CineSonica #4: Stranger than Paradise (Jim Jarmusch, 1984)
Doors at 7, show at 8
Seating limited: Pre-purchase tickets below.
$20 ($5 youth under 18)
Ciné Sonica is a series of live film concerts curated by composer Mihoko Suzuki, and performed by Suzuki along with a rotating ensemble of musicians. In previous installments, the musicians performed to Eraserhead, Battleship Potemkin, and most recently Nosferatu.
For the fourth installment, Suzuki and her musicians will add their gritty, experimental fusion of avant-garde rock, blues, incorporating found-sound and junkyard aesthetics with elements of Dada and German cabaret music to a beloved classic of American independent cinema, Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise (1984)—an absurdist comedy shot in moody, wintry black-and-white, with iconic turns by John Lurie of Lounge Lizards fame, Sonic Youth drummer-turned actor Richard Edson, and the debut performance of Budapest-born musician and actor Eszter Balint. The film’s signature theme song, “I Put a Spell on You,” by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, will be performed periodically throughout the film. The result is a “live-to-picture” performance that demonstrates a dynamic interplay between moving image and live sound.
Bring your Gen-X friends (or self) to experience this “nonchalant masterpiece of deadpan comedy and perfectly calibrated minimalism” (Criterion).
Performers:
Mihoko Suzuki, keyboard
Paul Geluso, saxophone/clarinet
Evan Jagels, double bass
Blake Fleming, drums
Yolanda Bush, vocals (guest appearance)
with a pre-show ambience (at 7:15 pm) by:
Timothy Cramer
___
About the Film
Structured as a series of master-shot vignettes etched in black and white by cinematographer Tom DiCillo, the film follows rootless Hungarian émigré Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and his visiting sixteen-year-old cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), as they drift from New York’s Lower East Side to the snowy expanses of Lake Erie and the drab beaches of Florida, always managing to make the least of wherever they end up.
___
About the Musicians
Mihoko Suzuki is a composer–pianist whose multidisciplinary works span film, dance, music theatre, and performance installation. Her projects include And the Hummingbird Says…, a song cycle inspired by the life and philosophy of Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai; Desert Widow, an experimental performance-art video that received an Accolade Award for Experimental Film; and Ode to Number 14, a piano four-hands work featured in the 30th-anniversary celebration of the NYFA Artist Fellowship Program. She is the creator of Ciné Sonica and co-founder of the electroacoustic duo @61. Her honors include NYSCA/NYFA Fellowships, LMCC Creative Engagement Grants, and New Music USA Project Grants. A native of Japan, Suzuki studied piano in Tokyo and composition at the Manhattan School of Music. https://mihosuzu.wixsite.com/music
Paul Geluso is a New York based sound engineer, multi-instrumentalist including woodwinds and reeds, an educator who frequently collaborates with artists who use sound as a creative medium. He performs and composes electro-acoustic music and has designed immersive sound for performance venues and gallery spaces internationally. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Director of the Music Technology and Tonmeister programs at New York University and has collaborated with media artists at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts for more than three decades.
Evan Jagels is an accomplished improvisor, freelance bassist, solo artist, producer, and educator. He is cofounder and bassist of Duo Extempore, whose curated improvisations draw from classical and jazz virtuosity, weaving together storytelling, history, art, and architecture. Together with NYC-based pianist Nicole Brancato, Duo Extempore explores every shape of improvised music through film production, live scoring, technology, and performance. He is also co-founder and bassist of Killdeer Trio and bassist for the reformation of the influential rock band Dazzling Killmen. He has shared the stage with many jazz luminaries both in the US and Europe, earned his MA in Music Performance from Queens College, serves as Lecturer of Music at Hartwick College, and is a voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYS). Jagels has been invited to give lectures and presentations on his art at Columbia University, City University of New York at Hunter College, SUNY Oneonta, University of Southern Mississippi, and the National University of Music in Lima, Peru. website
Blake Fleming is a percussionist, author, and educator known for his involvement with several influential experimental bands including co-founding the Grammy Award winning Mars Volta. Fleming’s newest solo album, The Beat Fantastic, has garnered international acclaim. His book, The Book of Rhythm, has been sold in over 22 countries and is the largest collection of organized rhythm ever published to date. He was included in SPIN’s 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music, has recorded on over 80 albums and has toured extensively working with luminaries in the rock, jazz and avant-garde worlds. His work has been written about in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR.com, Modern Drummer, MOJO, Pitchfork and many other publications worldwide. website bandcamp
Yolanda Bush has been singing, drumming, and captivating audiences for over four decades. Versatile in numerous styles such as Blues, Jazz, Rock, R&B, etc., she is an exceptional vocalist and tight, deep pocket drummer with impeccable meter. She has performed and toured extensively in numerous countries with various artists, and currently resides in upstate NY, where she performs with her latest project, Yolanda Bush and The Cool Water Collective. website
Timothy Cramer b. Albany NY 1961. Timothy is constantly trying to unearth various ways to create, whether it be through sound, exhibit, dimensional structures or time based media. His live pre-show music will consist of lap steel guitar channeled through loopers, effects, and reverbs.
—
This project is made possible with funds from the Delaware County Arts Grants, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered in Delaware County by the Roxbury Arts Group.