mime/poetry/perf art/etc
7 pm
$8 donation
Who: Cosmic Spelunker Theater (Featuring James Van Looy & Ian Thal)
What: performance of “Waltzing to War” (mime, poetry, performance
art, theater, storytelling)
Where: Zeitgeist Gallery • 1353 Cambridge Street • Inman Square •
Cambridge, MA 02139 • http://www.zeitgeist-gallery.org •
617.877.6060
When: Monday, August 1st @ 7pm
How much: Suggested Donation: $8
Press Contact: Ian Thal / Cosmic Spelunker Theater • 617.783.4809 •
thal@gis.net
Press for “Waltzing to War”:
“From stylized to realistic to surreal, the vignettes accumulate —
and not without considerable satirical humor.”
-Bill Rodriguez
Providence Phoenix
Full review:
http://www.providencephoenix.com/theater/other_stories/documents/04092613.asp
Providence Journal:
http://www.projo.com/theater/content/projo_20040902_warwaltz.1d8a01.html
Why “Waltzing to War”? “Because,” as Cosmic Spelunker Theater
cofounder, Ian Thal explains, “Armed conflict is more entertaining in
three-four time. Most wars are fought in two-four; boom-boom.”
“Waltzing to War” is a series of vignettes, drawing upon commedia
dell’arte traditions, current events, and autobiography, growing out
of the political discussions that had long occurred during the
stretching and working out that began every rehearsal. Like previous
shows it was created through a collaborative process that free
associates from a general theme adding poems, choreography, stories, and
structured improvisations.
“We tried to reimagine the old commedia characters in the midst of
modern warfare,” explains Thal. James Van Looy found himself
resonating with Pierot, the melancholy and formal everyman, while Thal
discovered himself split between two characters: The ever changing
Harlequin and the arrogant, jargon spewing Il Dottore. Which let to the
birth of “Il Dottore di Difesa” a hyperactive skeletal, carrion bird
like figure, who combines the fast talking of Groucho Marx, the thievery
of Harpo, and the strategic and technological prowess of Donald
Rumsfeld.
Episodes include “Operation Hit them Back First Before They Hit US!”
in which Il Dottore di Difesa lays out his war plans, and “Wartime
Mash-Up” in which Thal mimes a DJ mixing two very different views of
war. The show ends with the Spelunkers as snails singing “I’ll be
there when peace breaks out and war is done…”
“In the end, though, we reconnected everything to our own personal
experiences and we each tell our story,” Thal continues, referencing
Van Looy’s experience as a Vietnam era veteran and Thal’s experience
as a child of antiwar protesters during the same era.
Bios:
Cosmic Spelunker Theater is a Boston based collaborative performance art
troupe that has been presenting its fusion of spoken word and movement
since 2002, appearing at Mobius (Boston, MA), Puppet Showplace Theatre
(Brookline, MA), Artists at Large, Inc. (Hyde Park, MA), The Revolving
Museum (Lowell, MA), AS220 (Providence, RI) Warwick Museum of Art
(Warwick, RI), and Bowery Poetry Club (New York, NY.).
James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the
1970s and performed with the Mirage Mime Theater from 1980 to 1987
during which time he was also taught classes offered by Mirage and from
1987 to 1988 he was a member of the Collective Mime. His poetry has been
anthologized in Out of the Blue Writers Unite. He has run poetry
workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St.
Francis House since 1992 and regularly reads at Bay State Prison as part
of their poetry program. Currently, Van Looy leads the Labyrinth
Creative Movement Workshop. Van Looy also has second degree black belt
in Karate and is a Vietnam War era veteran.
Ian Thal is a writer and performance artist often identified with
Boston’s post-punk “spoken word” scene of the late 1990s, reading
regularly at Bad Girrls Studios and La Fete Du Sisk art and music
festivals before studying mime with Van Looy. His poetry has appeared
in such magazines as Flash!Point, Poesy, Ibbetson Street Press, and
Crooked River Press and has been anthologized in BOOM! For Real, Tokens:
Contemporary Poetry of the Subway (New York: P & Q Press.) and Out of
the Blue Writers Unite. His work has also appeared as part of an
installation at the 2003 Boston Cyberarts Festival. As a solo
performer, Thal has performed at Evos Arts Institute (Lowell, MA,) Club
Passim (Cambridge, MA) and Green Street Studios (Cambridge, MA) He has
also performed with Bread & Puppet Theater. He has curated the
Performance@Large series at Artists at Large, Inc.) and has taught mime
at the Brookline Community Center for the Arts (Brookline, MA.) and with
the Somerville based Open Air Circus.
jazz
10:00 – 12:30
$10
the zeitgeist residency of the fringe ! jazz combo deluxe
george garzone – tenor sax / john lockwood – bass / bob gullotti –drums
production: bob gullotti – 781.899.9382
perf-po
7-9pm
$5
michael brown poetry theatre
production: michael brown - michaelbrown2@verizon.net
tango lesson / dancing
9pm
$5 dontation
argentine tango dancing
mini introductory lesson from 9-9:30
dancing from 9:30 till 12:30
for more info contact kirill at 617.309.8228
jazz
10–12am
$5
gill’s wednesday night jam
an evening with 3 parts: an opening ½ hour of material prepared by guest musicians, a jam invitational with the house band and guests (10 - 11:30) and a post-midnight free for all jam.
