GUITAR TRIO ALL STAR European tour - This tour starts in March 2008 to coincide with the Radium 3-CD "Guitar Trio Is My Life" release. With Rhys on guitar plus local luminaries (total 6 or more el. guitars, el.bass, drums) from the city we are playing in. Visual element by Robert Longo. Starts in March and lasts all year!
The last concert of G3 iwas at the Kunstencetrum BELGIE in Hasselt, Belgium. We played last night and it was a blast!
For info on booking, contact Regina Greene at Front Porch Productions:
Also contact Regina for questions concerning booking my various 100 or 400+ guitar projects.
If you happen to be in Bern, Switzerland on Saturday, 27 June, we will be presenting G3 there with a cast of all stars:
Un peu d'histoire pour rafraîchir la mémoire ne peut faire de mal à personne :
Compositeur, guitariste et trompettiste new-yorkais résidant en France
depuis 1987, Rhys Chatham pourrait être l'homme des « orchestres pour
guitares », ce pour quoi du moins le grand public le connaît sans
doute le mieux : souvenez-vous du concert pour 400 guitares au Sacré
Cœurà l'occasion de la Nuit blanche 2005, c'était lui. Le travail de
Rhys Chatham ne peut cependant se résumer à ces symphonies de guitares
(qui ont eu une influence décisive sur son frère d'armes Glenn
Branca). Le parcours de Chatham démarre en effet au début des années
70 aux côtés de… La Monte Young et Glenn Gould, dont il est
l'accordeur de piano.
Il étudie ensuite aux côtés d'un pionnier de la musique électronique,
Morton Subotnick, et du minimaliste Tony Conrad, avec qui il forme un
groupe. En 1971, alors qu'il n'a pas encore 20 ans, Chatham fonde et
dirige la programmation musicale de The Kitchen à Manhattan. Ses
premières compositions comme Two Gongs (1971) s'inspirent encore
largement du travail de La Monte Young et d'autres minimalistes, même
si ses oeuvres gagnent rapidement en « importance ». Sur scène, il
travaille avec Maryanne Amacher, Robert Ashley, Philip Glass, Meredith
Monk, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich mais aussi Brian Eno, Robert
Fripp, John Lurie et Fred Frith. Rien de moins. Il collabore encore,
surtout dans les années 1980, avec les plasticiens Robert Longo et
Joseph Nechvatal.
A partir de 1977, après avoir assisté à l'un des premiers concerts des
Ramones, Chatham voit son travail marqué au fer rouge par le punk. Il
prend alors directement part à l'émergence d'un courant musical que la
critique baptise en 1978 no wave. C'est cette année que Chatham
commence à jouer à Manhattan Guitar Trio avec entre autres musiciens,
Glenn Branca et Nina Canal (du groupe Ut). Pendant cette période, il
compose plusieurs oeuvres pour de grandes formations de guitares (au
sein desquelles on retrouve un certain Thurston Moore), comme Drastic
Classicism en collaboration avec la danseuse Karole Armitage. En 1983,
Chatham commence à étudier la trompette, instrument qu'il n'a depuis
jamais abandonné.
En 2002, le label Table of The Elements exhume en un coffret de 3 cds
et un livret abondamment documenté, le travail de Chatham : An Angel
Moves Too Fast To See : Selected Works 1971-1989. En 2007, Chatham
part en tournée montrer Guitar Trio, rebaptisé G3 avec l'adjonction de
nouveaux instruments. Chaque performance, réalisée autour de lui avec
des musiciens locaux (entre 6 et 10 guitaristes, un bassiste et un
batteur) consiste désormais en une pièce de 2x20 minutes, accompagnée
des slides de Robert Longo, Pictures for Music, réalisés par le
plasticien en 1979. Parmi les musiciens temporaires de G3, on compte
les membres de Sonic Youth, Tortoise, Godspeed You ! Black Emperor,
Hüsker Dü, Brokeback, Lichens, Town & Country, Bird Show, …
March italian tour !!!
Rhys Chatham è un compositore e musicista statunitense che, più di chiunque altro, ha contribuito a canonizzare gli stilemi del post-minimalismo.
Inizia a comporre musica poco dopo la metà degli anni Sessanta, sviluppando e conferendo nuova linfa ai dettami stilistici di autentici luminari quali Morton Subotnick, Tony Conrad e La Monte Young. Nonostante la formazione accademica (dapprima come studente, poi come intonatore professionista di clavicembalo), Chatham si promuove per lo slacciamento della musica dal pentagramma e sostiene il procedimento di permeazione del rock in ambiti ad esso comunemente estranei.
A diciannove anni gli viene richiesto di occuparsi della programmazione musicale di The Kitchen (fondata nel 1971 da Woody e Steina Vasulka), prestigiosa galleria situata nel cuore del Greenwich Village di Manhattan che influì su intere generazioni di artisti visivi e contribuì all’affermazione di talenti come Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Peter Greenaway, Brian Eno e molti altri.
