#alex inglizian

[garadinervi]

Rob Mazurek – Exploding Star Orchestra, Live at the Adler Planetarium, (Black vinyl, CD, Digital album), ARC0087, International Anthem, 2024

Rob Mazurek: director, trumpets, bells, voice, compositions Nicole Mitchell: flute, voice, electronics Damon Locks: voice, samplers, electronics Tomeka Reid: cello, electronics Craig Taborn: wurlitzer electric piano, moog, electronics Angelica Sanchez: wurlitzer electric piano, moog Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: bass Chad Taylor: drums Gerald Cleaver: drums

Recorded Live in the Grainger Sky Theater of Adler Planetarium, Chicago, March 24th, 2023

All music by Rob Mazurek (OLHO, ASCAP) Words by Damon Locks

Video images: Rob Mazurek with technical assistance from Mathieu Constans and Brian Ashby. Front and Back Cover Photos: Alejandro Ayala Gatefold Photo: Brian Ashby Insert Photo: Alex Inglizian Design: Craig Hansen

[subtlesolitude-tailoredtaste]

Art21 proudly presents an artist segment, featuring Theaster Gates, from the "Chicago" episode in the ninth season of the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" series.

"Chicago " premiered in September 2016 on PBS. Watch now on PBS and the PBS Video app: https://www.pbs.org/video/art-21-chic...

Theaster Gates first encountered creativity in the music of Black churches on his journey to becoming an urban planner, potter, and artist. Gates creates sculptures out of clay, tar, and renovated buildings, transforming the raw material of the South Side into radically reimagined vessels of opportunity for the community.

Establishing a virtuous circle between fine art and social progress, Gates strips dilapidated buildings of their components, transforming those elements into sculptures that act as bonds or investments, the proceeds of which are used to finance the rehabilitation of entire city blocks. Many of the artist’s works evoke his African-American identity and the broader struggle for civil rights, from sculptures incorporating fire hoses, to events organized around soul food, and choral performances by the experimental musical ensemble Black Monks of Mississippi, led by Gates himself.

Learn more about the artists at:

https://art21.org/artist/theaster-gates/

CREDITS | Executive Producer: Eve Moros Ortega. Host: Claire Danes. Director: Stanley Nelson. Producer & Production Manager: Nick Ravich. Editor: Aljernon Tunsil. Art21 Executive Director: Tina Kukielski. Curator: Wesley Miller. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Structure Consultant: Véronique Bernard. Director of Photography: Keith Walker. Additional Photography: Don Argott, Brian Ashby, Steve Delahoyde, Jeremy Dulac, Damon Hennessey, Sam Henriques, Ben Kolak, Christoph Lerch, Stephan Mazurek, Andrew Miller, Christopher Morrison, Leslie Morrison, Murat Ötünç, Logan Siegel, Stephen Smith, & Jamin Townsley. Assistant Camera: Kyle Adcock, Joe Buhnerkempe, Alex Klein, Ian McAvoy, Sean Prange, & Liz Sung. Sound: Sean Demers, Alex Inglizian, Hayden Jackson, İlkin Kitapçı, Joe Leo, Matt Mayer, John Murphy, Richard K. Pooler, & Grant Tye. Production Assistant: Hamid Bendaas, Emmanuel Camacho, Chad Fisher, Elliot Rosen, Stanley Sievers, Chris Thurston, & Steven Walsh.

Title/Motion Design: Afternoon Inc. Composer: Joel Pickard. Online Editor: Don Wyllie. Re-Recording Mix: Tony Pipitone. Sound Edit: Neil Cedar & Jay Fisher. Artwork Animation: Anita H.M. Yu. Assistant Editor: Maria Habib, Leana Siochi, Christina Stiles, & Bahron Thomas.

Host Introduction | Creative Consultant: Tucker Gates. Director of Photography: Pete Konczal. Second Camera: Jon Cooper. Key Grip: Chris Wiesehahn. Gaffer: Jesse Newton. First Assistant Camera: Sara Boardman & Shane Duckworth. Sound: James Tate. Set Dresser: Jess Coles. Hair: Peter Butler. Makeup: Matin. Production Assistant: Agatha Lewandowski & Melanie McLean. Editor: Ilya Chaiken.

