TONIGHT..NAKED IN THE RAIN...

Yes... tonights even is happening. rain. shine. moonlight. clouds. tornados unicorn attacks etc. all of it. It's not called Wonderland for nothing people. Online ticket sales have ended but you can buy tickets at the door on a first come first serve basis, until we are at capacity. We will let more people in throughout the night as we are able..  See you in Wonderland. xx

Sets are as follows:

5:15 - Brian Coogan

6:15 - Zoe Boekbinder

7:30 - Naked Orchestra

8:30 - Glenn Hartman

9:30 - Anna Pardenik

WHAT's HAPPENING!

Great Question! Thanks for asking. With all the love and chaos that is Jazz Fest, often we are hard pressed to find things off the festival grounds that are laced with true innovation. So, for the love of sound and in celebration of this most delightful time of year, the Sound Observatory is hosting all music lovers and festival goers alike for a magical evening of new music and creativity. Art collector and fun curator, Stacy Hoover, opens her doors to Wonderland, the beautiful Bywater home and artist residence that will be the decadent location of another spectacular party!

Musical happenings include some great opportunities to catch totally new music, performances of rare solo sets, and a get-down performance by free-jazz big band The Naked Orchestra. In the spirit of spring time in New Orleans, there will be a crawfish boil bubbling throughout the night, The lovely ladies of Two Girls One Shuck are serving up the aphrodisiacs at their raw oyster bar, and some more neighborhood friends will be concocting adult beverages in the garden late into the evening.

For this event, we hope to present you with an especially unique experience during the jazz fest season in which neighbors and travelers together can witness the marvel of creative music through exceptional performances and in a much more intimate environment. The acts we've curated are rather uncommon, some never before seen, and we hope that you will join us at hearing out the sounds and peering through the looking glass in Wonderland.

On the program is friend of the Observatory and amazing musician, Brian Coogan. Known for his naturally minimalist approach and his intuitive understanding of genres and theory, Brian Coogan, is one of New Orleans’ most unique and versatile pianists. He has been a huge influence and creative contributor to the world renowned electronic group, Pretty Lights, collaborating on various live performances and recordings with the group including the 2013 album, A Color Map of the Sun.  Coogan joins us in Wonderland to perform an intimate solo set at the parlor’s baby grand piano.

At some point in the evening, you may hear the mysterious sounds of Glenn Hartman of the Klezmer Allstars echoing through the garden. Look up and find him in the branches of a myrtle tree performing an artistic set of solo accordion to all those below.

Then, premiering her long term, politically ambitious project is Zoe Boekbinder and her Prison Music Project. Zoe has worked side by side with nine incarcerated artists of New Folsom Prison in Sacramento, California to write and create new works of music, songs, and poetry. Acting as a human recording device, Zoe has learned their work and their stories, and will present them to us at Wonderland in what will be a truly inspiring performance and in a broader category, a great accomplishment for humanitarian activism against the prison industrial complex through MUSIC. These songs will be heard here for the first time at a public performance and will soon be released by Ani Difranco’s Righteous Babe Records on their very own album dedicated to the project.

Finally,  we bring you our favorite free-jazz big band, the sound sculpting, note inventing, improvisers, the Naked Orchestra led by Jonathan Freilich , conducted  by Jimbo Walsh and for this special festival addition saxophonist Skerik and his radical saxophonics from the underworld,  of Garage a Trois and the Dead Kenny G’s, joins the orchestra for the evening. The Naked Orchestra will rock the garden at Wonderland with all original works and arrangements. Be sure to buy your ticket in advance, as there will be a limited number available at the door! Oh look at that, you can get them right here. TICKETS

 Have an amazing festival... we'll see you in Wonderland!

STAR FIELD. SATURDAY. NEATO

New Music Fans! Take a moment and turn your attention to STAR FIELD , the latest collaborative effort helmed by our friend and fellow composer, James Partidge.  We asked James about the intention that drove such an elaborate collaborative effort and his thoughts about presenting new music in a contemporary art/gallery setting,  here is what he had to say..

