The Man Who Laughs

Name: The Man Who Laughs
Start: 2017-02-01T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2017-02-01T20:30:00-05:00
Location: National Sawdust

A Live Scored Performance by Michael Leonhart & Mauro Refosco

Wednesday, February 1st @ 7pm

The film, directed by German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni, tells the story of Gwynplaine, whose face has been carved into a a permanent smile by the King, as he fights the manipulation of the royals to be with the blind woman he loves.

Tickets

About the Show

In their re-imagined underscoring of the 1928 iconic silent film “The Man Who Laughs”, Grammy winner Michael Leonhart and critically acclaimed percussionist Mauro Refosco create together a musical environment that is both highly melodic and rhythmically seductive. Produced by Selkie Projects.

The long time collaborators have composed a structured framework ranging from sparse minimalism and found sounds all the way to orchestrated cacophony, involving both multi-instrumentalists performing on loop pedals and an array of instruments simultaneously.

With a sonic atmosphere echoing Brian Eno, Fela Kuti, Radiohead, Stravinsky and Nino Rota, the two are able to take their melodies and hypnotic rhythms and mutate them to break the boundaries between musical periods and genres.

Leonhart’s diverse set of horns, vintage keyboards, and quirky pedals theatrically mirrors Refosco’s assortment of percussion and electronic instruments from around the globe. Each performance is unique – within their diverse compositions and mini-motifs, they have constructed sections and hand-gesture-cues which allow them room to improvise and interact with each other as well as the images on screen.

About the Artists

Michael Leonhart

At age 17, Michael was honored as the youngest Grammy recipient in history, cited as the most outstanding musician in a U.S. high school. That same year ABC World News named him “Person of the Week”.

Born into a musical family, Michael Leonhart has developed into one of the most imaginative musicians of his time, sought throughout the music and entertainment world as a trumpeter, producer, arranger, film composer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter.

As a solo artist Michael has released seven albums — “Aardvark Poses” (1995), “Glub Glub vol. 11” (1997), and “Slow” (2002) all on the Sunnyside label; “The Suzy Lattimore EP” (2005) & “The Ballad of Minton Quigley “(2006) (self released), 2008’s “Hotel Music” (St. Ives/Secretly Canadian) and 2010’s heavy-funk concept album “Seahorse and the Storyteller” (Truth and Soul Records). He has composed and performed music and songs for movies, television, dance, fashion shows and theater, and has appeared on over 125 albums.

Michael has performed with Steely Dan since 1996, recording two albums with them, including 2000’s Grammy winning Album of the Year “Two Against Nature” on which he was a featured soloist, arranger and conductor. He has performed and/or recorded with music legends James Brown, Ringo Starr, Brain Eno, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Levon Helm, Yoko Ono, David Byrne, Steve Winwood, Bill Withers, Bette Midler, Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Caetano Veloso, A Tribe Called Quest, Raekwon (Wutang Clan), Henry Manciini, John Barry, Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, Todd Rundgren and Bonnie Raitt. Michael has also worked with artists such as Mark Ronson, Alicia Keys, Sharon Jones and the Dapkings, Bruno Mars, Antibalas, Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, St. Vincent, Foster the People, Mos Def, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes, Phish, Cibo Matto, Lenny Kravitz, Scissor Sisters, Aloe Blacc, Natalie Merchant, Slash (Guns and Roses/Velvet Revolver) and Jens Lekman.

October 2012 saw the release of Donald Fagen’s long awaited fourth solo album “Sunken Condos”, produced by Michael and Donald. The album consists of eight new Fagen originals as well as an Ashkenazi recasting of Isaac Hayes’ Out of the Ghetto and harkens back the sound of the classic albums “Aja” and “The Nightfly”.

Most recently, Michael performed on Mark Ronson’s smash hit “Uptown Funk” featuring Bruno Mars. He also composed music for and directed Meryl Streep for the upcoming Decca soundtrack album “Songs of Lahore”. Michael was a producer on “Many A New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers & Hammerstein” which was nominated for Vocal Jazz Album of the year at the 2016 Grammys.

Mauro Refosco

Mauro Refosco is a percussionist based in New York City. He was born in Joacaba, Brazil, a small city in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

Mauro came to the United States in 1992 and received a master’s degree in percussion from the Manhattan School of Music. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in percussion from Sao Paulo State University.

Right after graduating from the Manhattan School of Music, he joined David Byrne’s 1994 world tour, playing percussion and mallet instruments. When the tour ended, he decided to make his career in the United States and soon became busy recording and playing live music with a variety of artists. In 1997, he joined the legendary jazz-punk outfit Lounge Lizards, led by John Lurie.

In 2002, he formed a band, Forro in the Dark, which introduced a popular Brazilian music style — forro — to a global audience. FITD has recorded three acclaimed albums, and has toured major festivals around the world.

After David Byrne’s 2008-2009 tour for Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, Mauro was asked to join Thom Yorke’s new project, Atoms For Peace, along with drummer Joey Waronker, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The group went on a short tour in 2009, which included headlining Coachella.

In 2010, the Red Hot Chili Peppers invited Mauro to record percussion on their latest album, I’m With You. Subsequently, he joined their worldwide tour and has performed live with RHCP for audiences around the world.