(in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)Bowerbird Presents: 

Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental

The first large scale retrospective of composer and performer Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990)Curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Dustin Hurt; Presented in conjunction with the Eastman Estate and in collaboration with Slought and The Rotunda 

Concerts: May 5, 12, 19, and 26 at The Rotunda (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)

Exhibition: May 4 to 28 at Slought

PHILADELPHIA — Bowerbird is pleased to announce "Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental",  an interdisciplinary, multi-artist project that examines the life, work, and resurgent influence of Julius Eastman. Eastman (1940-1990) was a gay African American composer and performer who was active internationally in the 1970s and 80s, but who died homeless at the age of 49, leaving an incomplete but compelling collection of scores and recordings. 

The culmination of more than three years of research, this project  include four major concerts - including the modern premieres of several work previously thought lost (and performance by Moor Mother, Blood Orange's Devonté Hynes, Arcana New Music Ensemble, bass baritone Davone Tines, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble), and a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring archival materials and work by ten contemporary artist (Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant) that engage with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy.    

Eastman studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music from 1960 to 1964 before joining a prestigious new music group called the Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY alongside composers Petr Kotik, Gwendolyn Sims, Morton Feldman, James Fulkerson, and Jan Williams. During his highly productive years in Buffalo, he composed Thruway; a ballet score, The Moon’s Silent Modulation; Macle; Trumpet; Colors; and Stay On It; among other pieces. In the summer of 1976, Eastman moved to New York City where he became part of the “downtown” New York music scene. During this period he performed with Arthur Russell, Meredith Monk, Peter Zummo, and others in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music to downtown lofts and disco clubs. From 1976 until his death in 1990, Eastman’s “model of musicianship,” as music historian Ryan Dohoney terms it, “expanded to include free Jazz, improvisation, new wave rock, disco, as well as his own composed music that is marked by intense repetition and political aggressiveness.” This “political aggressiveness” is evident in the series of multi-piano pieces that Eastman wrote with provocative titles such as Crazy Nigger, Evil Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla. Following a series of personal struggles and misfortunes such as eviction from his apartment for non-payment of rent and the confiscation of his possessions including his musical scores, Eastman returned to Buffalo, where he died in 1990 at age 49.

That Which Is Fundamental is the first comprehensive examination of Eastman's legacy to work alongside the Eastman Estate, an organization led by Gerry Eastman to gather together, organize, preserve, disseminate, and generally further the work of his brother, Julius.

Julius Eastman's music can be online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxtLoItArrc

CONCERT PROGRAM.

Friday, May 5th, 2017 - 8pmStay on It + Feminine + In Memory of JuliusArcana New Music Ensemble with Christopher McIntyre, Gerry EastmanMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-5th-stay-on-it-femenine

Friday, May 12th, 2017 - 8pmMacle + Thruway + Buddha + New Work by Moor MotherEkmeles Vocal Ensemble, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Eastman Community Choir, Moor MotherMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-12th-macle-thruway-buddha

Friday, May 19th, 2017 - 8pmCrazy + Evil + Gay Guerilla Joseph Kubera, Dynasty Battles, Michelle Cann, Adam Tendler, Sonora Guitar EnsembleMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-19th-crazy-evil-gay

Friday, May 26th 2017 - 8pmPrelude to Joan d’Arc + the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc + New Work by Devonté HynesDevonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), Davóne Tines, Bowerbird Cello Ensemble with Stanford ThompsonMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-26th-joan-of-arc

All concerts will be in the Sanctuary of The Rotunda at 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Tickets to each concert are $12 - $25. Reservations are not required.  More information and tickets: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/concerts-overview/

EXHIBITION.

Predicated. + A Recollection.

May 4th - 28th, 2017

featuring works by Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant

A Recollection. and Predicated. is an exhibition in two parts that feature archival traces and work by ten contemporary artists that engages with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy. A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice, while Predicated., an exhibition in conversation with the work of Julius Eastman, explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, the politics of exhaustion, as well as the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography. 

Slought Foundation Gallery Hours:4017 Walnut Street, Tues - Thur: 12-5 PM, Fri: 12-8 PM, Sat: 12-5 PMPhiladelphia, PA 19104 Admission: FreeMore Information: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/exhibition/

If you're not familiar with the Eastman's story- it's pretty powerful - you might want to read a few recent articles:  

FUNDING.  Major support for THAT WHICH IS FUNDAMENTAL has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Presser Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

ABOUT BOWERBIRD.Situated at the forefront of artistic experimentation, Bowerbird is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that presents music and interdisciplinary events by local and internationally recognized artists at a variety of venues across the region. The mission of Bowerbird is to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of provocative and divergent music traditions by providing numerous and diverse opportunities to directly experience the work of today’s leading artists. For more information, visit bowerbird.org.

BIG PLASTIC FINGER, JIM TUITE, JULIUS MASRI and BONNIE KANE present

The Sensory Electric Show Immerse Your Senses and ImaginationWe invite you to share a tantalizing experience of wonder and beauty

1. Transcendent Wind - (Bonnie Kane's 5 amp flute solo) https://youtu.be/qkhuGYZf7BQ

2. Julius Masri Solo (drums, electronics) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ubpp-wbGaE

3. BIG PLASTIC FINGER w/ Jim Tuite, visuals (psychedelic avant-chamber kaleidoscope) https://youtu.be/1y6csfjeiRM

Background:

Bonnie Kane: originally from Phila, NYC, and now Holyoke, Ma. is a pioneer in electro acoustic music for saxophone and flute, specializing in improvisation. "Transcendent Wind" is her solo performance piece for flute and 5 amplifiers, utilizing the Akai E2 Headrush.

Julius Masri: born in Lebanon, is a Phila based multi instrumentalist performer and composer, specializing in drums, oud and electronics. Usually found in many collaborations, this will be a unique opportunity to experience his solo magic.

BIG PLASTIC FINGER: a 5 piece consortium of premier improvisors, BPF has graced the stages of festivals and venues throughout the East Coast. Their music is best described as psychedelic chamber (if your chamber is a kaleidoscope of paisley). Featuring (from Phila) Tracy Lisk - vocals/electronics, Travis Woodson - electric bass; (from NJ) Mark McClemens - drums; (from Holyoke, Ma) Bonnie Kane - saxophone/flute/electronics; and Scott Prato - guitar/electronics.

Jim Tuite: an experimental video artist, VJ and photographer living in Edison, NJ. He collaborates with many forward thinking creators, enhancing every performance with his vision.

Pay what you can at the door. 

