High Zero in Baltimore

[Michael Saddoris <saddoris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just a reminder if you're looking for something to do this weekend if you 
are in the Baltimore area. The Third Annual High Zero Festival is in full 
swing for the next couple days with performances on Friday, Saturday, and 
Sunday nights and Saturday afternoon at the Theater Project downtown 
(across the street from the Meyerhoff). The general concept of the festival 
is to bring together some truly gifted performers of 
experimental/improvisational music from around the world and set them up in 
unique ensemble performances. I went last night, and what I saw before we 
had to leave was really excellent. The first set was sort of chaired by 
Kaffe Matthews (erstwhile Fennesz/Mimeo collaborator) on laptop/electronics 
creating some really large and spacious rumbling soundscapes with sampled 
sounds from the performers in front of her (Baltimore exp. music staples 
Catherine Pancake, Ian Nagoski, John Berndt et al) who were generating some 
really interesting noises by rubbing heated cymbals, bells, bowls, and 
forks on dry ice. The following set was a completely improvised set by a 
piano, double bass, and tuba trio. I can almost guarantee that most people 
have never seen a bass or tuba played this way before, but the set was 
quite effective and fascinating to watch. We missed the second half, but I 
will be going back later this weekend for the remainder of the shows. I 
truly recommend unplugging your laptop and headphones for a couple days and 
coming down to see what sometimes slips under even the best of microsound 
radars.
m
http://www.highzero.org