Album Release

Image by Emily Orling

After years of sweat, love, heartburn and emotional upheaval we've finally carved this joyful and unwieldy beast onto actual vinyl. Come out and enjoy heaps of recriminating banter and cacophonous merriment as we tell you the unlikely story of a Civil War soldier trying to save the world with a steam powered super brain. We are even going to cart out some of the big kinetic percussion instruments that Eric made up at American Repertory Theater.


FUTURITY Album Release
October, 6, 2012
92YTribeca - Mainstage
200 Hudson Street, NYC
8:30pm



Check out FUTURITYthemusical.com for photos and press quotes

Listen to samples:



#futuritythemusical

Ancient Music for the Future

Here are 3 videos that have been hacking my own thoughts about music. All of them have a distinctive non-western approach to melody, harmony and rhythm, and they are each incredibly catchy. My jazz training has given me a feeling that chord changes are "the bones" of a song, but the more I look outside of western music the more I realize how melodic and rhythmic exploration inside of more static harmonies can be deeply gratifying. I realize that many western musicians have explored modal music, but each of the examples below has a deep folkiness that is riveting and truly different than much of what I've heard. None of these songs feel like an experiment but rather a continuation of a musical tradition that has been in process for centuries (With the possible exception of some of Wu Man's extended techniques). The thing that is so interesting about all three of these pieces is that they each have a "hook."  They all force me to reconsider what makes music enjoyable, addictive, and the extent to which computers have homogenized the sonic reach of popular music around the world. This is ironic because I actually believe that computers are supremely versatile instruments, however they allow for a laziness that can end up eliminating nuance. I do think that computers are creating music that helps us process our computerized lives (eg: dubstep), just as ancient music helped people understand pre-industrial life. But just as our use of technology might become more organic and integrated into our humanity so might our music. These musicians all have a lot of information about what music means for humanity.

Kalumbu Song from Zambia



Pipa Song from China



Song from the Carnatic Indian Tradition (Southern India)

World Premiere

Tickets and show times HERE