 The Rotunda & Vision Driven Consulting are teaming up to bring resources and capacity-building workshops to self-producing artists/musicians and event curators in all disciplines.

Workshops are held: 2nd Monday of each month

6:00 – 8:00pm at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St, Philadelphia)

All workshops in the series are FREE and OPEN to the public! Refreshments provided. 

Special guest presenters and facilitators will be announced each month.

If you want to receive workshop reminders, join Vision Driven Artists - Philadelphia, a closed Facebook group for Philadelphia-based artist/arts organizations.

http://www.visiondrivenconsulting.com/artists.html

2016 - 2017 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Developing Campus/Community Collaborations (September 12th)

• Hear stories of successful campus and community collaborations

• Learn how to find campus and community partners

• Avoid common problems and learn how to build mutually beneficial partnerships

Goal Identification & Measurement (October 10th)

• Identify what you want to achieve in your projects

• Incorporate critical feedback and self-reflection into your arts practice

• Brainstorm and receive tools for measuring success

Nonprofit, LLC, or Fiscal Sponsorship (November 14th)

• Discuss the pros and cons of various structures – pool experiences and get new ideas

• Craft your mission statement to determine the structure that best suits your practice

• Sole-proprietor, LLC, 501(c)3: understand the structures and how your projects fit into them

2017 Planning (December 12th)

• Plan your upcoming year of work 

• Identify your goals and break them into achievable tasks

• Plot your tasks on a timeline for 2016

Fundraising Basics (January 9th)

• Learn the language of fundraising 

• Maximize opportunities beyond grants to support your projects

• Brainstorm actual fundraising ideas for your work

Taxes for Artists (January 23rd)

• Learn the language of fundraising 

• Maximize opportunities beyond grants to support your projects

• Brainstorm actual fundraising ideas for your work

Grant Writing – Beginner (February 13th) 

• Demystify the language and process behind grant writing

• Receive tools for finding grants 

• Read actual grant proposals to learn common mistakes and important proposal components 

Grant Writing – Intermediate (March 13th)

• Review aspects of a strong grant proposal

• Practice writing an actual grant 

• Receive feedback on your draft proposal 

Real Budgeting for Real Work (April 10th)

• Look at sample budgets and learn how to interpret the story behind the numbers 

• Create a budget tailored to your goals for 2016

• Learn how to assemble a project budget for potential funders

Getting People to Show Up (May 8th) 

• Learn new techniques for building an audience and your ideal project participant

• Troubleshoot issues with audience development that you may have had in the past

• Identify marketing techniques to keep people showing up to your future events

Getting New Projects off the Ground (June 12th)

• Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats of a new project 

• Think through the components of your project and its goals 

• Hone in on the details of your program or project and begin a draft project plan

Crowdfunding 101 (September 11th)

• Learn how to tell if crowdfunding is right for your project

• Discover the pros and cons of  crowdfunding platforms

• Hear from a panel of artists who have run successful crowdfunding campaigns

Speaking Tech (September 25th)

• Learn what event curators and sound engineers wish you knew when arriving to a performance

• Receive sample templates of contracts, tech riders, and advance sheets

• Practice using templates with real-life examples

Setting & Measuring Goals (October 9th)

• Identify what you want to achieve in your projects

• Incorporate critical feedback and self-reflection into your arts practice

• Brainstorm and receive tools for measuring success

Andrew’s Video Vault at The Rotunda

FREE Screenings Continuous From 8 PMon the Second THURSDAY of Every Month!Since 2004, Andrew’s Video Vault is a free, once-a-month screening series at The Rotunda in West Philadelphia programed by film director and educator Andrew Repasky McElhinney.  Andrew’s Video Vault programs original, obscure, neglected, marginalized and commercial unavailable video media. It connects the West Philly neighborhood to the University of Pennsylvania community and fosters a multicultural examination of motion pictures in a relaxed, educational setting.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Cinema Studies Program and The Rotunda at the University of Pennsylvania.VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. 

MAY 11 – EARLY ALMODOVARPepi, Luci, Bom (1980 / 81 minutes)Pedro Almodovar’s rarely screened first feature feature about three friends features many of the traits he became well known for, including the power of women, homosexuality, drugs, pitch-black comedy, and Carmen Maura.What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984 / 101 minutes)Carmen Maura gives another brilliant performance as an overwhelmed, working-class housewife in another of Almodovar’s dark comedies featuring a murderous nod to Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter”, a prostitute, child-selling, telekenesis, an impotent policeman, a lizard witness, and more drugs/homosexuality.Guest Host and Curator: Mike Zaleski

JUNE 8 – ART HOUSE EROTICA DOUBLE FEATURELa Marge (1976 / 88 minutes)This little seen erotic film about a Parisian prostitute (Sylvia Kristel) who meets a businessman (Joe Dallesandro) from the countryside is one of director Walerian Borowczyk’s greatest achievements. Despite her aloofness, their encounters develop into a deep emotional attachment as his home life falls apart and tragedy strikes.Der Bomberpilot (1970 / 65 minutes)One of the most experimental films of New German Cinema is this colorful, somewhat lurid tale from Werner Schroeter, which follows the lives of three women in a traveling cabaret troupe from the excesses of Nazi Germany to hardship in the postwar years.Guest Host and Curator: Samm Deighan 

JULY 13 – CLARA BOW DOUBLE FEATUREKid Boots (1926 / 60 minutes)Eddie Cantor stars in this slapstick comedy. His friend Tom wants a divorce, but must stay married long enough to receive an inheritance. Unfortunately, he’s in Palm Beach, and tempted by all the beautiful girls there. Cantor tries to help him stay faithful, but then falls for Clara Bow himself (and who wouldn’t?).Mantrap (1926 / 70 minutes)Lonely Canadian bachelor Joe (Ernest Torrence) takes a trip to Minneapolis. He meets a pretty manicurist (Clara Bow) in a barber shop, and soon takes her back to Mantrap, Canada to marry her. The only trouble is she can’t help constantly flirting with other men – including the divorce lawyer who comes to town.Guest Host and Curator: Andrew Gilmore 