Artworks Courtesy of: Nick Cave; Theaster Gates; Barbara Kasten; Chris Ware; BAM Hamm Archives; Bortolami Gallery; Cranbrook Art Museum; Margaret Jenkins Dance Company; The New Yorker magazine and Condé Nast; James Prinz Photography; Jack Shainman Gallery; Sara Linnie Slocum; Chris Strong Photography; & White Cube. Acquired Photography: Sara Pooley; The Art Channel/Bobbin Productions; & University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach.

Special Thanks: The Art21 Board of Trustees; 900/910 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association; Michael Aglion; Ellen Hartwell Alderman; Adam Baumgold Gallery; Naomi Beckwith; Biba Bell; Stefania Bortolami; Kate Bowen; Pat Casteel; Chicago Embassy Church; Coachman Antique Mall; Maria J. Coltharp; John Corbett; Department of Theatre & Dance, Wayne State University; Detroit School of Arts; Christina Faist; Bob Faust; Martina Feurstein; Julie Fracker; William Gill; Graham Foundation; Jen Grygiel; Sarah Herda; Jennon Bell Hoffmann; Sheree Hovsepian; Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania; Istanbul Biennial; Nicola Jeffs; Jenette Kahn; Jill Katz; Alex Klein; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Jon Lowe; Sheila Lynch; Mana Contemporary Chicago; Christine Messineo; Laura Mott; Deborah Payne; Bishop Ed Peecher; Lisa Pooler; Rebuild Foundation; Diana Salier; Tim Samuelson; Amy Schachman; Zeynep Seyhun; Keith Shapiro; Alexandra Small; Jacqueline Stewart; Hamza Walker; Clara Ware; Marnie Ware; & Steve Wylie.

Additional Art21 Staff: Maggie Albert; Lindsey Davis; Joe Fusaro; Jessica Hamlin; Jonathan Munar; Bruno Nouril; Pauline Noyes; Kerri Schlottman; & Diane Vivona.

Public Relations: Cultural Counsel. Station Relations: De Shields Associates, Inc. Legal Counsel: Albert Gottesman.

Dedicated To: Susan Sollins, Art21 Founder.

Major support for Season 8 is provided by National Endowment for the Arts, PBS, Lambent Foundation, Agnes Gund, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and The Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.

©2016 Art21, Inc.

[jetjust]

Ryley walker bill mackay

Songs run the gamut from fingerstyle ballads to psychedelic waltzes and raga-inspired blues. Land of Plenty is completely instrumental and falls somewhere between Ryley Walker’s acclaimed new album, Primrose Green (Dead Oceans), and Bill MacKay’s highly melodic work in Darts & Arrows. Alex Inglizian of Experimental Sound Studios recorded the final two shows of the residency and Erik Hall (In Tall Buildings, Wild Belle) mixed the seven tracks that comprise Land of Plenty. Each week, songs took on new shapes, while others were written and added to the always-evolving set list. The overall spirit of the residency was that of a creative workshop producing music that ran in directions as wide as the duo’s interests. In January 2015, Bill and Ryley took up a month-long, Friday night residency at The Whistler, a live music venue/gallery/record label in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Over the course of the year, an impressive repertoire of new songs and ideas coalesced. The duo quickly developed their own musical vocabulary and the resulting sounds drew on traditional folk music from Appalachia to Northern India, as well as jazz and blues. They soon began meeting at Bill’s southwest Chicago home to write and improvise together on their lived-in dreadnought 6-string guitars, with Ryley's 12-string and Bill's requinto making frequent appearances as the year wore on. Chicago-based guitarists Bill MacKay and Ryley Walker met in January 2014 at a friend’s birthday party where they discovered a mutual admiration for Albert King, Laura Nyro, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Ali Akbar Khan and Jimi Hendrix.

