Noise Night

July 7, 2015​

-Leila Bordreuil solo (amplified cello)
-Anthony Saunders solo (modular synthesizer)
-Michael Foster / Ben Bennett Duo (sax/objects) (percussion/membranes)
-Zero Player -- Austin Julian / Cybelle Collins (electronic amplified bass object) (violin)
Curated by Michael Foster
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Ben and Michael began playing together with drummer David Grollman in the trio BDM, which toured the US in the summer of 2014, delivering outlandish improvised performances that toed the line between music and performance art. Their duo project resulted from finding a strong musical affinity, and a shared desire to push the sonic boundaries of the drums/sax duo over the edge. The two have extended their instruments’ vocabulary to the point of overlapping with each other (Michael turning the saxophone into a percussion instrument, and Ben blowing on membranes like reeds). A wide-ranging sonic pallette, extreme shifts in dynamics and mood, and a commitment to presence and vulnerability come together in the duo’s unpredictable interactions to create music that is unique to each performance.

Ben Bennett is an improvising percussionist who plays drums, membranes, and self-made instruments, which are combined with each other in various mutable arrangements, and played by striking, friction, breath, and other techniques. Although his instrument and music could both be described as unorthodox, they retain the essence of the modern drumset, and are a distillation of diverse musical traditions. He has toured North America and Europe, playing with different groups, ad-hoc collaborations, and solo.

"The crux of Bennett’s output is formed through his anomalous showmanship and in the resourceful nature of the instruments he tailors. If there is “value” to be found in his art, then these aspects surely make for a sensible starting point. Recycled objects and household items are transformed into contraptions assembled for a purpose unknown to the performer until the very moment he drags them before baffled onlookers, inserting them into an orifice or smashing them with an unrelated implement. Such instances of universal obscurity add to the queer web of noise that makes the resulting sound so riveting from the perspective of the audience." ­-Tiny Mixtapes

Michael Foster is a Brooklyn based saxophonist, improvisor, and multi-instrumentalist working within the fields of free improvisation, composition (both graphic and notated), Jazz, noise, and industrial music and video. Since moving to New York, Michael has maintained an active gig and touring schedule, playing with Weasel Walter, Steve Swell, Pascal Niggenkemper, Psychic TV, Chris Corsano, Spiritualized, Kid Millions, Nate Wooley, Sean Ali, Han Bennink, Marina Rosenfeld, and many others. Current ensembles include: Foster-Michael Evans-Pascal Niggenkemper Trio, Andrew Barker Trio, Duo with Leila Bordreuil, GALM Quartet, While We Still Have Bodies, and Foster-Grollman-Bennett Trio.

Michael Foster: /www.michaelfostermusic.com

Ben Bennett: http://milmin.nixsyspaus.org/ , http://label.experimedia.net/025/

Leila Bordreuil is a Brooklyn based cellist, composer and sound artist from Aix-en-Provence, France. Her cello playing is often improvised, and mainly focuses on texture variations and a collage of phantom overtones and pitched utterances. Through an original vocabulary of extended techniques, preparations, and imaginative amplification methods, her instrument is used as an abstract resonant body to challenge conventional cello practice. Her composed works draw from a similar texture-based musical aesthetic, but also focus on the relationship between sound and space. In her site-specific electro-acoustic compositions, architecture is the foundation of the piece and musicality arises from an organized spacialization of sound.