This week, Isaac Jean-François interviews Jessie Cox about his TV series, "Space Travel from Home."

About Jessie:
“...some of the most experimental music of not just the day but the season... held a listener’s attention with surprises and delights aplenty.“ — LA Times
Jessie Cox is a composer, drummer, and scholar, currently in pursuit of his Doctorate Degree at Columbia University. Growing up in Switzerland, and also having roots in Trinidad and Tobago, he is currently residing in NYC. He has written over 100 works for various musical ensembles including electroacoustic works, solo works, chamber- and orchestral works, works for jazz ensembles and choirs. As a performer he has played in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the USA; with
musicians from all over the world. His scholarly writing has been published in the journal Sound American, and Castle Of Our Skins’ blog, a publication is forthcoming in Critical Studies in Improvisation; and he has presented his work at numerous conferences and festivals.
For more about Jessie, visit: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/
Space Travel from Home, the complete series, can be viewed at: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/space-travel

About Isaac:
Isaac Jean-François (he/him) is a doctoral student in the joint degree program with African-American Studies and American Studies at Yale University. Jean-François’s research interests include black studies, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and sound studies. His research on composer and performer Julius Eastman is featured in an upcoming issue of Current Musicology in an essay titled, “Julius Eastman: The Sonority of Blackness Otherwise” (July 2020).  Jean-François is committed to the intersection between academia and advocacy work and serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Stonewall Community Foundation based in New York City.   
Jean-François earned his B.A. from Columbia University in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Cum Laude. He holds a Certificate of Study from the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.  

Upcoming for Jessie Cox:
3/31/21, premiere at Issue Project Room: https://issueprojectroom.org/event/propositions-deadwip-sound-listening-jessie-cox
3/20/21: premiere at Maerzmusik on March 20th: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/berliner-festspiele/programm/bfs-gesamtprogramm/programmdetail_334357.html
3/26/21: record release with Infrequent Seams on March 26th: https://stringnoise.bandcamp.com/album/alien-stories

This episode was recorded and produced by Jessie Cox and Isaac Jean-François, in collaboration with TAK Ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

017. Jessie Cox and Isaac Jean-François

Today's episode is a playlist of music we love.

0:48 CIHUANAHUALLI: Tlacualo (devorado / devoured)  by Carmina Escobar
7:05 Delirious Delicacies by Nick Dunston
12:03 Pequeño tótem by Wilfrido Terrazas
18:20 and Dorothy never looked back by Patrick Shiroishi and Dylan Fujioka
25:41 7 fish in a desert byElena Rykova and Etienne Nillesen
32:21 for trumpet by Weston Olencki
37:44 Variation X by DM R

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CIHUANAHUALLI: Tlacualo (devorado / devoured)  by Carmina Escobar
https://awavepress.bandcamp.com/track/cihuanahualli-tlacualo-devorado-devoured

Carmina Escobar is an extreme vocalist, improviser, sound and intermedia artist from Mexico City currently based in LA. 
https://carminaescobar.monster/

Justin Asher, Sound Engineer
Scott Cazan, Mixing and Mastering 

---

Delirious delicacies by Nick Dunston 
https://outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/atlantic-extraction

Nick Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and bassist. His work also embraces the fields of tape and instrument building. 
http://www.nickdunston.org/

Louna Dekker-Vargas: flute
Ledah Finck: violin
Tal Yahalom: guitar
Stephen Boegehold: drums
Nick Dunston: composition, bass

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Pequeño tótem by Wilfrido Terrazas
http://wilfridoterrazas.weebly.com

Wilfrido Terrazas is a Mexican flutist, improviser, composer and educator, whose work finds points of convergence between notated and improvised music, and approaches collaboration and collective creation in innovative ways. 

https://wilfridoterrazas.weebly.com/

From the album Be Prepared (Ápice, 2019)
Wilfrido Terrazas, bass flute
Recorded by Jesús Segura, Estudio Horizonte, Ensenada, Mexico, December 2017.
Mixed and mastered by Ramón del Buey at El Palacio de Asturias, Mexico City, Spring 2019.
Produced by Wilfrido Terrazas and Ápice. 

---

and Dorothy never looked back by Patrick Shiroishi and Dylan Fujioka 
https://patrickshiroishi.bandcamp.com/album/no-no

Dylan Fujioka is a drummer and composer born and raised in Los Angeles.  

Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese American multi-instrumentalist & composer based in Los Angeles.

