Pittsburgh New Music Net

Gia Cacalano presents
THE SPACE UPSTAIRS

This Friday and Saturday, Gia Cacalano will premiere new pieces that combine choreography and improvisation in dance with music by vibraphonist Jeff Berman and (ahem) myself, David Bernabo.  The four dancers will do a few group pieces, some solos, and a very great duo.  We’ll be performing five pieces each night, and (if I can say so) it is turning out very nicely.  There is a nice article in this week’s Pittsburgh City Paper that discusses the motivations for the dance, so I’ll mention a few things about the music.  The first piece, which lasts roughly 30 minutes, combines electronic soundscapes, text, and freely improvised sections for vibraphone and amplified objects.  The electronic score was assembled from closed-circuit electronics that I recorded in 2004.  The text piece is a newer piece where each word is slowed down by 1% until the ending text is deep bass rumbling.  And of course, there is much more…

Hope to see you there.  Details below:

Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21, 2010
8PM, $12 students, $15 general admission
@ THE SPACE UPSTAIRS
214 N. Lexington St (above Construction Junction)
Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, PA
$15, $12 Students
More info: 4120758-3265

Gia Cacalano / Movement / Choreography / Concepts
Allie Greene / Movement
Jasmine Hearn / Movement
Beth Ratas / Movement
Jeff Berman / Vibraphone
David Bernabo / Electronics, Percussion

Carnegie Library Main Music Department

Free

DAVID BERNABO’s new project, DJ Responsibility, seeks new spaces for music listening and performance. The album FORMALISM is a short work (19 minutes) that is being released in an edition of one copy. The sole copy is only available in the Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland, setting up a contradiction between publicly-shared and exclusive.

The extremely limited copy is not available for sale, but will be presented as a free installation in the Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland from April 19 to May 31, 2010. Passers-by are invited to listen to the 19-minute album through headphones. The project aims to set up the contradiction between exclusive and freely-available, placing itself in the middle of special edition and boutique records, art installation, and the growing trend of free music (via Bandcamp, free album streams, illegal downloads).

The music itself spans a number of genres and styles, from the TV-show segways of “Before the Event” and “During the Event” to the electronic time changes in “Nearer, the Twelve Bens”. “As In Form” starts as an interplay between field recordings and glitches, transitions into a clip-filled electric piano dirge, and ends with a race of vibraphone and electronic synths. The closing track, “After the Event”, blends tight drums with harpsichord, electric piano, and the sounds of a lightning storm on Saturn.

Made up of local composers, the vocal quintet Vocal Assembly makes a guest appearance in “Voice, and Then”, which is an attempt to translate the art of Paul Klee into music. Some of the sounds that creep into the piece include streams and abandoned coal plants in Shamokin, PA, gate doors in Point State Park, and piano and vibraphone sessions performed by composer Nathan Hall and Bernabo.

“Nero and His Fire” opens with filmmaker and musician tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE playing chains, bass drum, a bicycle wheel, and the “Wheel-of-Fortune” before erupting into a flurry of stacked instruments and overlapping time signatures.

Starting as a joke during the Vale and Year days, DJ Responsibility has come into existence to spread the word of responsibility in music creation and distribution.

Thanks to the generosity of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the album will be available in the Music Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland during normal library hours, Monday through Thursday – 10AM to 8PM, Friday and Saturday – 10AM to 5:30PM, and Sunday 12PM to 5PM.

PERFORMERS

David Bernabo [electronics, drums, wurlitzer, harpsichord, piano, guitar, bass, vocals, synthesizer, rocks, soil]

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE [bass drum + chain, bicycle wheel, Wheel-of-Fortune (6)]

Nathan Hall [piano and vocals (3)]

Kerrith Livengood [flute (2), vocals (3)]

Ben Harris [vocals (3)]

Brandon Masterman [vocals (3)]