DANIEL BLACKSBERG & FRIENDS :: performing John Zorn's improv game piece "COBRA"
CHAKRA KHAN/AIR PIRATES :: guitar/drum free jazz duo
DANIEL BLACKSBERG leads a group of improvisers (listed below) in a performance of John Zorn's famous game piece Cobra. Cobra is performed often around the world, officially, under Zorn's direction and unnoficially, in "renegade" versions that occur regularly, often as a result of Zorn's visits. This "renegade" performance of Zorn's most well known composition is a way to bring his music to a city that rarely gets to experience it live.
Cobra is Zorn's most comprehensive game piece, which are pieces for groups of improvisers guided by rules derived from sports and board games, as well as game theory. Each unique performance involves a prompter/conductor that a myriad of cues from the players through the use of cue cards that give a specific musical direction. These direction cover a huge range of musical possibilities, from solos to mass textures to layering duos to instant cartoon soundtracks.
Cobra is a piece of music that casts the act of group improvisation in a light that puts many of the usually internal musical choices of the players out in the open for people to see. The composer has said about the piece: "At its worst it can become psychodrama… at its best it's like magic." Psychodrama or magic, Cobra is a powerful musical experience that is often exciting and always unique.
The performers were: Pete Angevine (Percussion), Dave Fishkin (Reeds), Daniel Fishkin (Daxophone), George Korein (Guitar, voice, etc.), Evan Lipson (Bass), Eli Litwin (Drums), Rob Ludington (Drums), Nick Millevoi (Guitar), Carlos Santiago (Violin), Matt Stein (Bass), and Pete Veloski (Trumpet).
CHAKRA KHAN/AIR PIRATES: Nick Millevoi is a guitarist and guitar instructor from Philadelphia. A graduate of Temple University, Nick leads the free country-rock group Circles, and is a member of rock band the Accidental Occurrence and the acoustic guitar duo, the TenTones. He has had the opportunity to perform and record with Glenn Branca, perform with a theater group at the Keswick Theatre, and perform disco songs at a local amusement park. Nick has toured the Northeast and Midwest and performs regularly in Philadelphia.
Julius Masri is a Lebanese who moved to the States in 1990, and picked up drums a year later. He studied performance and composition at Bard College with the likes of Joan Tower, and has performed with Richard Teitelbaum of Musica Electronica Viva, and AACM's house percussionist Thurman Barker. Julius currently performs in several projects, including Kuru Kuru PA, (ne Wolf vs.)
Check out the Metro article on Daniel Blacksberg & Cobra here.
