The New York Rebels Guitar Festival

The New York Rebels Guitar Festival

January 26-27, 2007

Freddy’s Backroom

485 Dean Street (near Flatbush & 6^th Ave.)

Brooklyn

In 1956, bassist, bandleader and radical upstart Charles Mingus made his debut at the third Newport Jazz Festival. Four years later, in reaction against the jazz establishment and its codification of a handful of stars, he and Max Roach organized the “Newport Rebels” jazz festival. In that tradition, a small cadre of well-mannered guitarists, all coming from good families, have come together to present the New York Rebels Guitar Festival, two nights of innovative guitar work by seven guitarists, a bassist and a singer with toys and drums. Some of them might even like Springsteen.

The first night features three solo performances by Chris Forsythe, Brandon Seabrook and Mary Halvorson. Night two focuses on duos, with Ecstasy Mule, Clifton Hyde with Trevor Dunn and Spin-17.

SOLOS – Friday, 1.26

9:00 Chris Forsyth – Guitarist Chris Forsyth is a founding member of the iconoclastic group Peeesseye, who have released 5 CDs and performed in all manner of venue around the US and Europe since forming in 2002. Other projects include the mysterious and rarely spotted quartet Phantom Limb & Bison; the civil twilight cover band Dirty Pool; lead guitar duties for cabaret art rockers Condor Moments; and improvised encounters with the likes of Alessandro Bosetti (Italy), Chris Heenan (US), Nate Wooley (US), Burkhard Beins (GER),Tetuzi Akiyama (JP), and Ernesto Diaz-Infante(US). Everyone, an evening length collaboration with choreographer Miguel Gutierrez & the Powerful People is currently in production and set to premiere through Danspace Project in March at Abrons Art Center at the Henry Street Settlement in NYC. Forsyth has been releasing his and other's music on the Evolving Ear label since 2000. More more more at
www.evolvingear.com

10:00 Brandon Seabrook

Brandon grew up in Foxboro, Massachusetts. After learning some stuff about music at the New England Conservatory in Boston he moved to Brooklyn in 2003. He has improvised throughout the states and Europe, including at the All Tomorrows Parties festival in the UK and a artist in residence at the Sejny Borderland Avant-Garde Cultural Foundation in Sejny, Poland. He has played alongside Roswell Rudd, Anthony Coleman and some other folks.

www.myspace.com/brandonseabrook

11:00 Mary Halvorson

Mary Halvorson is a guitarist, composer and improviser living in Brooklyn. She grew up in Boston and studied jazz at Wesleyan University and the New School. Since 2000 she has been performing regularly in New York with various groups and has toured Europe and the U.S. with the Anthony Braxton Quintet (Live at the Royal Festival Hall, Leo Records) and Trevor Dunn’s Trio-Convulsant (Sister Phantom Owl Fish, Ipecac Recordings). She has also performed alongside Joe Morris, Nels Cline, John Tchicai, Elliott Sharp, Lee Ranaldo, Andrea Parkins, Tony Malaby, Oscar Noriega and John Hollenbeck. Current projects which Mary composes for and performs with include a chamber-music duo with violist Jessica Pavone (Prairies, Lucky Kitchen, 2005) and the avant-rock band People (People, I & Ear Records, 2005). She also performs regularly in ensembles led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Ted Reichman, Peter Evans, Tatsuya Nakatani, Jason Cady, Matthew Welch, Brian Chase and Curtis Hasselbring.

www.maryhalvorson.com

DUOS – Saturday 1.27

9:00 Ecstasy Mule

Ecstasy Mule loves old and sometimes new country and blues as well as more curious sounds. Founded on a passion for such guitarists as Derek Bailey, Eugene Chadbourne and Fred Frith, it has also drawn inspiration from Hank Williams, John Coltrane, Bill Monroe, Dolly Parton, John Lee Hooker, Suicidal Tendencies, George Jones, The Kinks and The Residents. For this performance, Len37 and Casey G will play lap steel guitars, children's toys, adult toys, a.m. radio, Buddha Box, Echo-Theremin and other devices.

www.myspace.com/ecstasymule

10:00 Clifton Hyde

Clifton Hyde was born and raised in Mississippi and will be playing guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, & throat. Trevor Dunn was born and raised in California and will be playing the double bass.

www.myspace.com/cliftonhydemusic

11:00 Spin-17

Motoko Shimizu & Ed Chang. Spin-17 is a duo experimental project which explores contrasts and connections between harmony and noise, electronics and acoustics, toddlers and tea-totallers, obscenity and poetry. No genre is safe and the boundaries between art and doleful indulgence are blurred. Spin-17 has toured the US 3 times and their debut CD reached #1 at Duke University's WXDU radio. In the past they have mounted feature-length musical puppet shows as well as a chamber music tribute to Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Some of their collaborators have included Joe McPhee, Donald Miller, Marshall Allen and the late Peter Kowald. For this performance they will be conducting demolition tactics on classic rock and pitting faux-modern drone structures against Duke Ellington. Motoko on drums, toys and voice, Ed on guitar. Set the controls to shred-ilicious.