[theslowbell]

We’ve been trying to do this for two years. Slow Bell Trio (myself, Keefe Jackson and Steven Hess) finally got into the studio today. Making sound creations in a room, on the fly with these humans was fucking great! No headphones, no overdubs, no playback listening parties. Just one improvisational piece after the next for a few hours. "First thought, best thought” (to quote Allen Ginsburg). “Spontaneous and fearless! Alex Inglizian at the controls kept it all flowing smoothly. I really do miss Experimental Sound Studio, such a cultural gem that Chicago is lucky to have. #experimentalmusic #improvisedmusic #avantgardemusic #musiqueconcrete #electroacousticmusic

[sinceileftyoublog]

Bill MacKay & Katinka Kleijn: Stir and Shatter

Bill MacKay (left) and Katinka Kleijn (right); Photo by Ricardo E. Adame

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Throughout their seven years of collaboration, guitarist Bill MacKay and cellist Katinka Kleijn have toed the line between composition and improvisation. “I felt like we had this strong chemistry right away,” MacKay told me a couple months ago. “Sometimes you go along for a while and you don’t know how it’s gonna build, but it seems like it has splintered into a few things.” Indeed, the duo have played together as part of countless bills, and Kleijn contributed to SpiderBeetleBee, the most recent Ryley Walker-MacKay duo record, back in 2017. What they do continues to be informed by their classical backgrounds and explorations into experimental mediums. “There’s been such a range,” said MacKay. “We’ll play a few songs, some will be compositions, some will be sketches for graphics. It’s fair to say that a lot of them have been free-form, but it feels so song-y to play with her. It feels like we’re drawing out long melodies and a lot of chaos, too, and all kinds of elements of things that are part of ourselves. It all feels like composition to me, but it’s not.” This dichotomy has formalized in STIR, the duo’s first record that came out last month on MacKay’s home, Drag City.

On paper, the album’s story is straightforward: MacKay wrote some themes, and the two played off of them. STIR was recorded at Experimental Sound Studio by Alex Inglizian, with just MacKay and his guitar and amplifier and Kelijn’s cello, with only four microphones, a couple in the room and a couple up high about 10-15 above them, in one pass through. They went through a few complete mixes with Nick Broste at Shape Shoppe to adjust to the album’s loud-quiet-loud dynamic, and then the album went on for mastering by Carl Saff. But like its labyrinthine cover, STIR is a record that rewards beneath the surface. Inspired by Hermann Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf, it shares characteristics of great novels, from its subtle foreshadowing to its callbacks that avoid wink-and-nod obviousness. Of course, the playing is as expert as you’d expect from these two, but it’s the album’s informal, yet strong narrative structure that impresses most, buoyed by MacKay’s writing.

Tonight, MacKay and Kleijn play a release show for STIR at Elastic Arts with visuals by Timothy Breen, and tomorrow at the Old Capitol Museum in Iowa City. (Brett Naucke opens tonight.) Read my conversation with MacKay, edited for length and clarity, below, where he touches on the making of the record, the history of his relationship to Hesse, and the gems in his current musical rotation.

Since I Left You: Was STIR at all informed by your and Katinka’s prior performances? Or were the songs totally new?

Bill MacKay: It was new in the sense that we had the framework and themes that I wrote for the pieces, and we had that going into it, but we also knew there would be a lot of jumping off points and we would glide around and shatter in a lot of different areas. But it was definitely our vocabulary together that was informed by prior performances. I listen to it, and even if it’s not specific thematic parts in the improvisation, it’s the colors of what we do together and this mixture that’s intriguing, of the classical elements and jazz and noise. It transcends the genres to me--it feels like a hybrid of some sorts.

SILY: You definitely have those different worlds in your contexts. Katinka’s in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra but also does noisy, experimental stuff, and you're in the folk and the experimental and jazz worlds.

BM: I [also] studied classical guitar as a kid. It was really brief, but certain things about it were so influential and stayed with me. The way things moved around, and keeping two melodies going. It made me appreciate classical music more. So we come from all these similar worlds, yet quite different at the same time. It feels unique to me. You don’t see electric guitar and cello all the time, either.

SILY: So you had the bases for the themes you had written. Beyond that, was what ended up as the final product mostly improvised?

