Thomas Lehn & John Butcher, St. Louis, 06-08-2012. Photo by Joseph Raglani

For the 100th Theatre Intangible podcast, we’ve been saving a very special performance: the Thomas Lehn and John Butcher artist showcase.

This is a recording of their spectacular June 7th, 2012 performance at Downtown Presbyterian Church. Thomas and John very graciously allowed me to release the recording as a  podcast.

This rare event was organized by Brady Sharp, Chris Davis, and David Maddox.

Here’s an excerpt from my Nashville Scene Critic’s Pick:

“Thomas Lehn and John Butcher are two of the most important players in the European free improv scene. Lehn plays unearthly sounds out of an EMS Synthi A, a unique 1970s analog synthesizer that supplants the Moog-style patch bay for a matrix of Battleship-like resistor pegs. His sputtering, crackling, and at times combative timbres are just as unique as the instrument he plays, and a far cry from the soothing tones of ambient electronic music.

If Evan Parker is the pioneer of extended saxophone technique, John Butcher is the lab scientist. Formerly a theoretical physicist, Butcher meticulously catalogs every sound he discovers on the sax — and I do mean every sound. Where most musical adventurers remain content mapping out the big spaces in the middle, Butcher charts every crack, crevice and blind alley. He’s famous for treating the room as an extension of the instrument (having recorded in caves, oil tanks and underground reservoirs), and you can be sure the amazing acoustics of the chapel at DPC will play a big part in both players’ performances.”

The acoustics of the space did play a big part of the performance. The reverb you hear on the recording is in fact the chapel’s natural room reverb.

This was a very special performance, and I’m indebted to Brady, Chris, and Dave for putting the show together and to Thomas and John for bringing their talents to Nashville.

Also, I’d like to take a moment to thank all of the talented performers who have ever appeared on Theatre Intangible. 100 episodes down. Here’s to 100 more.

As always, thanks for listening.

Kendall Station (photo by Adam Newton)

Here’s episode 99: Tau Ceti, starring Mike Simpkins, Josh Gumiela and Luke Rainey, recorded May 25th 2012 on the back porch of Noa Noa.

Minneapolis-based ambient electronic artist Mike Simpkins was in town to perform a concert at Noa Noa under his moniker Kendall Station. You can see an excerpt from his performance in the video below.  Also on the bill were Luke Rainey’s project Grand Reality and Josh Gumiela’s project Foster Dad. Josh organized the show.

After their sets, they performed this beautiful improv, awash in analogue synths, circuit-bent gear, and field recordings. I did the live mixing, editing, and mastering. Thanks for listening.

Ypsmael live at Noa Noa

Here’s Theatre Intangible episode 98: Ypsmael and Lawrence Crow Artist Showcase.

These two solo performances were recorded August 5th, 2012 for a show also featuring T.J. Borden and Steven Dunning. Episode 97 featured those performances.

Ypsmael is an electroacoustic improviser and performance artist currently based in Munich. He uses stompboxes and a blend of baritone guitars and other instruments, voice, amplified objects, DIY electronics, field recordings and no-input feedback to create hazy drone swells, noise washes, audio detritus and subtly unfolding textures. All sounds are generated and processed live.

Frequent Theatre Intangible collaborator Lawrence Crow makes abstract electronic improv music using open source programming such as Supercollider and PureData. This marks his twelfth appearance on the podcast.

Lawrence’s set starts off the podcast, and Ypsmeal’s takes over at 17:55.

Thanks for listening!

T.J. Borden. Photo by Jung | Media.

Here’s Theatre Intangible episode 97: T.J. Borden and Steven Dunning artist showcase.

These two solo performances were recorded August 5th, 2012 for a show also featuring Ypsmael and Lawrence Crow. Episode 98 will feature those performances.

Buffalo, New York experimental cellist and composer T.J. Borden has worked with artists such as Tony Conrad, Steven Mackey, Jack Wright, Thomas Helton, Evan Lipson, and DJ Spooky. He’s also a member of Wooden Cities, a Buffalo-based new music collective of musicians dedicated to performing the work of emerging and underrepresented composers.

A native of Buffalo, Steven Dunning is a Nashville-based violinist who has performed with the Huntsville Symphony, the Amherst Chamber Ensembles, and Country Music Hall-of-Famer Ray Price. He last appeared on Theatre Intangible episode 81: Ghost in the Hollow. Thanks for listening!

Here’s episode 96: Cenobium Artist Showcase.

Cenobium is an evolving collective of improv musicians based out of Nashville. Exploring the worlds of post modern jazz and the avant garde, Cenobium pushes the boundaries of improvised acoustic music. For this event, Cenobium took the form as a trio featuring Craig Schenker on saxophone, Randy Hunt on upright bass, and Jamison Sevits on trumpet.

I recorded this performance at Gallery F on October 10th, 2011 as part of the exhibition Scientists and Artists Picture the Intangible. Tim Kaiser, Jeremy Walker, and Santa’s Workshop also performed. We released the Jeremy Walker performance as a free download and the Santa’s Workshop performance as Theatre Intangible episode 75. Thanks for listening.

John Latartara Indeterminacies. Photo by Kim Sherman.

Here’s episode 95: John Latartara Indeterminacies, recorded November 8th, 2011 at Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville, TN as a part of their Indeterminacies series.

Indeterminacies is a series of performances organized by Zeitgeist Gallery‘s Lesley Beeman and Lain York. It’s based on John Cage’s idea about creating processes with no predetermined outcome, welcoming the unexpected and learning from the accidental.

John Latartara is associate professor of music theory and music technology at the University of Mississippi and a composer who specializes in the use of computer technology to create music. He has music released on the Centaur, Sachimay, and Visceral Media record labels.

The piece he performed at Zeitgeist deals with the issues of God, Transience, and Death. John combined interviews he conducted and otherworldly-sounds generated on his laptop. You can see an excerpt of the performance in the video below. The piece is the basis for a new album he’s currently working on. During the performance, John projected video art by his college at Ole Miss, Brooke White. Thanks for listening!

Boston experimental multi-instrumentalist Jesse Kenas Collins came to Noa Noa last year to perform a bill with keyboardist Lawrence Crow and guitarist Brady Sharp. See an excerpt of Jesse’s solo performance in the video below. After their respective sets, they combined with Horsehair Everywhere‘s Stephen Molyneux and Lyrebird’s Jeremy Bennett to perform this textural improv. I did the recording, live mixing, editing, and mastering. Thanks for listening!

New York free improvisation artists Peter Evans and Travis Laplante performed a show at Noa Noa on May 15th, 2012 organized by Nashville’s Craig Schenker. See excerpts of their solo sets in the videos below. After the show, we recorded this incendiary improv, featuring Peter Evans on trumpet, Travis LaPlante on saxophone, Craig Schenker on saxophone, Jamison Sevits on trumpet, and all four on various woodwinds. I did the recording, live mixing, editing, and mastering.

Travis LaPlante plays in the band Little Women, as a solo saxophonist, and with the tenor saxophone quartet Battle Trance. His solo album Heart Protector released to rave reviews in 2011, and Little Women’s brand new album Lung is available now at aumfidelity.com.

Peter Evans plays with the Peter Evans Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Continuum, and Ensemble 21, as a solo saxophonist, and with many jazz luminaries, including Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Mary Halvorson Fred Frith, and Weasel Walter. He just released the debut recording of his “Zebulon” trio with John Hébert and Kassa Overall, recorded at and named after the now defunct Brooklyn club. It’s available on MoreIsMoreRecords.com.