AUGUST 10 – ’90s DRUG-FUELED FREAK-OUTSGift (1993 / 80 minues)Perry Farrell and Casey Niccoli’s experimental, shot-on-video feature telling a story of a couple’s heroin addiction, set in the rock and roll world of Farrell’s band Jane’s Addiction. Made while the band was at the height of success and publicly struggling with real-life substance abuse issues, Gift wavers uncomfortably between death-wish braggadocio and an eerie call for help. The stripped-down lovers’ melodrama is framed by vivid Tijuana-shot concert footage of Jane’s Addiction in their fleeting heyday.The Love God (1997 / 82 minutes)Director Frank Grow’s little-seen masterpiece is a phantasmagorical tale of love and obsession at lower Manhattan’s Love Hotel, a dumping ground for prematurely-released mental patients. Grow sees the film through the deranged eyes of his bugged-out characters while never losing sight of their humanity. Awash with garish day-glo colors and madly stomping along to a score by Australia’s Lubricated Goat, The Love God unloads some wild shocks while barely hiding a deep compassion just beneath the mayhem.Guest Host and Curator: Dan Buskirk

SEPTEMBER 14 – BOLDLY INTO THE DARKSelected ShortsThe men and women who made these animated films were free; they did not have to answer to any studio, appeal to any demographic, or argue with actors, nor were they were bound by the laws of gravity, time and logic.  Each answered only to his or her heart and imagination.  As a result, these films go places and do things no feature film would dare… Begotten (1990 / 72 minutes)In Begotten, Edmund Elias Merhige separates the darkness from the light to reveal the beginning of everything: matter, motion, myth, sex and Cinema itself are born on the screen in blood and fire.  We are witness to forbidden rituals and images that conjure the savage poetry of James Dickey and terrible beauty of Ingmar Bergman.  Though we can’t look away, we feel we shouldn’t be watching…Guest Host and Curator: Ted Knighton

OCTOBER 12 – GRINDHOUSE GOTHICThe Witch Who Came From the Sea (1976 / 88 minutes)“Molly really knows how to cut men down to size!” was the tagline for this deeply atmospheric “video nasty” with great location cinematography, dramatic heft, and a haunting turn from Millie Perkins as Molly, who seems to leave a trail of deadly sexual multialtions in her wake, but why…? Toys Are Not For Children (1972 / 85 minutes)Jamie’s (Marcia Forbes) obsession with her absent father and the toys he gave her as a child ruins her marriage and leads her into a life of prostitution in this exploitation drama filled with equal parts of the bizarre and of melancholy.Guest Host and Curator: Mike Zaleski 

NOVEMBER 9 – PRE-CODE COMEDYShow Girl in Hollywood (1930 / 77 minutes)Flapper comedienne Alice White stars in this musical comedy as an unemployed chorus girl who decides to leave Broadway and go to Hollywood to find a job in the new field of “talking pictures”, but finds it’s not as easy to get into the movies as she had hoped.Girl Crazy (1932 / 74 minutes)Zany vaudevillians Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey star in this George & Ira Gershwin-scored musical comedy. Gambler Woolsey hires taxi driver Wheeler to drive him to Custerville, Arizona, where the sheriffs always get bumped off. Woolsey tries to get out of paying his taxi bill by talking Wheeler into running for sheriff against the town’s nastiest bandit, and hilarity ensues.Guest Host and Curator: Andrew Gilmore

DECEMBER 14 – DIABOLICAL FRENCH DRAMAUnder The Sun of Satan [Sous le soleil de Satan] (1976 / 97 minutes)Gerard Depardieu stars in Maurice Pialat’s film about the nature of evil, where a particularly zealous priest in the French countryside becomes tempted by the devil and is obsessed with saving a young murderess (Sandrine Bonnaire) who has killed one of her lovers. The Devil, Probably [Le diable, probablement] (1977 / 95 minutes)Robert Bresson’s penultimate film follows the attempts of a suicidal young man (Antoine Monnier) to find some meaning or value in society by immersing himself in religion, politics, and even psychology, all for nought.Guest Host and Curator: Samm Deighan

 (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)Bowerbird Presents: 

Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental

The first large scale retrospective of composer and performer Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990)Curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Dustin Hurt; Presented in conjunction with the Eastman Estate and in collaboration with Slought and The Rotunda 

Concerts: May 5, 12, 19, and 26 at The Rotunda (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)

Exhibition: May 4 to 28 at Slought

PHILADELPHIA — Bowerbird is pleased to announce "Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental",  an interdisciplinary, multi-artist project that examines the life, work, and resurgent influence of Julius Eastman. Eastman (1940-1990) was a gay African American composer and performer who was active internationally in the 1970s and 80s, but who died homeless at the age of 49, leaving an incomplete but compelling collection of scores and recordings. 

The culmination of more than three years of research, this project  include four major concerts - including the modern premieres of several work previously thought lost (and performance by Moor Mother, Blood Orange's Devonté Hynes, Arcana New Music Ensemble, bass baritone Davone Tines, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble), and a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring archival materials and work by ten contemporary artist (Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant) that engage with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy.    

Eastman studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music from 1960 to 1964 before joining a prestigious new music group called the Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY alongside composers Petr Kotik, Gwendolyn Sims, Morton Feldman, James Fulkerson, and Jan Williams. During his highly productive years in Buffalo, he composed Thruway; a ballet score, The Moon’s Silent Modulation; Macle; Trumpet; Colors; and Stay On It; among other pieces. In the summer of 1976, Eastman moved to New York City where he became part of the “downtown” New York music scene. During this period he performed with Arthur Russell, Meredith Monk, Peter Zummo, and others in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music to downtown lofts and disco clubs. From 1976 until his death in 1990, Eastman’s “model of musicianship,” as music historian Ryan Dohoney terms it, “expanded to include free Jazz, improvisation, new wave rock, disco, as well as his own composed music that is marked by intense repetition and political aggressiveness.” This “political aggressiveness” is evident in the series of multi-piano pieces that Eastman wrote with provocative titles such as Crazy Nigger, Evil Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla. Following a series of personal struggles and misfortunes such as eviction from his apartment for non-payment of rent and the confiscation of his possessions including his musical scores, Eastman returned to Buffalo, where he died in 1990 at age 49.

That Which Is Fundamental is the first comprehensive examination of Eastman's legacy to work alongside the Eastman Estate, an organization led by Gerry Eastman to gather together, organize, preserve, disseminate, and generally further the work of his brother, Julius.

Julius Eastman's music can be online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxtLoItArrc

CONCERT PROGRAM.