 We wanted to present this concert in a space that we were able to define ourselves.  That is why it seemed a natural fit to approach Parse Art Gallery. We're using the beautiful third floor space and installing are own artwork to match each piece of music. Jacques Duffourc has created a revolving screen that will have projections thrown on it as each piece is played.  Therefore, not only the projections but the backdrop will shift for each song.  These 7 different backdrops, for 7 different pieces of music (written by 7 different composers!), will be painted by Jacques Duffourc, Page Goss and Francis Wong.  We've created a fully immersive concert experience.

Partridge describes Star Field  as an interactive performance between musicians, artists, and community members. Seven  diverse groups of people living in New Orleans converged with  seven New Orleans  composers who each wrote one piece of music related to their respective community group. The resulting compositions will be played by Partridges large ensemble, The Giant Peach, which features Simon Lott, Emily Fredrickson, Jason Weaver, James Partridge, Jeronne Amari Ansari, Ricio Fruge, John Maestas. Collaborating composers on for the project are  Rex Gregory, Simon Lott, Jeronne Amari Ansari, Allen Hall, Ricio Fruge, Jacques Duffourc, and Jimbo Walsh. Visual projection and installation by Jacques Duffourc, Page Goss, Francis Wong, and filmographer Ana Dunjic.

ALL OF THIS is happening one night only, THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 18 at 7:30PM  at Parse Gallery in the CBD. If you are reading this blog post, we think you should make it your personal mission to attend this unique event.  We have also been informed that your ticket to the show includes an open bar... Nice one James. 

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New Music & New Friends - Saying Goodbye To The Dostis

Dosti is an Urdu and Hindi word meaning friendship and we've found that it perfectly describes the Found Sound Nation's music project.  The fellows came from various cities in Pakistan, India, and the United States and have been traveling the southern states together for one month, creating new music, sharing discoveries and teaching audiences about their home countries through their unique styles and instruments. They created original music from the diverse instrumentation that they were presented with while inevitably inventing new genres altogether. Tatiana Silver Hargreaves, American roots style fiddle player crossed frequencies with a classical sarodist, Debanjan Bhattacharjee from India. A live electronic artist manipulated the mic during a vocal tabla solo, and a 103 year old sarangi played by one of four sarangi players in Pakistan today harmonized with a clarinet.

It was really a spectacular set of performances last week at various venues and each one very different from the last. The first night at the Blue Nile harbored the improvisational, unpredictable, and unplanned, and the final show at Snug Harbor was an amalgamation of the pieces that have been in the creative process since the group first met. The Tigermen Den was an especially beautiful night in which the Bywater locals meandered in, not knowing quite what to expect, and perhaps being a bit surprised, but definitely pleased, at what they found, an event featuring the amazing food from the chef at Bhava, a very engaged audience, and also featuring the entrancing sound of the G-String Orchestra and lively rhythms of Steamboat Calypso.

As awesome of a musical endeavor this is for obvious artistic reasons, it is also important to note the social implications of the Dosti Music Project. Co-founders of Found Sound Nation and the Dosti Music Project, Jeremy Thal and Chris Marianetti, hope to remind people that there is in fact peace and productivity between these nations, though the media tends to prefer not to portray that side of the spectrum. This music is a small example of friendship and the breaking of social or political constructs in order to create something beautiful and beneficial to all people. Through music, the most diverse group of people and perspectives become a singularity, a friendship. Friendship is made through music and the music is made through friendship.

To learn more about each individual musician and their bounty of incredible accomplishments, visit their profiles on the Dosti website at http://dostimusic.org/musicians/

ALSO, to read more about some current social initiatives by the U.S. embassy in Pakistan, made possible by music, check out this awesome article http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/entertainment/13-Mar-2015/pakistani-showcase-at-the-south-by-southwest-music-festival

...and stay tuned for whats next from SONO!

