Okay, kids–the time is now. “Dance For a Small Room,” a new work that is the result of almost eight months of collaboration between Ellen Cornfield and myself, premieres this weekend at the Abrons Arts Center. The work features the full company of Cornfield Dance in addition to two guest artists from the Jose Limon Company. Full details may be found on the “Events” page.
In addition to the electronic score, the work features the talents of several wonderful musicians who accompany the performance onstage throughout the work. I’ve been working with these folks (Ben Syversen-trumpet, Michael Eaton-tenor saxophone, Don Undeen and Morgan Price-bass clarinet, John Lindaman and Jeff Litman-guitar, and Madelyn Burgess-electric bass) all week in rehearsal, and their efforts continue to astound me. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
Here are a few excerpts from the score–enjoy:
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Hope to see you there!
Koven music, Performances cornfield dance, dance, dance for a small room, Electronic music, José Limón
First off, thanks for those of you who came to the Latin Hustle show a few weeks back–the response was overwhelming and beautiful. There are some nice pitchers that various friends took of the show, which hopefully I’ll be able to post soon.
Aaaaanyway, I’ve pretty much been writing music almost nonstop since then, in preparation for the upcoming performances of “Dance for a Small Room” with Cornfield Dance (see the Events page for more information on that). So here, with little fanfare, is some very new music that you will be hearing as part of the new piece. It’s super-new (less than 24 hours old!), so please forgive the fact that it cuts off, seemingly right in the middle. That will be fixed later. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Added an ending, sort of.
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Koven music, Works In Progress Companies, cornfield dance, dance, in progress, music
Kids, come on out and see me play with John Lindaman’s Latin Hustle tomorrow night at Spike Hill in Brooklyn. It’s going to be a great time. We’ll be playing some of John’s True Love Always tunes, several lovely João Gilberto songs, and at least one Mariah Carey tune. John puts it best; here is an excerpt from the Latin Hustle blog:
Newly added to the Latin Hustle Fantasy Bossa Nova League Dream Team are the redoubtable Koven J. Smith on drums, the indefatigable Madelyn Burgess on bass and vocals, the insoluble Gideon Crevoshay at the piano and with vocals, and the indescribable Sean Imboden as “The Flute Player”. Individually, they are formidable. Together, we are unstoppable. This summer, all the pieces fit.
More info on the events page.
Koven music, Performances João Gilberto, john lindaman, latin hustle, true love always
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so–I’ve actually (ye gods!) been writing music of late. Ellen and I have been working on a new piece for a while now, and it’s taken an unusually long time to take shape. We’ll be workshopping a segment of this new piece with Cornfield Dance at an event at the Alvin Ailey studios in a few weeks (more details on that will be forthcoming as soon as I have them). For the time being, though, here is the music I’ve been working on for this piece so far. I’m not sure how I feel about this music yet–I like it, but in a “we’ve just met” sort of way. I think I need to live with it a bit more. Anyway, here are about eight minutes of what will eventually become “Dance For a Small Room.” Enjoy!
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Koven music, Works In Progress cornfield dance, dance, koven j. smith
So here are a few pics taken by my friend Matt Chandler during the Sonic Uke set at last Saturday’s Ukulele Cabaret. I like that my hands are blurry in both pictures–it makes me look like the fastest drummer ever made.
Matt ChandlerRetired Time Bomb
A video of our complete set can be found at the Midnight Ukulele Disco site. I think you get a good sense in the video of the full power of our set and the general excellence of the multiple costume changes. It doesn’t really tell you what it’s like to play “Big Takeover” with Ted’s hula-skirted ass right up in your face, but I guess that’s a pain I’ll keep all to myself.
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Listening to: Deerhoof – Wrong Time Capsule
via FoxyTunes
Koven music, Performances sonic uke, ukulele