Friday, May 5th, 2017 - 8pmStay on It + Feminine + In Memory of JuliusArcana New Music Ensemble with Christopher McIntyre, Gerry EastmanMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-5th-stay-on-it-femenine

Friday, May 12th, 2017 - 8pmMacle + Thruway + Buddha + New Work by Moor MotherEkmeles Vocal Ensemble, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Eastman Community Choir, Moor MotherMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-12th-macle-thruway-buddha

Friday, May 19th, 2017 - 8pmCrazy + Evil + Gay Guerilla Joseph Kubera, Dynasty Battles, Michelle Cann, Adam Tendler, Sonora Guitar EnsembleMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-19th-crazy-evil-gay

Friday, May 26th 2017 - 8pmPrelude to Joan d’Arc + the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc + New Work by Devonté HynesDevonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), Davóne Tines, Bowerbird Cello Ensemble with Stanford ThompsonMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-26th-joan-of-arc

All concerts will be in the Sanctuary of The Rotunda at 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Tickets to each concert are $12 - $25. Reservations are not required.  More information and tickets: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/concerts-overview/

EXHIBITION.

Predicated. + A Recollection.

May 4th - 28th, 2017

featuring works by Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant

A Recollection. and Predicated. is an exhibition in two parts that feature archival traces and work by ten contemporary artists that engages with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy. A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice, while Predicated., an exhibition in conversation with the work of Julius Eastman, explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, the politics of exhaustion, as well as the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography. 

Slought Foundation Gallery Hours:4017 Walnut Street, Tues - Thur: 12-5 PM, Fri: 12-8 PM, Sat: 12-5 PMPhiladelphia, PA 19104 Admission: FreeMore Information: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/exhibition/

If you're not familiar with the Eastman's story- it's pretty powerful - you might want to read a few recent articles:  

FUNDING.  Major support for THAT WHICH IS FUNDAMENTAL has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Presser Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

ABOUT BOWERBIRD.Situated at the forefront of artistic experimentation, Bowerbird is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that presents music and interdisciplinary events by local and internationally recognized artists at a variety of venues across the region. The mission of Bowerbird is to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of provocative and divergent music traditions by providing numerous and diverse opportunities to directly experience the work of today’s leading artists. For more information, visit bowerbird.org.

Event Horizon SeriespresentsRitchie DeCarlos, Nathan McLaughlin & Seth Chrisman and Guitar Pilots

Ritchie DeCarlo is a well known drummer in the Philadelphia area. He is currently playing withMichael Bernier, Percy Jones, Scott McGill, Kick It Out & various local acts, also teaching drums. Released the first solo album in 2013 titled WEEK. The album features many guest musicians: David Fiuczynski, Michael Manring, Pat Mastelotto, Michael Bernier, Percy Jones, Markus Reuter & MORE! The past decade his recording engineer hat has been on and working at TTR studios on many projects. In 2009 the modular synthesizer appeared in his studio & this changed his direction immediately. Today Ritchie is incorporating all of his 40 years experience into his solo live performances. Electronic percussion, loops & all types of synthesizers come together in his excursions for your ears.

Seth Chrisman is a musician based in the Hudson Valley, New York. Extended techniques, location recordings, and radio receptions are woven together to create undulating sonic environments. Hudson, NY resident Nathan McLaughlin explores sound with a focus on the stringed instruments and reel to reel, studies are carried out on the philosophical idea of going to the center. Their releases have appeared on Senufo Editions, Scissor Tail, Full Spectrum and Flaming Pines and they have performed around the country at festivals, DIY spaces and everything else in between. Nathan and Seth will premier work from their upcoming release Earth Tones at the Metal Show. These new pieces utilize a variety of time stretching and looping (analog and digital) tools to explore the beauty found when digital wrestles with analog, and have very few notes to win the battle. These stretched textures offer a rich bed of sound, the shifting tide that emerges where digital and analog meet that is at times challenging...and at times very meditative. Improvisational pieces will be interwoven using guitars, amplified surfaces and field recordings. 

Guitar Pilots is an electronic spacemusic duo featuring guitarists Art Cohen and Scott Watkins. Their music consists of long structured improvisational pieces which transport the listener to the depths of space while focusing on each precious unfolding moment. Art's sequencer-like echoed guitar figures provide rhythmic propulsion while Scott's synthetic pads and sub-octave rumblings build a foundation for both guitarists to soar in melodic flights. Singing glissando blends seemlessly with plucks and twangs and blasts of interstellar beam. Following the trail blazed by Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and the Berlin School, Guitar Pilots carve out their own unique sonic territory that is both organic as the ground underneath and as far-reaching as a distant pulsar.Art Cohen has been a fixture in the Philadelphia music scene for over 30 years as both a performer and an audio engineer. Fluent in guitar, bass, keyboards and harmonica, he has performed at concert venues and radio studios throughout the Delaware Valley and brought his music to Toronto, New York and other cities in the Northeast. He has released CD's with The Ministry of Inside Things, Delicate Monster, CubiZm, Lessick & Lincoln & Cohen, Waves of Violet, Men from When, and as a solo artist. His music ranges from electronic space to ambient to folk-rock to psychedelic rock to traditional folk to experimental to spoken word and beyond - sometimes within the same performance. Art has cultivated a unique guitar style drawing on influences including Garcia, Gilmour, Hendrix, Gottsching, Fripp, and Pinhas.Scott Watkins is best known as the guitar half of Orbital Decay, the Philadelphia area synth & guitar duo who over the past couple of decades have graced the stages of all the region's important electronic spacemusic venues. He coaxes an extended pallet of sounds from his guitar through the use of synths and modelling processors. He has built many of his own instruments including an other-worldly sounding 12-foot beam. Echoes of Gilmour, Hendrix and Froese can be heard in Scott's textural and melodic playing.  You can listen to Guitar Pilots are their soundcloud page.

Admission is FREE

And don't miss the mext Event Horizon events:June 9th - Ombient with guest Chuck van Zyl, ElkhornSeptember 23rd - TBAOctober 27th - TBADecember 1st - TBA 

SAVE BRUJO!

Friend, artist, musician, & community worker Brujo de la Mancha needs help making a new life in Canada. Unfortunately, U.S. immigration is impossible at this time. Help us support Brujo and raise awareness of what immigrants have to go through in this country.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

DONATE!Donate money right now to make an immediate impact. https://www.gofundme.com/save-brujo

COME TO EVENTS! 

Sunday April 16 @6pmCommunity Dinner + silent auction & rafflesWe will have a lovely vegan dinner with a silent auction, art sale (including work from Brujo himself), readings, and a screening of Belmont Grove (Fairmount Park) Reclaiming Coaquannock. This film tells the story of how Belmont Plateau served as a powerful gathering space for Philadelphia's native communities from 1974-1992 and what impact the loss of that space had. In addition, Brujo was one of the producers of this film. 

Sunday May 14 @8pmConcert with Philly legends Stinking Lizaveta, Geb the Giant Cackler, Stephan Tsapatoris, and Ollin Yolitzli Calmecac + silent auction & raffles.  therotunda.org/event/keep-saving-brujo-concert-fundraiser

Admission for both events is your choice. We suggest $5-1,000,000 at the door.

