Sound Experiment
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The idea for the festival actually came from Mallozzi’s late wife, Dawn, with whom he cofounded ESS. It was planned for the fall of 1999, and by that spring, all of the artists were confirmed. Then Dawn was diagnosed with cancer, and the couple decided to postpone. “It was just a way to make some space for us, to not have this large, risky endeavor,” says Mallozzi. When Dawn died, in August 1999, the event stayed on the back burner, but Mallozzi says he never considered not doing it. An organizing committee that included sound artists John Corbett, Terri Kapsalis, M.W. Burns, Joan Dickinson, and Philip Von Zweck returned to the project early this year, and though some of the artists scheduled for ’99–including Christian Marclay–were unable to attend, Mallozzi says the lineup is very close to the original. “In terms of scope and the fact that it’s presenting works in different modalities–live performance, broadcasts, installations, and workshops and roundtable discussions–it’s exactly the way we envisioned it.”
The festival, which runs through November 22, includes installations at the Temporary Services gallery, 202 S. State, and at the 835 W. Washington building and live performances next weekend at Galvin Auditorium in Loyola University’s Sullivan Center, 6525 N. Sheridan. Among the possible highlights is “Musica Concreta,” a piece conceived in the late 60s by Guillermo Gregorio, a Buenos Aires transplant best known for his singular amalgam of chamber music improvisation, jazz, and graphic scores. The “score” is a blueprint for a table; the piece will be performed by carpenters, whose tools are cast as instruments in an homage to the concept of musique concrete. Other notable performers include Dutch vocal acrobat Jaap Blonk, pioneering composer Alvin Lucier, and Art Institute teacher Nicolas Collins, who manipulates an array of electronics via a specially rigged trombone. Some pieces designed specifically for radio will be broadcast on Loyola’s WLUW, Northwestern’s WNUR, and the University of Chicago’s WHPK.
Saturday’s program at the Museum of Contemporary Art should also be a high point. It includes the Doug Yokoyama Quartet, a Bay Area jazz group featuring the leader’s buoyant alto playing and tenorist Francis Wong’s knotty phrasing; Dave Pavkovic’s local rock-improv project Toe; and a rare duet by drummer Susie Ibarra and drum-machine master Ikue Mori. Ibarra is one of the most exciting, talented, and sought-after free jazz percussionists in New York, and Mori, a former member of the no-wave band DNA, has honed a distinctive voice by manipulating three different drum machines at once. On Sunday evening at HotHouse, Ibarra will duet with pianist Andrew Bemkey, Mori will give a solo set, Jin Hi Kim will play the electric komungo (a Korean zither), and Pook Nury, a new “Korean and Western drum group” featuring drummer Mia Park of the pop band Kim, will perform. The festival ends Monday night with a showcase of mostly Japanese blues musicians, including Yoko Noge’s band Jazz Me Blues. For tickets call 312-397-4010.