those interested in being guest artists should contact gill aharon, 617.584.2218.
wednesday night house band:
gill aharon – piano / blake newman - bass / eric hoffbauer – guitar / alex speigelman – sax
& our famed rotating drummers: nat mugavro, dave coniglio, will buchanan & jason nazary
production: gill aharon – fish.lung@verizon.net
rock / singer songwriter
7 pm
$5 suggested donation
jamie treadwell - www.sonicbids.com/jamietreadwell
w/ alia - www.aliamusic.com
b3 jazz organ
9:30 – 12am
$7
The Rusty Scott Organ Trio
Featruing:
Mike Mele - guitar
Dave Brophy - drums
Playing original compositions of Rusty Scott and some of the music of Jimmy
Smith, Don Patterson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Hank Marr, and Wes Montgomery.
production: sam gilman
Experimental/Breakbeat/Jazz
7-9pm
$10 Donation
ColorAndTalea
Summer Residency
EVERY SATURDAY at 7pm in JULY and AUGUST
http://www.colorandtalea.com/
http://www.myspace.com/colorandtalea
ColorAndTalea’s unique style of experimental/breakbeat/jazz improvisation has been called “one of the most frenetic live acts in Boston,” and for good reason. Although their shows are highly spontaneous, and rooted in free improv, the energy level of the players rivals that of a punk band, rather than that of a jazz trio. The sparse instrumentation (only saxophone, bass, and drums) is complemented by a barrage of electronic gadgets, a laptop computer, beatboxing, screaming, and the occasional display of manic acrobatics. They are clearly not your average jazz trio.
Production: BadBread
Anthony@BadBread.com
908.451.7093
Ominous Collective Presents:
Kabarett 16-Bit
9:30 - Midnight
$6 donation
This show features Collective members Thylacine who were recently
described as “one part Garbage, one part Lords of Acid” by Nomasonha
Magazine.
Na: a three piece band of Japanese performers coming all the way from
Seattle to play their “”musical cacophony…improvisation and noise with a
slight pop slant and a good sense of humor” for you.”
MorT: who is a self-described “computer” and a performance artist/musician
who counts Raymond Scott, Nintendo, Carl Stalling, the FMW, and Esquivel
as influences.
Diva Jutta is at this moment thinking up just the right outfit for your
viewing pleasure.
Production: www.ominouscollective.com
avant-groove
7-10 pm
$7 suggested donation
ghorar deem express
The ten-piece avant-groove ensemble Ghorar Deem Express will play the Zeitgeist as part of a romp around the northeast to support their first American effort, slated for release in August 2005 on Floating Opera Records.
Born in Amsterdam, Ghorar Deem Express draws upon a diverse range of influences and unusual instrumentation to create a unique sound. Its ten members hail from six different countries and the lineup includes a vocalist who raps in Bengali, Italian, and sometimes a combination of the two. (The group also has songs in English, Japanese, and Tongues.) A section of three saxophones (alto, tenor, and bari) and an accordion contribute to the group’s unusual sound. Sometimes compared to Frank Zappa’s early compositional works, Ghorar Deem Express is a pastiche of both music and members.
Production: Floating Opera Records www.floatingoperarecords.com zachel_the_mediatrix@yahoo.com
MORE...Experimental/Breakbeat/Jazz
7-9pm
$10 Donation
ColorAndTalea
Summer Residency
EVERY SATURDAY at 7pm in JULY and AUGUST
http://www.colorandtalea.com/
http://www.myspace.com/colorandtalea
ColorAndTalea’s unique style of experimental/breakbeat/jazz improvisation has been called “one of the most frenetic live acts in Boston,” and for good reason. Although their shows are highly spontaneous, and rooted in free improv, the energy level of the players rivals that of a punk band, rather than that of a jazz trio. The sparse instrumentation (only saxophone, bass, and drums) is complemented by a barrage of electronic gadgets, a laptop computer, beatboxing, screaming, and the occasional display of manic acrobatics. They are clearly not your average jazz trio.
Production: BadBread
Anthony@BadBread.com
908.451.7093
jazz funk
9pm
$10 suggested donation
Otis Grove returns to the Zeitgeist Gallery only to bring it even harder! This show will include many special guests as well as the wonderful sounds from DJ ESO. In support of their debut album, featuring a special guest appearance by acid jazz pioneer guitarist Melvin Sparks, Otis Grove will bring their unique blend of acoustic and electric funk-jazz to the Zeitgeist for a very special event. Check www.otisgrove.net for details!
