kingtone

lucio menegon | music•noise•art

Tree-forts of sonic fun

Check this nice show review of a set performed with Rob Wallace in Bowling Green, OH this past February. The set was part of a film/music series Rob co-hosts called, Other Musics: Four Free Films on Free Sounds, the focus of the write-up, but receives some considerable attention:

Lucio used his entire instrument in service of his art, pounding the body, sliding a magnet along the frets, even pouring lighter fluid on the neck (which I will admit made me wonder if we were in for a Jimi Hendrix moment), to achieve the just-right tone he was going for. Wallace used his whole body as well, kneeling in front of his smorgasbord of sound, sometimes using both hands and his mouth, each on separate instruments, to accompany Lucio’s play. Any attempt I might make to capture the tonal qualities of this musical performance will surely fail. Suffice to say, I was transfixed, smiling like a loon at the sheer whimsy of it all. This music is “play” in its purest form. Both musicians are professionals and well-trained (Wallace is steeped in musicology and quite a good tabla player), and they certainly needed that foundation to build their tree-fort of sonic fun upon.

tree-fort of sonic fun is my favorite new description. Totally awesome. This is why small town such gigs are worthwhile – you just never know. It is also perhaps the reason Jack Wright likes to play them.

Geometric Clam

I wrote this piece yesterday in a Little Skip’s cafe in Bushwick. Mark Growden is in town from New Orleans and I wanted something new to present the set at Goodbye Blue Monday this coming Friday. He, myself and Bernd Klug will perform it then.

The piece is for three low pitch instruments (double bass, bari sax or accordion and detuned guitar) and each part is to be played as one continuous note, moving in microtones to the indicated pitches (+/- 3 whole steps) over time (5-6 minutes).

In musician slang, a ‘clam’ is a reference to a misplayed note (reference the infamous Buddy Rich tour bus tapes on the Touring Companion), so this piece will be one…giant…clam.

Roaming Residency, anyone?

Rabbi Mos' stage art, Carrboro NC

The recent IT BREAKS south east US tour with David Grollman and Brendan Landis was really great. Not a bad show in the lot and we met so many cool folk. Thanks to all of them for putting on shows, telling friends and offering hospitality. We recorded every show and got video of several of them and are processing the results now.

I have a few more NYC area shows in late April/early May, after which there will be a performance hiatus thru late July. The occasional show will surface, but for the most part I’ll be roaming around the east, scoping out possible places to buy an affordable little fixer upper and to test out the ‘Roaming Residency Program’ idea.

Roaming Residency: rather than one night tour stops, the idea is to stay (or be based) in a one place/area for a few days to a couple weeks, getting to know and play with locals, work on music, composition and recording!

So if you’ve got an extra room for me to work in or need a visit this summer, lemme know. I’ll be bombing around in Gertrude, aka the Emergency Music Response Team Vehicle (my 2002 Ford diesel E350 re-purposed ambulance) with gear and a ready made place to lay my head if necessary.

Anything is possible. Anything.