Il contributo di Chatham alla musica popolare può essere rintracciato tanto in tre decadi di rock alternativo (No Wave, Sonic Youth, Swans, Melvins, Nirvana), quanto nel “doom metal” degli anni Novanta (Sleep, Earth, Sunn O))) e Om).
Nel marzo 2008 porterà in Italia il suo Guitar Trio, forse l’opera a cui è più legato, e si esibirà assieme a musicisti locali. Ecco le tappe della tournée, così come le formazioni che lo accompagneranno:
26/03/2008 Napoli @ Teatro Galleria Toledo – obSESSIONS
Chitarre: Rhys Chatham, Maurizio Argenziano (A Spirale), Fabrizio Piccolo (Mesmerico), Pasquale Pierno (Nembrot), Sergio Albano, Tonino Taiuti
Basso: Fabrizio Elvetico (Illachime Quartet)
Batteria: Luca Bottigliero (Mesmerico)
27/03/2008 Ravenna @ Bronson
Chitarre: Rhys Chatham, Paolo Iocca (Paolo Iocca (Blake/e/e/e, ex Franklin Delano), Marcella Riccardi (Blake/e/e/e, ex Franklin Delano), Egle Sommacal (ex Massimo Volume)
Basso: Olivier Manchion (Permanent Fatal Error, Faust, ex-Ulan Bator, Damo Suzuki Network)
Batteria: Luca Bottigliero (Mesmerico)
28/03/2008 Milano @ O’ Artoteca
Chitarre: Rhys Chatham, Xabier Iriondo (A Short Apnea, Afterhours), Paolo Cantù (A Short Apnea, Afterhours), Ramuntcho Matta (John Cage, Brion Gysin), Nicola Ratti (Ronin), Luca Ciffo (BronYaur, Fuzz Orchestra)
Basso: Steve Piccolo (Lounge Lizards)
Batteria: Daniele Malavasi (Tasaday, R.U.N.I.)
29/03/2008 Verona @ Interzona
Chitarre: Rhys Chatham, Manuel Giannini (Sinistri, ex Starfuckers), Xabier Iriondo (ex A Shourt Apnea, Uncode Duello, Polvere, etc.), Mattia Coletti (Polvere), Andrea Faccioli (Å), Bruno Vanessi (Rosolina Mar)
Basso: Stefano Pilia (3/4 Had Been Eliminated)
Batteria: Andrea Belfi (Rosolina Mar)
Onda Rock l’ha intervistato in esclusiva per i suoi lettori, che avranno modo di ripercorrere la sua carriera e le sue esperienze attraverso rivelazioni sentite ed estremamente interessanti.
We also played at the Vooruit and next at the Belgie, in Belgium...
Here is the annoucement from Belgie:
RHYS CHATHAM (US): G3 feat Ignatz (B), Dave Schroyen (Millionaire, B), Stef Heeren (Kiss The Anus, B), Aldo Struyf (Millionaire, Creature With The Atom Brain, B), Tiziano Di Turi (Deepsrof, B), Ben Younes (Pawlowski, B), Rik De Maré (Kiss The Anus)
+ visuals by Robert Longo (US): Pictures for Music
Rhys Chatham is een klassiek geschoold muzikant, was pianostemmer bij Glen Gould en La Monte Young, studeerde bij Young en Morton Subotnick en was protégé van Tony Conrad (kc BELGIE 2003). Al in zijn tienerjaren ontwikkelde hij een bijzonder invloedrijk experimenteel muziekprogramma in The Kitchen (Lower Manhattan). Dat Chatham het dna-profiel van de rockmuziek voorgoed zou veranderen aan het eind van de jaren zeventig leek eerder onwaarschijnlijk. Maar dat was buiten een concert van ’The Ramones’ in CBGB’s gerekend. Danig onder de indruk van dit concert besluit Chatham in 1976 als eerste gitaren, bas en drums te gebruiken om zijn, in overtonen gedrenkte, minimale stukken te koppelen aan de ritmische punch en de onstuitbare dynamiek van de punkrock. Het Downtown New York van de late jaren zeventig, begin de jaren tachtig was getuige van een nieuwe, uiterst extatische en grommende muziek die als een energieflits door de muziekscene kronkelde. We horen zonder enige twijfel de invloed van Chatham terug in het latere werk van bands, artiesten en vroegere Chatham-medewerkers als Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Mars, Band of Susans en Swans.