BM: There’s a lot of improvisation on it. I suppose it would be like a lot of jazz records. You have the themes, some of them are more extended than others, and some are quite brief, but it’s the theme that informs or colorizes what follows. Sometimes we return to the themes, and sometimes we don’t. What sometimes bothered me about playing jazz is I would have a theme or melody I liked that was the head tune, but sometimes, the middle would have no connection to it. People would go off but not return to it or play threads of it. Sometimes, it was this weird sandwich, and everything was separate. On this one, we were cognizant of the melodic parts and the written material, so we came back to it. It threads its way in. Sometimes really subtly. I was listening to the other day and heard some stuff Katinka was playing that was related to the theme that was threaded in. I was happy about how it came out.

SILY: How did you go about deciding where one track ends and another begins?

BM: What we tried to do was follow what the plan of the composition was. I thought of it as the themes being separate ideas or entities that we would run together as much as possible, maybe with brief pauses. Most of it follows that: This is where the idea ends. Maybe we’d recap the idea. A couple times, the choices were definitely multi-variable.

SILY: There are groupings of track names that go together, and groupings of tracks sonically that go together, and they’re a bit different. “Hermine” and “The Hermetic Circle” and “No One Here is a Stranger”. Linguistically, the first two go together, and the idea of the third has to do with the first two. At the same time, “The Hermetic Circle” is where the record gets quieter and more playful. 

BM: I was thinking about that: If people only hear the first couple tracks, they’ll think, “Oh, this is gonna be of this tenor. And it’s gonna be dark and crazy and I’m gonna be scared and all this stuff.” The phase and the dimension changes a lot with that third one. I don’t think our choices would have been drastically different, but there were parts where we said that the feeling of one went a little further or shorter because there were silences and pauses. That said, we were following a script. There was probably a moment where we would look at each other and think, “Are we plunging into this now, or playing a little more of something?”

SILY: Also, “Door to the Magic Theatre” and “A Series of Doors” go together linguistically.

BM: For something that’s as clear as that, I barely noticed it. Or I did and it went out of my mind or something. To some degree, the titles relate to Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf. 

SILY: When were you first aware of that book in your life?

BM: I think it was probably as a teenager. I really got into his work so much as a teenager, Beneath the Wheel and Siddhartha and The Glass Bead Game and Steppenwolf and Demian. There was this range of books that I was reading.

SILY: At what point did you decide to make music inspired by Steppenwolf?

BM: I think it was only a little before it, but it had been on my mind for a long time. I wanted to return to Hesse more. It always seemed like his themes resonated with me. There was some kinship with his work. In that way, there was an aesthetic thing I was trying to reach for. I also felt I had already done it with others I felt the same way about. I think it was in the last couple years it really occurred to me and started writing these themes that worked.

SILY: Do you think the record follows a story or narrative?

BM: You know, I like to think that those things do in one sense, but maybe to people it would seem superficial. People often return to words and say, “A story must have words and is told in this way.” But then again, on the other hand, stories of ascension or spiritual discovery have been told so many times, like a story like Steppenwolf, but it’s his particular way of doing it that’s his identity. I hope or think that people get a similar story from what we’re doing. The beginning is like a prologue feel of setting a scene, there are feelings of chaos and struggle to some degree that enter into it, and some elegiac lyrical moments that imply certain states of mind. And there’s a feeling of a conclusion to me, and a drawn out part before that with a return of some of the themes. It feels symphonic to me in that way.

SILY: One cliche that this record avoids is the introduction as an overture. “Here’s my palate, here are all of the colors I’m going to be using throughout this album.”

BM: [laughs] I’m glad you said that. I kind of agree about those things. “Wow, this is weird, I’m getting a taste of these 4-6 themes that will be part of this long thing after.”

SILY: It’s like a rock opera.

BM: Is there a particular reason for that for you? Do you feel like they’re giving away the movie before you’ve seen it?

SILY: Somewhat. I feel like it’s just overdone and it has to be done really well. There are plenty of classic rock albums that do it that are fun and great.

BM: And plenty of symphonic works.

SILY: More than anything, I don’t inherently dislike it, but I like when things defy my expectations, especially in the context of it being a prelude or an intro. If it’s given that name or identity but then ends up not being what I think it’s gonna be, it’s a more fun experience, especially on repeat listens.