Open Ears: The Dosti Music Project

Let's all take a moment to recognize how amazing the  OPEN EARS MUSIC SERIES is! Each Tuesday Trombonist JEFF ALBERT curates a group of people, band or not so much, to stretch out on his stage at the Blue Nile for those who will listen. He shared the night with SONO at the last session and we joined forces with THE NAKED ORCHESTRA to give the Dosti Fellows a taste of some real down and dirty New Orleans creative improvisational music.

The Dostis took the stage to share their own set of improv oriented pieces based on their experiences on tour thus far and brush elbows with players from all corners and disciplines of music in our fine city. The juxtaposition of the two bands put the hard driving, riot inciting large ensemble THE NAKED ORCHESTRA back to back with the sensitive atmospheric sound shapes and spoken stories of the DOSTI PROJECT.  The result... worked.  Our Dosti Fellows had the opportunity to see the kinds of things New Orleans improvisors are capable of while adding new perspective to their music and sharing with us the musical stylings of their own cities . It was a delicious song, sound, and story gumbo, an especially tasty Tuesday night.

Check in this weekend for more events from the Dosti Music Project who will be performing in collaboration with Steamboat Calypso, the G-string orchestra, Cliff Hines & Jasen Weaver, and more! See you there...

SONO + DOSTI MUSIC PROJECT MARCH 9-17

THE SOUND OBSERVATORY is pleased to announce our first New Orleans new music residency in partnership with Bang on a Can's FOUND SOUND NATION. March 9 we will welcome ten Dosti Music Fellows to the Bywater for 8 days to collaboratively write, record and perform an album of original music born out of these collaborations. 

The Dosti Music Project brings together musicians from Pakistan, India, and the U.S. for a monthlong residency and tour (February 23-March 21, 2015). An initiative of the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, produced by Bang on a Can’s Found Sound Nation, Dosti invites four Pakistanis, four Indians, and two U.S. musicians from a wide variety of traditions, ranging from Sufi singing to beatmaking to avant-garde jazz, to collaboratively write, record, and perform original music, re-invent traditional music, and develop initiatives that will make a positive impact on communities locally and internationally. Dosti, which means friendship in both Urdu and Hindi, seeks to transcend political and cultural barriers through cross-cultural musical collaboration.

SONO has curated a first class New Orleans experience for these innovative musicians starting with a crash course in New Orleans styles and history from the Lady herself, Germaine Bazzle and master Mitchell Player. The Fellows will perform some of their new work in small and large ensembles collaborating with some of the city's most innovative and encompassing musicians in a variety of different settings. They will erect a free, public street studio outside of Dancing Grounds on St. Claude Avenue during second Saturday and invite everyone to lend their musical talents ( or lack thereof ) to the collaborative effort. They will experience Super Sunday, a dinner pop-up at the Tigermen's Den, a lecture and demonstration for a 9th ward middle school orchestra and a classy culminating performance at the legendary Snug Harbor before moving on to the dusty chaos of the SXSW Music Festival. We will keep you updated on the happenings and you give us a shout if you want to get involved.. deal?

THE FUTURE IS NOW.

Happy Jazz Fest New Orleans! As we watch people from all over the world make the annual pilgrimage to the fairgrounds I'm reminded of the adventurous and pioneering spirit that founded the festival in the 1970's. It's easy to keep this on the front brain as we announce SONO and our mission to the world. In fact, SONO headquarters occupy the former residence of Alison Miner herself!  At that time, a festival that celebrated the rich musical culture here in New Orleans was a genius idea. It allowed artists traveling the world the time, space and funds to do their thing, in their hometown, allowed for collaboration and special musical moments that are still recalled to this day. Now, in 2014, the music festival model has become a force in popular music. The New Orleans festival has modernized to compete with other commercial festivals in breadth, attendance and long term viability. It is safe to say it is quite a different beast than the one idealized and actualized in the 70's and we are left to develop a new model to address the current needs of our creative community. The times have changed but the spirit remains the same.  You will see Brad Walker, Paul Thibodeaux and Aurora Nealand playing in all sorts of bands all over the fairgrounds, but since the impetus for the free jazz tent has yet to manifest, you might have missed this gem of a trio. Enjoy!