"A singer who has only recently fallen to earth."
OUT Magazine
"A mad genius."
The New York Times
Grammy nominated, genre-bending vocalist and composer Theo Bleckmann has been a steady force in the music scene in New York for over 15 years. Since his move to Manhattan in the late 1980s, Bleckmann has forged his own sound in jazz and contemporary music today, drawing from jazz, ambient and electronic music, often integrating extended vocal techniques as well as live electronic processing and looping. He has performed worldwide on some of the great stages and has worked with such artists as Laurie Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and John Zorn.
This special evening of music will feature Bleckmann in solo performance and in world premiere collaborations with leading Australian contemporary jazz artists Gian Slater and Stephen Magnusson as well as a special appearance by New York composer and drummer John Hollenbeck.
The rarest of singers, Gian Slater is a complete musician and true virtuoso, whose mastery of her instrument is in total service to a powerful emotional immediacy in her music. She possesses a highly mobile and accurate voice
with an uncommon improvisational ability, and the harmonic and technical awareness and clarity of intention more commonly associated with instrumentalists.
Having performed with many Australian and international artists, guitarist Stephen Magnusson is one of the country's most accomplished, versatile and distinctive musicians. Stephen was awarded the Swiss Diagonal Arts Grant and the Pop Kredit award in 1999, co-won the 2000 National Jazz Award, and has been twice nominated for the Freedman Fellowship.
American drummer John Hollenbeck has found a new lyrical music language in his eclectic compositions for jazz trios, small groups and big bands. A recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007, he was named as both the Rising Star Composer and the Rising Star Arranger of the Year in the 2008 and 2009 Down Beat Magazine's Critics Poll.
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The Forum Upstairs
Fri 7 May at 6:30pm $38 full, $35 concession Theo Bleckmann (voice, various instruments)
Guests: Gian Slater (voice), Stephen Magnusson (guitar), John Hollenbeck (percussion)
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