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There are forms of music that take influence from well-known genre conventions but go beyond simple composition or audio experience to become awesome forces of challenging yet beautiful art. By shirking widely accepted structures in favor of experimental or improvisational elements, the composers of these pieces are allowed a sort of musical freedom that lets them create music that is for listening. This may sound applicable to all styles, but when it comes to Kodama Trio and Trio Andaluz, there’s more going on under the hood than one might realize at first, which can be discovered by paying very close attention at their dual CD release show this Friday, March 26, at SFUAD’s O’Shaughnessy Performance Space.
"It's hard to bring people in on the idea that this will be good, interesting music and not something sentimental or something they already know," says Jeremy Bleich, musician and owner of Grasshopper Music, the local imprint releasing the albums. "This is a bit of an experiment, but I'm proud of the work that Grasshopper is doing."
Bleich performs in both bands, as bassist for Kodama Trio (pictured above) and as the oud player for Trio Andaluz. This is pretty much where the similarities between the two end. Kodama Trio's piano-driven sounds may be easily labeled as jazz on the surface, and there are absolute influences from the arguably quintessential American music. Bleich and his bandmates take the building blocks and distort the familiar through improv and experimentation. The end product is all at once comfortable and a learning opportunity. In Trio Andaluz, however, there is an Arabic-based world music sound (think authentic folk rather than the Starbuck's counter take on international music) that may not fall into a style you know well, but that is nonetheless accessible and beautiful. And while the show may not be for everyone, there is undoubtedly a lot to learn by giving the show a chance.
"I like to think what will happen will be engaging and deep and new," Bleich says. "I'd love to get people to listen." (Alex De Vore)
Grasshopper Music
Dual CD Release
7:30 pm Saturday, March 26. $10-$20.
O'Shaughnessy Performance
Space at SFUAD,
1600 St. Michael's Drive,
473-6011
Zombie Saviors Love Candy
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There’s no better way to have a good old-fashioned time with the kids than watching them hunt for eggs that were hidden by a giant mascot rabbit. Rabbits don’t lay eggs, nor are they able to found and run world-renowned chocolateries, but there we have it. On Easter Sunday, you and your little ones can hunt for eggs and win prizes at the Santa Fe Botanical Garden. “The eggs will be hidden throughout the garden, and most of it will take place in our orchard,” says Sarah Spearman, the garden’s director of public affairs. The orchard is a grassy area, and good thing too. Sand isn’t very festive. Or it is, depending on how you look at it. (Ben Kendall)
Easter Egg Hunt:
11 am to 1 pm Sunday, March 27. $3
(kids 12 and under free).
Santa Fe Botanical Garden.
715 Camino Lejo,
471-9103
We Built This City
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There’s a giant obelisk that may or may not have been placed by extraterrestrial beings inside the James Kelly Contemporary. It’s possible, if local artist Tom Miller is an alien. Juxtaposed against it are a series of drawings and paintings that coalesce into a grander theme. “If we didn’t have the 22-foot-long piece, the works of art hanging on the wall can stand on their own, but when you look at them in context, it’ll all make sense. They all relate to each other very directly,” says gallery owner James Kelly. If this obelisk holds the secrets to interstellar travel, we really can’t lose. (BK)
Tom Miller: Set to Topple
and Equivalent Architecture:
5-7 pm Friday, March 25. Free.
James Kelley Contemporary.
1611 Paseo de Peralta,
989-1601
Dream a Little Dream
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The dream state is itself a bizarrely distorted and fluid space wherein our unrealized desires and unresolved emotions are played out through our subconscious, in fascinating ways. It’s in this ethereal and otherworldly atmosphere that City of Mud’s
Under See
shines. A collection of photos, paintings, video, sculpture and more, the group exhibit searches out that which is weird in order to differentiate itself from the humdrum normalcy of mainstream local art and artists. “We were going for a more immersive show this time,” artist/curator Sasha Pyle says. “We have such a weird, cool collection of art, and that’s what we’re trying to do every time.” (ADV)
Under See: Subliminal and Sublime:
Gallery hours. Free.
City of Mud,
1114A Hickox St.,
954-1705
Santa Fe Reporter