Ruby Pinto c. February 2019
Press:
On Fractal Selves - あうとわ～ど・ばうんど - Outward Bound
On Sound Mass - Jack Langdon - Cacophony Magazine
On Fractal Selves - Emily Kerski - Cacophony Magazine
On Vibrating Skull Trio - Bill Meyer - Dusted Magazine
On Devouring the Guilt - あうとわ～ど・ばうんど - Outward Bound
On Devouring the Guilt - Peter Margasak - Chicago Reader
On Vibrating Skull Trio - Bill Meyer - Dusted Magazine
On Vibrating Skull Trio - Peter Margasak - Chicago Reader
On Fractal Selves - Sam Segal - wfmu.org (playlist)
On Fractal Selves - Mike Corsa - wnur.org (playlist)
On Vibrating Skull Trio - Cisco Bradly - Jazz Right Now (playlist)
Eli’s work is unabashedly in the business of reorienting the values of artistic activity, and does so in a humble and socially accommodating way… what makes it so effective, is a dedication to transparency and contextual awareness. -Jack Langdon Cacophony Magazine
Their music projects both a breadth of knowledge and the confidence to shuffle the history pages.
-Bill Meyer Dusted Magazine
Eli Namay (He or They) is a Lebanese/Syrian Chicago and Pittsburgh based composer, bassist, community organizer, and educator. His work focuses on affirming creativity as a fundamental human need, and illuminating the intertwined and always moving nature of human minds, musical traditions, and socioeconomic realities. This is accomplished through improvisation and experimental notation; a critical embrace of eclecticism; and writing and composition that is informed by scientific studies of acoustics, perception, political economy, and the brain.
Master classes include at DePaul University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Southern Illinois University. Performances include at venues, and with ensembles and artists such as Northwestern University, DePaul University, Chicago Symphony Center, Constellation, Experimental Sound Studio, Fonema Consort, Mocrep, Adiaphora Orchestra, Jessica Aszodi, Yeyha Khalil, Michael Ibraham (National Arab Orchestra), Ronnie Malley, Katherine Young, John McCowen, Phil Sudderberg and more. Eli has been a part of The Bridge - a transatlantic network for creative music and Homeroom Chicago's 10x10 (2015). Eli has a BA in music from Columbia college where he studied under Dennis Luxion, Chuck Webb, and Dan Anderson. He has also studied upright bass with Anton Hatwich and Greg Sarchet (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and classical music from the Levant with Ronnie Malley. Eli regularly curates comedy and improvised music shows with Gilded Records at Cafe Mustache, works with musicians associated with Amalgam Records, and performs with the hip-hop/avant-jazz group Jə'raf and American folk group Can I Get an Amen, amongst many other periodic formations.
As a community organizer, Eli has worked with the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America contributing to the development of their Socialist Night School program, coordinating political education for the 2019 Chicago teacher and staff strike solidarity campaign, and as a full time organizer with SOUL contributing to the campaign for Medicare for All on Chicago’s South Side.
As a writer, Eli has contributed to Cacophony Magazine, Midwest Socialist, various Chicago DIY publications, as well as developed pamphlets for Chicago DSA and SOUL.
Sebastian Cotse c. January 2019. Sound Mass 4 with (L-R): EN, Keefe Jackson, Zach Good, Chris Kimmons, ANton Hatwich, Ishmael Ali, Jakob Heinemann, Kimberly Sutton, Billie Howard, David Fletcher, Emily Beisel, Gerrit Hatcher, Wills McKenna.