BM: That’s true. It’s something that can’t be valued enough. I got turned on to this book of stories by Denis Johnson, Jesus’ Son. It’s only 100 pages, but I got through the whole thing in like a day because I’m just so gripped. There are constant twists and turns and expectations being upended, and not in a blatant way or trying to hard or trying to shock you. It’s these completely natural occurrences. I love that, it’s so great.

SILY: What’s the inspiration behind the album title?

BM: I can’t really figure out why we came to this word, but there was a lot of searching through different things. Sometimes finding titles for records is the most torturous thing. A song can be hard, too, but it’s only a chip. This is a more public, visible, longer-lasting thing. The pressure to get something that feels right is on you more. I’ll just have reams of pages of titles and things, in different combinations, on and on. Katinka and I liked [“stir”] when we thought about it because it had more meanings than we had thought of. When you think of many words, you do so only in the context of where you need it at the moment. With this, there were lots: stirring up trouble, things that stir in the night, stir your imagination, and really pragmatic things like stirring your coffee. It seemed like a good one that way.

SILY: What about the cover art?

BM: The cover art is by this fellow Marko Markovic. He’s an artist who is friends with folks at Drag City. We were looking around at a few different things, and his work was presented to us as an idea. We were looking around at different parts of it, and three felt possible, but we kept coming back to that piece. It feels in one way like it’s simple and very primal and has this square, but there’s so much going on in that woodwork and crazy labyrinth of lattice work. Katinka had a beautiful phrase: It was something that on the surface seemed really simple but as you looked closer had this intensely woven textured narrative. She said it more gracefully than me.

SILY: Is there anything that you’ve been listening to or watching lately that’s caught your attention?

BM: I just picked up this album in Burlington, Vermont at a record store by Syrinx, an band from the early 70′s. Prog rock, lots of Mellotron, a bit of Zombies and King Crimson, but kind of their own things. I’ve been grooving on that; I’m not even through it all, it’s a three-record box set. I’ve also been grooving on the last few Mary Lattimore records. And then Dead Rider. A good chunk of artists on Drag City. Whenever I go there, I often come back with a stack of records. 

[lamathryf]

Deep Blue from Joe Nankin on Vimeo.

A young Mennonite woman harbors a secret romance on the eve of her baptism.

69° FESTIVAL DEL FILM LOCARNO OFFICIAL SELECTION - PARDI DI DOMANI 13° CURTOCIRCUITO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PHI CENTRE - 'BEST SHORT FILMS OF LOCARNO 2016 EASTERN OREGON FILM FESTIVAL 2017 MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL 2017 MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL 2017 NexT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Written and Directed by Joe Nankin
 Produced by Bradley Smith and Irma Kollar
 Made in Association with Sprinkle Lab

Cast (In Order of Appearance): Eva - Emily Anuszczyk Paul - Elijah Silva Jan - Jack Kirchner Mill Worker - Jim Achilles Johan - Joe Fitzgerald Paul’s Daughter - Raya Loftis Baptism Guests - Laura Fettig, Frankie Fleming, Indra Clark, Dawn Selene, Dennis Eicholtz, Kierstyn Reed, Ryan Reaves, Spring Toms, Richard Roth Water Diviner - Nell Wreyford


Cinematography by Katelin Arizmendi 
1st AC - Steve Griggs 2nd AC - Troy Eric Dickerson 3rd AC - Shannon Bringham 
Gaffer - Geoff Taylor 
Key Grip - Steve Forbes 
Wardrobe - Natalie Ebaugh Wardrobe Assistant - Frankie Fleming 
 Art Direction/Props - Matt West 
Production Sound - Nan Ho Second Unit DP - Steve Griggs

Original Score - Edo Vanbreemen Performer - Ross Chait Sound Design and Mix - Alex Inglizian

Color - Derek Hansen at MPC

Title Designs - Nicholas Almquist

Special Thanks - Carmen Smith, Judy Smith, Sheri Vogel, Gerald and Natalie Nankin, Michael and Liz Nankin, Terrance Goode, Elaine Field, Ron Blum, Alex and Sid Lavan, Lisa Kurchner, Milo Ward, Jackson Kroopf, Philip Gotanda, Ray Grant, Mira Koppel, Panavision Hollywood, Little Giant, Alex Takacs, Willy Mann, ESS Chicago, Bridget Bancroft, Katie Fleming, Michael Perlmutter, Gregg Hartunain, Djavan Santos

[carlos-ritter]

DEEP BLUE from Joe Nankin on Vimeo.

