NO PARTS is a text score I wrote for improvising upright bass trio. It could be performed by any group of bowed string instruments. The string instrument specific instructions could be translated to vocalists or other instruments.
Written for a show at Bantha Tea Bar, 10/26/2023 with Drew Collins, Caleb Gamble and myself.
Shared the bill that night with Chris Corsano and Zoh Amba playing duo, as well as the improvising duo Glo-Tree
Recorded with Je’raf. Words by Brianna Tong & PT Bell.
Sad Boi Feels Entitled, originally Deterioration c. 2013, updated c. 2018. words improvised by Brianna Tong & PT Bell, from the prompt: “Pretend you are two aspects of a ‘fuck boy’s’ (a shallow, emotionally underdeveloped young adult male’s) inner thoughts while he is going through his first existential crisis.” Recorded with Je’raf.
Technically speaking this is a head written over a Bb Blues form based on the major 7ths that arise from each dominant chord's diminished scale. For example the possibilities over a Bb7 chord would be Cb & Bb, D & C#, F & E, and Ab & G. Culturally and politically speaking, I think it's ironic how black folks have generally existed at the bottom of America's socioeconomic strata since its inception, but in modern times black musical traditions have constituted the main mediums in which ideology is disseminated. Commercialization changes the nature of the music to reflect the interests of the ruling class. This was written for the AACM.
Sound Mass is a text based score presented as a zine that includes a reflection on how individualism shows up in the arts, and an exercise for any group of people to sonically meditate as a collective unit. Excerpt and videos below.
Excerpt. Full zine in the PDF above:
There is a particularly insidious brand of bootstrap individualism that permeates various art and music communities. This is characterized by a belief that the “best” naturally rise to the top, that music and art production exists above socio-economic processes, and that the fundamental way to grow culture is to compete and economically succeed as an individual.
There are also insidious and misleading faux-radical reactions against bootstrap individualism. These reactions can be characterized by an ironic artistic practice and detachment from the human need for culture / ritual; individual / identity based representational politics that do not take into account flows of resources and fail to challenge the fundamental nature of institutional power; and/or the reduction of political ethics to artistic aesthetics (i.e. where the most radial artistic practice is judged by the characteristics of the artistic product, rather than by the efficacy of organizing for democratic power against structures of oppression).4
While superficially different, these both enable uncritical relationships to how art and music function and are valued under capitalism. Either implicitly or explicitly, they validate the reified notion (i.e., abstract idea falsely made to be real) that maximizing exchange value is the best way to nurture artistic practice. This turns the necessities that capitalism imposes on cultural activity into virtues…
These tendencies are insidious because they generally appear as obvious, yet unstated underlying assumptions — “of course this is the way things are and should be… he’s really telling it like it is…” The full implications of these modes of practice are psychologically repressed in the practitioner as unconscious beliefs. This is the definition of ideology.6
A collaborative work between Alex Grimes [Cut Glove], A.J. McClenon [spoken word and electronics], and Eli Namay [piano] centered around social themes as framed in McClenon's personal narrative driven poetry.
I collaborated with my good friend and clarinet player Emily Beisel on this piece. After about a year of playing together we became fascinated with the various compound sounds we could make between the double bass and bass clarinet. We wanted to write something that coupled this fascination with that of the pulse in popular music (death metal in particular). How far can you push a pulse until it is not a pulse? Recorded at the Experimental Sound Studio with Emily Beisel [bass clarinet], Eli Namay [double bass] & Tyler Berg [drum kit].
Written for Homeroom Chicago's 2015 10x10. The event pairs visual artists with musicians to produce works that integrate the two mediums. This piece was written in collaboration with Uriel Corea. My music reminded him of an aggressive bug, which can be seen depicted in the art pestering a depiction of Corea. Recorded at Elastic Arts with Josh Berman [cornet], Keefe Jackson [tnr sx], Ryan Packard [vib], Eli Namay [dbl bs], Anton Hatwich [dbl bs], & Phil Sudderberg [kit].
Having some fun smashing together notation & harmony, a la Gerard Grisey & Anthony Braxton on my undergrad senior recital.
Recorded at Jackalope Coffee and Tea House with Sam Trump Harris [tpt], Landon LeMoine [alt sx], Danny Andrade [tnr sx], Jeb Bishop [tbn], Dan Gillespie [vln], Evan Collins [banjo], Chris Kimmons [gtr], Spencer Jenich [organ], Eli Namay [dbl bs], & Matt Roberts
Danny Andrade (tn sx), Chris Kimmons (gtr), Spencer Jenich (kys), Eli Namay (ub), Matt Roberts (dr)