OTIS GROVE:
Sam Gilman - Organ, Rhodes, Clavinet, Piano
Matt Fitz-Henry - Acoustic and Electric Bass
Blake Goedde - Drums and Percussion
7pm
$7 donation
A night of words and images by Massachusetts poet/filmmaker Reza Tokaloo
www.tokaloo.com
Mr. Tokaloo, the author of two collections of work and published in literary journals, will be reading selected works of poetry and prose. His darkly lyric writing inhabits a musical forest somewhere between Symbolism and Modernism into a form he calls “word songs.” Sensual, erotic, and darkly stirring.
The second half of the evening will be the screening of 3 cutting edge short films made by Mr. Tokaloo between 1999-2001. All three have been previously been screened at the Slam Dance Film Festival 2001, and also the Sci-Fi Channel experimental short film series. Intense visualizations shot in black and white super-8 film and edited by hand. These three films explore the different uses of stop-motion animation in modern cinema. Darkly Beautiful. A must see for fans of dark avant-garde cinema!
soulful rock
7pm
$8 donation
gabrielle riley
gabrielle riley - vocals
doug vargas - guitar
jason dewaard - bass
brett campbell - drums
avant-rock
7-9pm
$10 donation
Capital M is a unique electric chamber ensemble that lives between the
edges of contemporary classical music, hard rock, and creative
improvisation. Taking cues from influences as diverse as Steve Reich,
King Crimson, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Japanese avant-jazz
guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa, composer/bandleader and Watertown, MA
native Ian Moss fuses advanced compositional techniques with the
visceral thrill of metal and the freedom of experimental jazz for an
unprecedented combination of grit and grace.
Current members of Capital M include Ian Moss, processed vocals; Stephen
Griesgraber, electric guitar; John Hadfield, drums; Peter Hess, alto
saxophone and clarinet; Bradley Kemp, bass; and Kyle Sanna, electric
guitar. All of Capital M’s members possess extensive classical
training, but play in numerous jazz and/or rock ensembles around New
York as well. Capital M was originally formed in May 2004, and made its
debut in July as part of Frank J. Oteri’s “21st Century Schizoid Music”
concert series at the Cornelia Street Café. Subsequent shows have
included appearances at the world-famous Knitting Factory, Pete’s Candy
Store, Tribeca Rock Club, Bowery Poetry Club, and a return to the
Cornelia Street Café a month ago. Capital M’s show at the Zeitgeist
represents the first time that the band has performed outside of New
York City.
For more information:
http://www.capitalm.org/
http://www.myspace.com/capitalm
Experimental/Breakbeat/Jazz
7-9pm
$10 Donation
ColorAndTalea
Summer Residency
EVERY SATURDAY at 7pm in JULY and AUGUST
http://www.colorandtalea.com/
http://www.myspace.com/colorandtalea
ColorAndTalea’s unique style of experimental/breakbeat/jazz improvisation has been called “one of the most frenetic live acts in Boston,” and for good reason. Although their shows are highly spontaneous, and rooted in free improv, the energy level of the players rivals that of a punk band, rather than that of a jazz trio. The sparse instrumentation (only saxophone, bass, and drums) is complemented by a barrage of electronic gadgets, a laptop computer, beatboxing, screaming, and the occasional display of manic acrobatics. They are clearly not your average jazz trio.
Production: BadBread
Anthony@BadBread.com
908.451.7093
indie/ambient/noise
7pm
$5 donation
-sun rushing in
-kris thompson’s theremin plus! ensemble
-love or suicide
sun rushing in = lauri des marais and susan deleo
kris thompson’s theremin plus! ensemble will be a
debut unrehearsed drone-vortex happening, featuring
mitchel ahern on various invented instruments and
michael knoblach (auddity, ex-cul de sac) on exotic
percussion and found objects.
for more info:
lauri des marais
susan deleo
kris thompson
mitchel ahern
rock-n-%$#*&ing-roll!
7-10 pm
$7 suggested donation
Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Emily Grogan will grace the Zeitgeist once again (following her wildly successful CD release party in June, for her debut album Io, on One-Way Productions).
“A mature, sophisticated, intelligent, sing-alongable collection of songs performed with passion and bravado, and perfectly produced, Io is a work of art not to be equaled by a local artist anytime in the near future.”
Experimental/Breakbeat/Jazz
7-9pm
$10 Donation
ColorAndTalea
Summer Residency
EVERY SATURDAY at 7pm in JULY and AUGUST
http://www.colorandtalea.com/
http://www.myspace.com/colorandtalea
ColorAndTalea’s unique style of experimental/breakbeat/jazz improvisation has been called “one of the most frenetic live acts in Boston,” and for good reason. Although their shows are highly spontaneous, and rooted in free improv, the energy level of the players rivals that of a punk band, rather than that of a jazz trio. The sparse instrumentation (only saxophone, bass, and drums) is complemented by a barrage of electronic gadgets, a laptop computer, beatboxing, screaming, and the occasional display of manic acrobatics. They are clearly not your average jazz trio.
Production: BadBread
Anthony@BadBread.com
908.451.7093