Both events are at The Rotunda.

SO WHY DOES BRUJO NEED OUR HELP? 

Here is his story, in his own words:

"I came to the United States of North America, when I was 20 years old in February 1998 hoping to escape from the repression and discrimination inflicted on indigenous Mexicans.  I was part of a group of activists in Mexico City around 1994, around the time of Zapatista uprising.  In 1996 I was detained for participating in a classic annual demonstration called 2 de Octubre.  The Mexican political party called PRI - now in power - has a history of killing university students and protestors.   I was hoping to go to the university, but the Mexican government was planning to privatize it.

I was seventeen years old and taken into custody by the undercover Federal police that came to the subway after the demonstration.  They pulled aside about fifteen of us, drove us around to confuse and scare us, then put us in depravation for 8 hours.  They took pictures of me naked and kicked me every time I moved from a squatting position.  They threw me out in the streets half naked.   I had to cover myself with fabric from the trash outside of the police station.  It was one of our demonstration banners.  I got home however I could.

Months later in Mexico City was militarized.  I was again stopped and questioned on my way to friend's house to make t-shirts.  They ripped my backpack open and saw transfers for new printing ideas.  Then they uncovered a tattoo on my right arm and said “look it’s him!”  They said, “We know where you live and what you do!  If you keep doing this you will be in deep trouble!” And they told me the street and house number where I was living.

After that I moved out of Mexico City, but found no peace.  I was detained in Queretaro City for two days for not looking like the others from there.  I was set free because I was not talking and not eating inside the jail. In Culiacan, Sinaloa, where Cartel activity is rampant, I was detained for the same reason, and after washing the bathrooms and being called clown I was set free.  In Nogales Sonora on the Mexican-US border, I was harassed again.  They held me for 36 hours without any registration on their books.  In that jail I was sexually harassed and I had to protect myself by not sleeping and by acting macho so no one would try to rape me.

In late 1997 I met an American woman in Oaxaca City, who offered to lend me money to come to the US. With few other options, I walked three and half days through the mountains to come to US.  I decided to come to Philadelphia, where she lived, because she offered me more help.

I had to pay the Mexican embassy in New York City $100 dollars, to free my army card so I could get a passport.  Without the army service we can't get a passport, so we cannot get out of Mexico the legal way.  I did not do the army service because the Mexican government sends the army mostly to small villages to oppress the native population.  If I return to Mexico, I could face persecution or get killed because the Mexican government - especially the PRI - do not like people that think in a radical humanitarian way.  This is because I work to preserve indigenous art and culture from Mexico.  Today it is easier to see what the Mexican government does to their own people, thanks to Youtube and Facebook; but when I came to US it was not easy to prove why I decided to run away from my government. If I return to Mexico, without a way to get out to another country, I could face several hardships, as I did before, or even worse endings.

In Philadelphia I was able to make friends in the punk scene and find housing.  It was easy at first, but I felt lonely because I didn't fit in and I couldn't get services for my situation.  I had a lot of stress, but I found Vipassana meditation, which is still helpful to me today.  After a few hard years I knew I needed to seek citizenship, so I began taking steps.

Over the past fifteen years I have spoken with many immigration lawyers.  They start out saying "this will be the year!"  First they tell me that applying for a visa has to be done from outside the US.  Then they talk about marriage, but that's not the right path for me.  They say “I cannot change the laws for you”; but they tell me to wait for the next President.  OK, NEXT year.  Then they can charge thousands of dollars for their services. 

Once in the year 2000 I was detained after a routine traffic stop in New Jersey due to racial profiling.  After being found not guilty, the lawyer told me that he could get me a wife for $7000.  I said no thanks, there are too many complications; and what immigrant has that kind of money?

Once I even worked with a refugee lawyer, who said the same things and couldn’t find a way to seek asylum either.  No country in the world takes Indigenous refugees from Mexico; Mexico does not give IDs for “Indian” reservations because there are no reservations.  My Aztec descent means nothing to them, and many Catholics of Spanish descent look down on me.  Mexico treats you as a Mexican or NOT, so there is no such thing as a Mexican refugee.  When police detain you, they don’t book you; they don't respect your human rights, and they don't keep records.  Cartel activity is illegal, so it does not count as government oppression.  That’s why my case is not considered severe enough to grant asylum.

A few years ago I looked into the National Interest Waiver.  As a memory keeper for my culture, and a student of ancient skills, I fit many of the guidelines.  Other immigration categories are out of my reach.  However, I am stopped by the same technicality: you can’t apply for a visa from within the US.  Guidelines have gotten harder today.  Even within a marriage, they require evidence of extreme hardship, like if my wife was on suicide watch.  Lying is expensive and complicated, and it’s morally wrong.  I have not committed any fraudulent acts.  And I do not want to marry if I’m not in love.

Nineteen years have passed.  Today I'm a teaching artist and community worker in Philadelphia.  All I want is to share my skills for the commonwealth of humanity.  Unfortunately current immigration law has no provisions for someone like me.  I am here now to ask for help.  I want to comply with documents so I can come and go as I please.  My father is aging; I haven’t seen him since I was 20.  I have decided to go to Canada if they accept my visa application, even though my entire adult and professional life has been built here.  From there I may be able to re-apply in a few years for entry into the US.  This way I can still use my resume and show my accomplishments.  If they accept me, I will be able to travel freely after six months, which means I can also visit my father. 

I need to raise these funds as soon as possible, for obvious reasons.  However, the visa process is so expensive,and includes fees, several tests, and requirements stating how much money I must have in the bank. Without these funds, I can't start my new life."

Vandermark / Wooley Duo

Ken Vandermark, reeds

Nate Wooley, trumpet

Ars Nova Workshop is pleased to present the duo of multi-reedist Ken Vandermark and trumpet stalwart Nate Wooley.

Chicago-based saxophonist/composer Ken Vandermark and New York trumpeter Nate Wooley had been operating in each other's orbits for several years before putting together their duo project in October 2013. They’d worked together with Paul Lytton, Joe Morris, Agusti Fernandez, and Terrie Ex-, when they toured the United States for the first time.  With their unique pairing, they deal directly with each other's iconoclastic compositional and improvisational vocabularies, and have created a book of original material that takes inspirational cues from the under-appreciated work of John Carter and Bobby Bradford (two of their compositions are part of the group's repertoire).  Vandermark and Wooley have worked together to create an organic combination of the jazz tradition, free improvisation, and modern composition, and have then placed it into the raw and intimate context of this duo.

