Radio NOIR: "The Lost Broadcast" E.P.
Radio
NOIR is a quartet which wields its own unique brand of dissident swing.
Helmed by xylophonist/percussionist John Pietaro and featuring the
clarinet of Quincy Saul, the electric guitar of Javier Hernandez-Miyares
and the electric bass of Laurie Towers, the band made its debut at the
2011 Dissident Arts Festival (August 13, 2011, the Brecht Forum, NYC).
Soon after the members recognized that the artistic as well as
socio-political ties that led to the founding of Radio NOIR was indeed a
reason to hold the band together. Inspired by the fervent radicalism
and sounds of the 1930s as well as the daring post-punk improvisations
of downtown NYC, Radio NOIR seeks to build bridges between Left politics
and Jazz, radical philosophy and New Music. "The Lost Broadcast", Radio NOIR's 4-song E.P. collection, was recorded live in an all-day marathon session at 17 Frost Theatre of the Arts (Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY) in October 2011. The final document not only includes blazing audio tracks of the band's unique 'dissident swing' but wholly produced videos as well, inclusive of imagery projected onto 17 Frost's three massive screen's positioned around Radio NOIR during the recording process. Note that some of the imagery is comprised of excerpts of the seminal sci-fi/social change film 'Metropolis' by director Fritz Lang. It is not happenstance that Lang's film was directly influenced by his visions of NYC during his initial visit here--- likewise now his work inspires Radio NOIR in their music-activism journey. This E.P. is Radio NOIR's
debut recording and one which offers a vivid account of their
convictions. Starting from the bitter social unrest of the 1930s, the
quartet produce a music which speaks loudly to today's struggles for
social and economic justice. Wrapped in the shadows of Depression-era
New York, the four titles bridge Hot Jazz to noir novels, ethereal
sounds to No Wave, the words of revolutionary composer Hanns Eisler to
free improvisation and the music of Woody Guthrie to a restless,
relentless kind of swing. The members of Radio NOIR are
experienced improvisors, with New Music as well as expansive Jazz and
Pop burnt deeply into their repertoires, but always they maintain the
still higher goal of the arts as cultural work, a means toward real
social change.
Here is the first release from The Lost Broadcast....
"Langston" (John Pietaro/Quincy Saul)
- a 'modernist blues' dedicated to Langston Hughes and his
revolutionary intellectual cohorts in the Harlem Renaissance. In this
chamber Jazz piece which opens in a rather mellow mood, the quartet
blows over changes in a C-minor blues form which is extended by a
whole-tone section. Quincy Saul's clarinet and John Pietaro's xylophone
establish the contrapuntal melodic lines, ultimately racing about each
other, as Javier Hernandez-Miyares' electric guitar barks commentary
from the sideline and Laurie Towers' bold, unshakeable electric bass
holds the entire group together in a manner which actually negates the
need for a drummer.
For more info on Radio NOIR please take a moment to stop by our Facebook page as well as our Reverbnation page......
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