Naar aanleiding van de release van de 3xcd ’Guitar Trio Is My Life’ (Table of The Elements, maart 2008) -die een uitgebreide G3-tour doorheen de states documenteert en waar we aan de zijde van de componist muzikanten horen als David Daniell (San Agustin, Essentialist), Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Colin Langanus (USAisamonster), Alan Licht, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Doug McCombs (Tortoise), Efrim Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mount Zion)- gaat Chatham nu opnieuw met Guitar Trio of G3 (voor minstens 6 gitaristen, 1 bassist en 1 drummer) de hort op doorheen Europa
Voor de halte in kunstencentrum BELGIE gorden Rhys Chatham zelf, Ignatz, Stef Heeren (Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat), Aldo Struyf (Millionaire, Creature With The Atom Brain), Tiziano Di Turi (Deepsrof) en Rik De Maré (Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat) de gitaar om. Ben Younes (Pawlowski) op bas en Dave Schroyen (Millionaire, Creature With The Atom Brain) aan de drums voeden het geheel met de nodige ritmische zuurstof. Gezamenlijk knallen ze G3 naar een nieuw hoogtepunt met de schitterende visuals van muzikant en beeldend kunstenaar Robert Longo ’Pictures For Music’ dansend op uw netvlies.
---ooOoo---
400 guitars!
CRIMSON GRAIL - For 400 electric guitars !!!! (released on the Table of the Elements Records.)
All Rhys' major compositions are available on recording there from the Table of the Elements Records...
Influences
Many influences coming out of Amercian contemporary music like John Cage, Tony Conrad, Eliane Radigue, Terry Riley, La Monte Young, Morton Subotnick.
From rock, the Ramones, Iggy Pop, John Cale, Black Sabbath, early AC/DC.
From jazz Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman.
From electronica I like many people, I suppoose Atari Tennage Riot and Ed Rush were particularly inspiring. Also my good friends from Cold Cut, who single-handedly got me into playing with flexistential, scratchtological downtempo grooves!
Cool TV program of my main man John Cage on "I've got a Secret", a cult program of the early 60s in America.
Sounds Like
Meet my teenage role model and musical mentor: Tony Conrad!
Excerpt from a lecture at the Sint-Lukas Hogeschool, Brussels, 31 Jan 2005.
Hi. My name is Rhys. I'm a classically-trained composer from New York. I was born in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. And yes, this is really me. I'm not dead yet. At least not the last time I took my pulse: this is the official site.
After I got out of conservatory, I was a concert producer at a place in Soho called the Kitchen, I founded the music program and produced people like Maryanne Amacher, Robert Ashley, Gavin Bryars, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Micheal Nyman, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich on the avant garde side of things, and Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and Fred Frith on the alternative rock side of things.
After a number of years as a concert producer, I got tired of producing other people's music. I had heard an early concert of the Ramones and was inspired by it, so I picked up electric guitar and made a composition called GUITAR TRIO in 1976/77 which combined the minimalist tendencies within which I had been working with a rock instrumentation and musicians.
I was introduced to electronic music and composition by Morton Subotnick in the late 60s, in the early seventies I studied composition with La Monte Young and played in Tony Conrad's early group, these guys are, along with Terry Riley, the founders of American minimalism; so Guitar Trio is a bit like, Tony Conrad meets the Ramones!
After working with 3 electric guitars, I upped the number to 6, and finally in 1989 to 100 electric guitars with a piece called AN ANGEL MOVES TOO FAST TO SEE, which I have been touring around the world with ever since. It was composed in France, where I had moved to that year. So I have been touring with an orchestra of 100 electric guitars for over 17 years now.
My latest piece in this genre was commissioned last year (2005) by the City of Paris for an all night festival called La Nuit Blanche. It was for 400 electric guitars. We played a piece called A CRIMSON GRAIL MOVES TOO FAST TO SEE at Sacre Coeur in Paris, the concert lasted 12 hours, we had a blast! .
Concurrent with all this, I started playing trumpet in 1983, and after ten years of learning how to play the damn thing, released my first record with me as a trumpet player on a UK label called Ninja Tune.
I switched to trumpet because I was losing my hearing playing guitar; also I was interested in jazz. My training on trumpet is completely in the jazz tradition, when I practice at home I play over bebop changes. But when I play out it tends to be over drum n bass or whatever current trend has come out in the context of electronica that sounds cool.
When I switched to trumpet, I kept all my electric guitar distortion devices, so my trumpet sounds quite close to a distorted electric guitar.
My current project is with a band called Essentialist. After composing for 100 electric guitars, what are ya gonna do next? Well, ya get basic, ya get in a van and get down to essentials, so that's what we're doing with 3 electric guitars, bass and drums in September, we're doing an HM tour of drone metal in America! Hope to see you there.
I currently live in Paris, France...
To order Rhys' vinyl records and and CDs (at highly competitive prices)
go here:
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that my new album Afrikan Machinery is out now on Tzadik Records. Check out some of the tracks on my profile! You can buy the CD here, here, or here. It's also available on iTunes.
Best Wishes, Lukas Ligeti
