Event Horizon presents Bad Electric, Ethan Helm, and David Berends
Drawing from the hum of rhythmic beeping sounds and the ethereal wash of manipulated recordings, Bad Electric forges soundscapes that exist on the fringes of monotony and intrigue. The New Jersey Pine Barrens based musician creates an immersive world that is both unsettling and beautiful, using sonic textures as a primary language.
Ethan Helm plays the saxophone, writes music, leads Cowboys & Frenchmen,drinks a responsible amount of coffee, works with dancers, wakes up early, releases albums, improvises, wanders through old neighborhoods, collaborates, plays the flute, listens, writes books, teaches at NYU, holds a PhD, came from Southern California, attended Eastman School of Music, lives in New York City, and daydreams often.
From the age of four when he first heard the grannies in Sunday school plunking out hymns on a beat-up old upright, composer David Berends has been spellbound by the harmonies, melodies and structures of this mystical aural artform we call music. Classically trained in piano at Peabody Conservatory and the Westminster Choir College and in music theory at UPenn and Princeton, his informal training came though countless gigs and jams with artists ranging from guitarist Stanley Jordan to Rock’n’Roll pioneer Chuck Berry to prog rockers Tank and New Wave band The Name. Over the years, Berends has released four CDs of his original piano compositions on classical labels Albany Records and I Virtuosi Records while also briefly leading a straight-ahead piano trio performing many of his jazz charts. Recently, much of his musical focus has been on recording and performing with numerous jazz, fusion, and electronica musicians throughout the Northeast, including guitarist Karl Fury, keyboardist Neil Alexander, the late, great Tony “TNT” Jones [bass] and legendary Philly drummer G. Calvin Weston. Berends is also a founding member of Two Bald Wizards (ongoing) featuring the brilliant hand percussionist, Michael Mironov. As a solo electronica artist, Berends creates music both challenging and pleasing, be it tonal or not, with elements of jazz, rock, classical, cinema, ambient and experimental.
Admission is FREE