Eva, 18 years old, wakes up on the day of her baptism beside her lover. After bolting home before her absence is noticed, she prepares for her big day, the lingering memory of the night before haunting her.

69° FESTIVAL DEL FILM LOCARNO OFFICIAL SELECTION - PARDI DI DOMANI 13° CURTOCIRCUITO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PHI CENTRE - 'BEST SHORT FILMS OF LOCARNO 2016 EASTERN OREGON FILM FESTIVAL 2017 MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL 2017 MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL 2017 NexT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Written and Directed by Joe Nankin
 Produced by Bradley Smith and Irma Kollar
 Made in Association with Sprinkle Lab

Cast (In Order of Appearance): Eva - Emily Anuszczyk Paul - Elijah Silva Jan - Jack Kirchner Mill Worker - Jim Achilles Johan - Joe Fitzgerald Paul’s Daughter - Raya Loftis Baptism Guests - Laura Fettig, Frankie Fleming, Indra Clark, Dawn Selene, Dennis Eicholtz, Kierstyn Reed, Ryan Reaves, Spring Toms, Richard Roth Water Diviner - Nell Wreyford


Cinematography by Katelin Arizmendi 
1st AC - Steve Griggs 2nd AC - Troy Eric Dickerson 3rd AC - Shannon Bringham 
Gaffer - Geoff Taylor 
Key Grip - Steve Forbes 
Wardrobe - Natalie Ebaugh Wardrobe Assistant - Frankie Fleming 
 Art Direction/Props - Matt West 
Production Sound - Nan Ho

Second Unit DP - Steve Griggs

Original Score - Edo Vanbreemen Performer - Ross Chait Sound Design and Mix - Alex Inglizian

Color - Derek Hansen at MPC

Title Designs - Nicholas Almquist

Special Thanks - Carmen Smith, Judy Smith, Sheri Vogel, Gerald and Natalie Nankin, Michael and Liz Nankin, Terrance Goode, Elaine Field, Ron Blum, Alex and Sid Lavan, Lisa Kurchner, Milo Ward, Jackson Kroopf, Philip Gotanda, Ray Grant, Mira Koppel, Panavision Hollywood, Little Giant, Alex Takacs, Willy Mann, ESS Chicago, Bridget Bancroft, Katie Fleming, Michael Perlmutter, Gregg Hartunain, Djavan Santos

[budaallmusic]

Wolter Wierbos / Jasper Stadhouders / Tim Daisy ‎– Sounds In A Garden #relayrecording 2016 (dwl only) Composed By – Jasper Stadhouders, Tim Daisy, Wolter Wierbos Design [Cover Design] – #DanMohr Drums – #TimDaisy Electric Bass, Electric Guitar – #JasperStadholder Recorded By, Mixed By, Mastered By – Alex Inglizian Trombone – #WolterWierbos

[brainframe]

CAKE FRAME, a hybrid fundraiser event for the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) organized by the performative comix reading series BRAIN FRAME, was a lot of fun and a great success. In between comix performances from Andy Burkholder, Alyssa Herlocher, Jeremy Pettis and Paul Nudd, our host Lyra Hill auctioned off dozens of original artworks by Chicago cartoonists. Emma Rand, Brain Frame’s astronomically talented intern, played Vanna White while musicians Stephen Ptácek and Alex Inglizian improvised accompaniment, on April 12th, 2013.

Video thanks to Burton Bilharz.

[319scholes]

Arcanebolt, 2011 Artist: Arcanebolt (Mark Beasley, Alex Inglizian, Tamas Kemenczy) Description: Arduino controller and hacked electronics

Exhibition: Big Reality

[instrumentconstruction]

A few photos from Alex Inglizian's presentation and synth building workshop, on March 16.