The Alternative Guitar Summit Presents: Beauty and Noise
Presented by Joel Harrison
About this performance
Monday, May 9th 7pm
The Alternative Guitar Summit, founded in 2010, is a yearly summit of daring, inventive players who emphasize new and unusual approaches to the guitar. The music we present celebrates the guitar’s enormous range, beyond style or genre.
Beauty and Noise
Electronic frontiers, sonic rapture, wild, mysterious textures rarely imagined with David Torn, Dither Guitar Duo, Elliot Sharp, Anthony Pirog, Ben Monder, and Patrick Higgins.
www.alternativeguitarsummit.
“It has been exciting to watch the Alt Guitar Summit emerge as one of the most interesting and distinguished forums for our instrument on the planet. The work that Joel has done with this festival to showcase the development of the guitar and the expanded role that it has taken in music is a testament to the almost unlimited sonic dimensions the word “guitar” can invoke in the imagination of musicians and fans alike.”-Pat Metheny
About the artists
David Torn
ECM artist, film composer, texturalist, producer, Torn counts collaborations with David Bowie, Tim Berne, Laurie Anderson, and Jeff Beck among his musical adventures. This is a rare NYC appearance of his solo work. http://www.davidtorn.net/
Elliott Sharp
A central figure in experimental guitar music for forty years, he has worked with a dizzying assortment of people, including Hubert Sumlin, Sonny Sharrock, Kronos Quartet, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. http://www.elliottsharp.com/
Anthony Pirog
A relative newcomer, Pirog has quickly become one of the curator’s favorite players. The Washington, D.C. native evinces a combination of atmospheric experimentalism, tuneful beauty, and raw Telecaster blues sounds. He will perform with drummer Allison Miller and bassist Michael Formanek. http://www.anthonypirog.com/
Dither Guitar Duo
Two members of the acclaimed electric guitar quartet, Dither, Gyan Riley and Taylor Levine will perform newly composed work for this occasion. http://ditherquartet.com/
Patrick Higgins
The New Yorker described Higgins as “one of the prime movers of the local avant-garde.” Higgins will perform a through-composed solo set with two laptops and an arsenal of effects. http://www.patrickhigginsmusic.com/
Ben Monder
An ECM artist equally at home in ethereal sonic structures, solo guitar viruosity, and jazz standards, Ben Monder has performed with iconic drummer Paul Motian, Theo Bleckmann, and on the late David Bowie’s final album Blackstar. He’ll perform with drummer Nasheet Waits. http://www.benmonder.com/
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