Tag: electronics

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BAMA@30

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance (BAMA) is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. One part of the celebration is a series of virtual concerts. The first one dropped on Friday, October 10 and features music by Cynthia Miller, Shane Lamb and me.

YouTube player

Future virtual concerts will premiere every Friday afternoon. Over 100 composers have been active in BAMA during its 30 years of supporting new music in Alabama. So there’s a wide range of interesting pieces to come: chamber music, solo piano, improvisations, electronics, and more. Follow B’ham Art Music Alliance on YouTube to see them all.

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Handsome Molly in Pensacola

I’m premiering a new piece for banjo, voice and electronics tomorrow at the Pensacola ComposerFest XX. The piece is based on the traditional tune “Handsome Molly.” Other composers on the program include Michael Coleman,, Kadisha Onalbayeva, William Price and Robert Voisey.

Sunday, September 28, 2025 2:30pm
Pensacola ComposerFest XX
Pensacola State College
Ashmore Auditorium
Pensacola FL

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Iron Giant Free Association Record Release

Iron Giant Free Association is celebrating the release of their first record, Terry Riley’s In C with a free, in-store performance at Seasick Records on Thursday. I’m one of the special guests invited to join the group for the performance. Other guests include John Albea, Mika Carpenter, Jim Fahy, Justin Greene, Davis Little, Melissa Noble and more.

Thursday, September 4, 2025 6pm
Iron Giant Free Association plus special guests
Seasick Records
3131 5th Ave South
Birmingham AL
Record release party for Terry Riley’s In C

Seasick will host an album listening party for David Byrne’s Who Is The Sky? at 5pm on the same day. Byrne’s tune “The Avant Garde” makes a great intro to the event:

“There’s only one place, that’s the avant garde
I wanna go there
I wanna go there
I’ll take you with me
The things that we’ll see
Just look around and you will observe
It’s a passionate life, it’s ahead of the curve”

Come for Byrne; stay for Riley.

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Gravity Clocks

Close up of an electric guitar with a hand resting on top of it. The image has a shallow depth of field so the body of the guitar and the hand are the only elements in focus.

I’m looking forward to performing tomorrow on a concert highlighting free improvisation and electronic music. The show will include Sam Herman, Aaron Johnson, and LaDonna Smith.

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7pm
An Evening of Free Improvisation and Electronic Music
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Hulsey Recital Hall
950 13th Street South
Birmingham AL

I’ll be performing material similar to the pieces on my 2021 Tell A Gossip recording from Tape Drift Records.

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Welcome Elkin

Jacob Elkin

Trombonist Jacob Elkin is coming to Alabama this week for two concerts featuring music by Alabama composers. The programs include the premiere of my piece By Wit and Reason, Which We Call Science for trombone and live electronics. The concerts are presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance and supported in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

Monday, February 17, 2025
Jacob Elkin: Music by Alabama Composers
Moody Recital Hall
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa AL

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Loud at the Library: Jacob Elkin
Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham AL

By Wit And Reason, Which We Call Science is informed by the music of Renaissance composer John Dowland. The piece uses a custom microtonal scale similar to Dowland’s scheme for tuning the lute. The performer’s musical gestures and improvised variations drive the electronic sounds: extending pitches, shifting resonant frequencies and triggering repeated tones.