The duo has since released two recordings together: East by Northwest (2014), comprising both live and studio material, and All Directions Home (2015), documenting a performance at Milwaukee’s The Sugar Maple. Writing for The Free Jazz Collective, Lee Rice Epstein called the duo “a fruitful one, bridging their deep interests in jazz history and tradition with their equally unique talents using extended techniques and crafting avant-garde compositions.”

As Tad Hendrickson wrote recently in JazzTimes, “The level of Vandermark’s activity would seem to indicate a clone at work simultaneously, a celebrity-level personal management team, or someone unburdened by the need for sleep.” His current activity includes work with Made To Break, Lean Left, Side A, Shelter, Fire Room; duos with Paal Nilssen-Love, Tim Daisy, and Nate Wooley, as well as work as a solo performer. In addition, he is the music director of the experimental Pop band, The Margots, and since June of 2015 has been co-curator of Option, a music series held on a weekly basis at the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago.

Since moving to New York in 2001, Oregon native Wooley has become one of the most in-demand trumpet players in the burgeoning Brooklyn jazz, improv, noise, and new music scenes.  He has performed regularly with such icons as John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Eliane Radigue, Ken Vandermark, Fred Frith, Evan Parker, and Yoshi Wada, as well as being a collaborator with some of the brightest lights of his generation like Chris Corsano, C. Spencer Yeh, Peter Evans, and Mary Halvorson. Wooley’s solo playing has often been cited as being a part of an international revolution in improvised trumpet, considered, along with Peter Evans and Greg Kelley, one of the leading lights of the American movement to redefine the physical boundaries of the horn.

Admission is FREE

Tredici Bacci & Desertion Trio

A true spaghetti western of a concert! Tredici Bacci, whose music Rolling Stone described as, "A fresh take on Italian film music's quirky, kitschy golden age," come to Philadelphia for the first time, sharing the stage with Desertion Trio, whose dark-Americana jazz/rock NPR said, "Hits the sweet spot between Neil Young's exploratory Crazy Horse jams and a spaghetti western soundtrack."

Tredici Bacci https://tredicibacci.bandcamp.com/https://www.facebook.com/TrediciBacci/

Desertion Triohttps://nickmillevoi.bandcamp.com/album/desertionhttps://www.facebook.com/nickmillevoimusic

Donations will be accepted at the door. Please pay what you can.

 (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)Bowerbird Presents: 

Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental

The first large scale retrospective of composer and performer Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990)Curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Dustin Hurt; Presented in conjunction with the Eastman Estate and in collaboration with Slought and The Rotunda 

Concerts: May 5, 12, 19, and 26 at The Rotunda (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)

Exhibition: May 4 to 28 at Slought

PHILADELPHIA — Bowerbird is pleased to announce "Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental",  an interdisciplinary, multi-artist project that examines the life, work, and resurgent influence of Julius Eastman. Eastman (1940-1990) was a gay African American composer and performer who was active internationally in the 1970s and 80s, but who died homeless at the age of 49, leaving an incomplete but compelling collection of scores and recordings. 

The culmination of more than three years of research, this project  include four major concerts - including the modern premieres of several work previously thought lost (and performance by Moor Mother, Blood Orange's Devonté Hynes, Arcana New Music Ensemble, bass baritone Davone Tines, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble), and a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring archival materials and work by ten contemporary artist (Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant) that engage with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy.    

Eastman studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music from 1960 to 1964 before joining a prestigious new music group called the Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY alongside composers Petr Kotik, Gwendolyn Sims, Morton Feldman, James Fulkerson, and Jan Williams. During his highly productive years in Buffalo, he composed Thruway; a ballet score, The Moon’s Silent Modulation; Macle; Trumpet; Colors; and Stay On It; among other pieces. In the summer of 1976, Eastman moved to New York City where he became part of the “downtown” New York music scene. During this period he performed with Arthur Russell, Meredith Monk, Peter Zummo, and others in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music to downtown lofts and disco clubs. From 1976 until his death in 1990, Eastman’s “model of musicianship,” as music historian Ryan Dohoney terms it, “expanded to include free Jazz, improvisation, new wave rock, disco, as well as his own composed music that is marked by intense repetition and political aggressiveness.” This “political aggressiveness” is evident in the series of multi-piano pieces that Eastman wrote with provocative titles such as Crazy Nigger, Evil Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla. Following a series of personal struggles and misfortunes such as eviction from his apartment for non-payment of rent and the confiscation of his possessions including his musical scores, Eastman returned to Buffalo, where he died in 1990 at age 49.

That Which Is Fundamental is the first comprehensive examination of Eastman's legacy to work alongside the Eastman Estate, an organization led by Gerry Eastman to gather together, organize, preserve, disseminate, and generally further the work of his brother, Julius.

Julius Eastman's music can be online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxtLoItArrc

CONCERT PROGRAM.

Friday, May 5th, 2017 - 8pmStay on It + Feminine + In Memory of JuliusArcana New Music Ensemble with Christopher McIntyre, Gerry EastmanMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-5th-stay-on-it-femenine

Friday, May 12th, 2017 - 8pmMacle + Thruway + Buddha + New Work by Moor MotherEkmeles Vocal Ensemble, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Eastman Community Choir, Moor MotherMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-12th-macle-thruway-buddha

Friday, May 19th, 2017 - 8pmCrazy + Evil + Gay Guerilla Joseph Kubera, Dynasty Battles, Michelle Cann, Adam Tendler, Sonora Guitar EnsembleMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-19th-crazy-evil-gay

Friday, May 26th 2017 - 8pmPrelude to Joan d’Arc + the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc + New Work by Devonté HynesDevonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), Davóne Tines, Bowerbird Cello Ensemble with Stanford ThompsonMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-26th-joan-of-arc

All concerts will be in the Sanctuary of The Rotunda at 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Tickets to each concert are $12 - $25. Reservations are not required.  More information and tickets: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/concerts-overview/

EXHIBITION.

Predicated. + A Recollection.

May 4th - 28th, 2017

featuring works by Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant

A Recollection. and Predicated. is an exhibition in two parts that feature archival traces and work by ten contemporary artists that engages with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy. A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice, while Predicated., an exhibition in conversation with the work of Julius Eastman, explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, the politics of exhaustion, as well as the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography. 

