evening of the sophisticated “uptown” music of the legendary American songwriter, Cole Porter.
Porter’s pieces are noted for their clever rhymes, complex forms and sophisticated sexual innuendos, all of which are evident in classics like “Night and Day,” “Anything Goes,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Don’t Fence Me In,” and so many more. He and Irving Berlin stand alone as the two giants of the Great American Songbook who wrote both the words and music.
Performing in solo, duo and trio settings with pianist Paul Hastil, bassist John Mesoloras, and drummer John Becker, celebrated local vocalists Kelly DeHaven, Gerri DiMaggio and Marilyn Fisher will present two sets of Porter’s popular and lesser-known songs. Along with the music, this vocal trio will also provide background and insight into Porter’s life and works.
Electro-Acoustic Music: The Desert Fathers (Gregory Taylor on laptop computer and Jeff Kaiser on quarter-tone trumpet and laptop)
Friday, November 13th, 8:00 PM, Capitol Lakes Grand Hall, 333 West Main Street in Downtown Madison, $10 general admission, $8 members of the Madison Music Collective and Madison Jazz Society
The Desert Fathers are a duo comprised of WORT-FM host Gregory Taylor (R.T.Q.E., Sundays at 9:00 PM) on laptop computer and the highly-accomplished composer and music technologist Jeff Kaiser of LaJolla CA playing quarter-tone trumpet and laptop. They use an expansive array of electronics and effects to spontaneously generate music that is complex, layered and other-worldly. The sinuous sound of Mr. Kaiser’s trumpet will snake its way through this aural landscape while being subjected to a variety of electronic manipulations including delays, pitch shifting, and much else. At the same time, listeners will also hear more sustained, melodic playing, making the trumpet’s quarter-tone capability apparent.
As part of the Collective’s ongoing effort to bridge the gap between improvising musicians and their audience, each performance will be followed by a brief question-and-answer session.
