RANDOM RUMINATIONS (BROWN+POETHIG+GARABEDIAN) / REASON+GELB+BRUCKMANN

west oakland sound series: a weekly new music and experimental sound series every sunday
About this Event

RANDOM RUMINATIONS
(CHRIS BROWN + JOHANNA POETHIG + RAFFI GARABEDIAN)
DANA REASON + PHILIP GELB + KYLE BRUCKMANN

Random Ruminations is a work for a "Geryon Trio" [“Geryon” is a being with three heads, whose name derives from the ancient Greek words gê (earth) and gêryô (singing)]. Drawingon themes of absurdity, chance, and fluidity, JOHANNA POETHIG'S text, image, and oracle project intersects with an aleatoric performance by CHRIS BROWN and RAFFI GARABEDIANto form a collaborative exploration of chance, divination, and spontaneous creation. Prompted by Lyn Hejinian’s inquiry into constructive absurdity, Poethig weaves together texts, images, and casting cards that probe human attempts to forecast the future through magic, gambling, and mechanized search tools. Her work merges with Brown’s electronic composition "Geryon"—a three-headed musical model that uses software to randomly sample, process, and redistribute the musicians' live acoustic improvisations back through three speakers. Featuring Brown’s interactive electronic instrumentation alongside Garabedian’s dedicated tenor saxophone improvisation, the joint project creates a resonant, chaotic feedback loop blending history, prediction, and musical multiplicity.

DANA REASON (piano). PHILIP GELB (shakuhachi/electronics), and KYLE BRUCKMANN (oboe/electronics) premiere a new trio uniting three veterans of the international improvised music scene. Dana Reason and Philip Gelb bring decades of shared synergy to the stage, drawing on a rich collaborative history rooted in their celebrated trio with avant-garde pioneer and mentor Pauline Oliveros. They are joined by master double-reedist Kyle Bruckmann, a frequent collaborator whose distinct sonic voice completes this powerful new ensemble.