Slought Foundation Gallery Hours:4017 Walnut Street, Tues - Thur: 12-5 PM, Fri: 12-8 PM, Sat: 12-5 PMPhiladelphia, PA 19104 Admission: FreeMore Information: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/exhibition/

If you're not familiar with the Eastman's story- it's pretty powerful - you might want to read a few recent articles:  

FUNDING.  Major support for THAT WHICH IS FUNDAMENTAL has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Presser Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

ABOUT BOWERBIRD.Situated at the forefront of artistic experimentation, Bowerbird is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that presents music and interdisciplinary events by local and internationally recognized artists at a variety of venues across the region. The mission of Bowerbird is to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of provocative and divergent music traditions by providing numerous and diverse opportunities to directly experience the work of today’s leading artists. For more information, visit bowerbird.org.

For the first time, the Philly Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM) is hosting an intergenerational slam where current PYPMers, alum, and the mentors will face off in head-to-head competition! 

Featured teams: Slam League All-Stars, the 2017 PYPM Slam Team, Legacy Team (alum), and a team of PYPM staff and mentors.

We'll also be debuting our first bi-annual poetry production, "Ain't I..." featuring 10 PYPM poets. This choreopoem blends poetry and hip-hop to address pressing social justice issues.

$7 Youth / $10 Adults

The 2017 40th Street Summer Series—co-produced by University City District, Penn, and The Rotunda—will take place this year on Saturdays May 20, June 17, July 22, August 19 and September 16.  See below for the confirmed acts and dates.  

The Summer Series has grown into one of the most popular outdoor summer events in University City. This free outdoor series features internationally-recognized talent in one of “West Philly’s picturesque open green spaces” (Philadelphia Weekly.) In the past the Summer Series has featured internationally-acclaimed acts such as the Millennial Territory Orchestra, Man Man, and the Sun Ra Arkestra— to play free outdoor concerts that capture the soul of the neighborhood. 

Thank you to our sponsors:

SATURDAY, MAY 20  The Sun Ra Arkestra with openers RU Bhangra

The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will return to the 40th Street Summer Series to perform their unique combination of big band swing, outer-space jazz, Afro-pageantry, dancing, singing, and chanting. Band leader Allen, who will turn 93 this year, has been called one of the most distinct and original saxophonists in jazz. Opening the show will be RU Bhangra performing traditional Bhangra dancing that focuses on combining folk flavor with an entertaining twist. 

Brian Sanders’ JUNK uses found objects and clever inventions to bridge the gap between dance and physical theater. JUNK strives to produce work that is both artistic and accessible while maintaining a ceaseless desire to try new things.  Come see why Sanders has been hailed as “the city’s most exciting choreographer.”  Opener TBA. 

Secret Cinema makes America great again with YOUNG AMERICANS

For our next screening at The Rotunda -- on Tuesday, May 23 -- the SecretCinema will present the forgotten "documentary" feature YOUNG AMERICANS. It has nothing to do with David Bowie or Sigma Sound Studios...

Instead, YOUNG AMERICANS follows the tour bus of another kind of musical talent: A group of good-natured, clean-cut, classically trained folk-singing teenagers, carefully assembled by their crew-cutted conductor to present another version of the Summer of Love to a middle America already weary of long-haired campus radicals and rioting inner cities. He named them the Young Americans, and in a perverse way they were as subversive as the Jefferson Airplane or Weather Underground. This scripted, contrived Technicolor fantasy (the excellent cinematography incidentally captures gorgeous views of 1960s New York, Boston and unnamed countrysides), nonetheless stands as a valid snapshot, from a different perspective, of America in the Age of Aquarius.

YOUNG AMERICANS will be shown from a beautiful dye-transfer 16mm film print on a giant screen, along with surprise patriotic short subjects.

There will be one complete show, starting at 8:00 pm. Admission is $8.00.

A complete description of the feature follows...

YOUNG AMERICANS (1967, Dir: Alexander Grasshoff)

In 1967 the world was heating up: 475,000 American troops were serving (and sometimes dying) in Vietnam. Race riots left many cities in flames. The Six-Day War escalated a conflict in the Middle East that has never ended. LSD and marijuana exploded in popularity, as did psychedelic music from the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. Students reacted to all of this by dropping out of society, growing their hair long and joining radical protests on college campuses nationwide. And, a troupe of 36 fresh-faced, clean-cut teenagers toured the nation by bus and donned matching suits, to belt out earnest performances of "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey?" and "Dixie" at state fairs and carnivals. YOUNG AMERICANS chronicles this last detail, while pretending the other stuff never happened.

After a career in television as a music supervisor, Milton C. Anderson formed the Young Americans, a "show choir" (meaning they both sing and dance), to demonstrate "what young America is today." The project began in 1962, when it was les obvious that there was a growing divide between old and young, right and left, hippies and "the Silent Majority." He nonetheless correctly intuited that there was a ripe market for a squeaky clean, if highly subjective depiction of American youth, and the Young Americans were soon frequent guests on TV variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan and Bing Crosby (in between commercials for Geritol and Polident). Anderson was a tough taskmaster, both in whipping his young charges' voices into shape, and in monitoring their leisure activities -- tense moments in the film are created when one girl smuggles her pet dog onto the tour bus, or a newly-formed couple dares to hold hands without the prescribed chaperone. And "created" seems the correct word for how the scenes of this feature-length film came to exist. The carefully composed camera shots, editing, and facial expressions suggest this "documentary" was definitely not part of the decade's CINEMA VERITE movement. Every narrative "surprise," from flat tires to the group helping out in the kitchen of a roadside diner, appear as carefully moderated as the group's stage costumes. Some members appear familiar from bit parts in movies, while Vicki Lawrence would soon achieve fame on television. Today the film could almost be considered a "mockumentary."

Young Americans, the singing group, was real, or at least a real showbiz act. In the 1960s they recorded four albums for the ABC label (the last, TIME FOR LIVIN' brushed the bottom reaches of the Billboard charts). Their look and sound was imitated by other upbeat, patriotic acts, such as Up With People. And the concept has survived for over 50 years. Today it lives on as a charitable organization -- the Young Americans College of the Performing Arts -- which continues to recruit earnest young singers and send them out across the world with a relentlessly positive message. A new documentary on founder Milton C. Anderson (still alive at 88) is currently being prepared. However, YOUNG AMERICANS, the 1967 movie, is mostly remembered (if at all) for its unique status in Oscar history. It won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but the prize was rescinded in 1969 over a technicality (the Academy realized the film had been exhibited in 1967). - JAY SCHWARTZ

Admission is $8.00

 (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)Bowerbird Presents: 

Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental

The first large scale retrospective of composer and performer Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990)Curated by Tiona Nekkia McClodden and Dustin Hurt; Presented in conjunction with the Eastman Estate and in collaboration with Slought and The Rotunda 

Concerts: May 5, 12, 19, and 26 at The Rotunda (in the sanctuary! Enter on Walnut Street)

Exhibition: May 4 to 28 at Slought

PHILADELPHIA — Bowerbird is pleased to announce "Julius Eastman: That Which is Fundamental",  an interdisciplinary, multi-artist project that examines the life, work, and resurgent influence of Julius Eastman. Eastman (1940-1990) was a gay African American composer and performer who was active internationally in the 1970s and 80s, but who died homeless at the age of 49, leaving an incomplete but compelling collection of scores and recordings. 

The culmination of more than three years of research, this project  include four major concerts - including the modern premieres of several work previously thought lost (and performance by Moor Mother, Blood Orange's Devonté Hynes, Arcana New Music Ensemble, bass baritone Davone Tines, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble), and a multi-disciplinary exhibition featuring archival materials and work by ten contemporary artist (Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant) that engage with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy.    

Eastman studied at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music from 1960 to 1964 before joining a prestigious new music group called the Creative Associates in Buffalo, NY alongside composers Petr Kotik, Gwendolyn Sims, Morton Feldman, James Fulkerson, and Jan Williams. During his highly productive years in Buffalo, he composed Thruway; a ballet score, The Moon’s Silent Modulation; Macle; Trumpet; Colors; and Stay On It; among other pieces. In the summer of 1976, Eastman moved to New York City where he became part of the “downtown” New York music scene. During this period he performed with Arthur Russell, Meredith Monk, Peter Zummo, and others in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music to downtown lofts and disco clubs. From 1976 until his death in 1990, Eastman’s “model of musicianship,” as music historian Ryan Dohoney terms it, “expanded to include free Jazz, improvisation, new wave rock, disco, as well as his own composed music that is marked by intense repetition and political aggressiveness.” This “political aggressiveness” is evident in the series of multi-piano pieces that Eastman wrote with provocative titles such as Crazy Nigger, Evil Nigger, and Gay Guerrilla. Following a series of personal struggles and misfortunes such as eviction from his apartment for non-payment of rent and the confiscation of his possessions including his musical scores, Eastman returned to Buffalo, where he died in 1990 at age 49.

That Which Is Fundamental is the first comprehensive examination of Eastman's legacy to work alongside the Eastman Estate, an organization led by Gerry Eastman to gather together, organize, preserve, disseminate, and generally further the work of his brother, Julius.

Julius Eastman's music can be online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxtLoItArrc

CONCERT PROGRAM.

Friday, May 5th, 2017 - 8pmStay on It + Feminine + In Memory of JuliusArcana New Music Ensemble with Christopher McIntyre, Gerry EastmanMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-5th-stay-on-it-femenine

Friday, May 12th, 2017 - 8pmMacle + Thruway + Buddha + New Work by Moor MotherEkmeles Vocal Ensemble, Arcana New Music Ensemble, Eastman Community Choir, Moor MotherMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-12th-macle-thruway-buddha

Friday, May 19th, 2017 - 8pmCrazy + Evil + Gay Guerilla Joseph Kubera, Dynasty Battles, Michelle Cann, Adam Tendler, Sonora Guitar EnsembleMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-19th-crazy-evil-gay

Friday, May 26th 2017 - 8pmPrelude to Joan d’Arc + the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc + New Work by Devonté HynesDevonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), Davóne Tines, Bowerbird Cello Ensemble with Stanford ThompsonMore info: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/may-26th-joan-of-arc

All concerts will be in the Sanctuary of The Rotunda at 4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Tickets to each concert are $12 - $25. Reservations are not required.  More information and tickets: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/concerts-overview/

EXHIBITION.

Predicated. + A Recollection.

May 4th - 28th, 2017

featuring works by Carolyn Lazard, Beau Rhee, James Maurelle, Sondra Perry, Wayson Jones, Ash Arder, Jonathan Gardenhire, Courtney Bryan, Texas Isaiah, and Yulan Grant

A Recollection. and Predicated. is an exhibition in two parts that feature archival traces and work by ten contemporary artists that engages with Eastman and the fragmented nature of his legacy. A Recollection. approaches a historical exploration and remembrance of Julius Eastman as a master of artifice, while Predicated., an exhibition in conversation with the work of Julius Eastman, explores notions of absence, trace presence, duration, the politics of exhaustion, as well as the interplay between composition and improvisation through video, sculpture, and photography. 

Slought Foundation Gallery Hours:4017 Walnut Street, Tues - Thur: 12-5 PM, Fri: 12-8 PM, Sat: 12-5 PMPhiladelphia, PA 19104 Admission: FreeMore Information: https://www.thatwhichisfundamental.com/exhibition/

If you're not familiar with the Eastman's story- it's pretty powerful - you might want to read a few recent articles:  

FUNDING.  Major support for THAT WHICH IS FUNDAMENTAL has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Presser Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

ABOUT BOWERBIRD.Situated at the forefront of artistic experimentation, Bowerbird is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that presents music and interdisciplinary events by local and internationally recognized artists at a variety of venues across the region. The mission of Bowerbird is to raise the public’s awareness and understanding of provocative and divergent music traditions by providing numerous and diverse opportunities to directly experience the work of today’s leading artists. For more information, visit bowerbird.org.

3:00PM-11:00PM

LINEUP:

Jesus Piece (PA) -https://jesuspiecehc.bandcamp.com/Lowest Priority (WA) -https://lowestxpriority.bandcamp.com/Body Pressure (TX)-https://bodypressure.bandcamp.com/Minority Threat (OH) -https://minoritythreat.bandcamp.com/Amygdala (TX)-https://amygdalatx.bandcamp.com/S-21 (PA)-https://s/-21.bandcamp.com/Barrio Slam (CA) -https://barrioslam.bandcamp.com/Malicious Code (MD)-http://maliciouscode.bandcamp.com/Complex (PA)-https://complex.bandcamp.com/Maricón (CA)-https://maricon.bandcamp.com/Soul Glo (PA)-https://soulglophl.bandcamp.com/+MORE TBA!!!!

This is for the punk and hardcore kids who were told they were listening to "white music". 

This is for the bands who speak their native tongue and are told no one will understand them. 

This is for those who constantly find themselves shoved to the back. 

This is for the misrepresented in a music scene that they feel so passionate about. 

This is for us. 

For years punk and hardcore have been deemed white genres of music, pushing aside and ignoring people of colour who have been shaping it for years. This fest wants to bring those people together and to the front to represent the many different groups who make this music the most diverse genre many claim it to be. 

https://www.gofundme.com/support-break-free-fest