Patrick & Dylan went to high school together where they first started making music together.  

dylan fujioka - drums & percussion
patrick shiroshi - sax & voice
recorded at Dylan's house on the 15th of February, 2021

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7 fish in a desert by Elena Rykova and Etienne Nillesen:
https://soundcloud.com/elenarykova/elena-rykova-etienne-nillesen-7-fish-in-a-desert

A composer and interdisciplinary artist Elena Rykova explores a wide variety of genres in music and visual art. She brings together instruments and found objects, extending one through another and creating performative musical situations with a strong visual aspect. 
https://www.elenarykova.rocks/

Etienne Nillesen is a performer and composer from The Netherlands currently based in Cologne/ Germany. His work involves elements of conceptual and spontaneous composition, structured improvisation, performance, and sound art. 
https://etiennenillesen.com/

---

for trumpet by Weston Olencki
https://westonolencki.bandcamp.com/album/solo-works

Weston Olencki is a musician and sound artist living in Brattleboro, Vermont. They make varied work loosely centered around psychoacoustic perception, questions of instrumental music and its contexts/constructs, sonic ecology, various mediated practices of listening and improvisation, and the technological, material, and cultural histories of rural space/time.
http://www.westonolencki.com/

Recorded by Michael Coleman, assisted by Dominic Coles. 
Produced by Weston Olencki. 

---

Variation X by DM R
From New 9 Variations: https://youtu.be/U6QZayX7Pgk

Born and raised in Bogotá, DM R is currently based in NYC. She is a composer of electroacoustic music, a concert series curator in Columbia Composers, C3, CanvaSound, and a 90s anime aficionado. 
https://www.dmr.land/

released November 2, 2020
Composed, mixed by DM R
Mastered by Murat Colak
® all rights reserved

020. Playlist

On this episode we celebrate the release of ‘field anatomies,’ a collection of blisteringly physical works for flutes and electronics, featuring flutist and fearless leader of TAK, Laura Cocks. Laura and Charlotte Mundy speak with the composers featured on the album– David Bird, Bethany Younge, Jessie Cox, DMR and Joan Arnau Pamies–about space, time, embodiment, and magic. 

field anatomies comes out on Carrier Records today, February 22 2022!

Link to field anatomies:
https://lauracocks.bandcamp.com/album/field-anatomies

David Bird:
http://davidbird.tv/

Bethany Younge:
http://www.bethanyyounge.com/

Jessie Cox: 
https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/

DMR:
https://www.dmr.land/

Joan Arnau Pamies:
http://pamies.info/

Laura Cocks: 
http://www.lauracocks.biz/

To learn more about TAK, go to 
http://www.takensemble.com/

022. Laura Cocks' Field Anatomies

In this episode, we’re continuing a series of episodes focused on tuning practices, in celebration of Star Maker Fragment’s first birthday! 
Today, Marina and Taylor speak with musicologist Jatin Mohan. Jatin is a Fulbright Scholar from New Delhi, India, studying at the CUNY Graduate Center. His research focuses on comparing tuning practices in Hindustani classical music and western music.

The music featured at the beginning and end of this episode is Raag Multani (Vilambit Khayal), performed by Dr. Parminder Singh. The clip in the middle is from Debashish Bhattacharya's album, 'Calcutta Slide Guitar.'

To learn more about TAK Ensemble, go to http://takensemble.com

024. Jatin Mohan

In this week's episode, Marina and Madison interview Weston Olencki about his upcoming album "Old Time Music," coming out this spring on Tripticks Tapes. They also talk about Weston's relationship to country music, AI and machine learning, and more. 

The music on today's episode is from "Old Time Music," as well as Weston's piece "Virtual Chamber Music," performed live by Laura Cocks with an AI version of TAK Ensemble as their backing band. 

This episode was produced by Charlotte Mundy, Marina Kifferstein, and Madison Greenstone, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

For more about Weston Olencki: http://www.westonolencki.com
For more about TAK: http://takensemble.com
For more about Weston's collaborator Sam Salem: http://www.osamahsalem.co.uk/

025. Weston Olencki

Announcing TAK's newest release, Love Crystal and Stone! 

Ashkan Behzadi’s composition stretches musical lyricism to its limit, imagining an impossibly radical, revolutionary folk music that pushes the individual and collective virtuosity of TAK ensemble to new heights. This concert length work is a sensual, intricately interwoven, and deeply philosophical setting of the poetry of Federico García Lorca. The CD is housed inside a book featuring paintings by Mehrdad Jafari, an original essay by Saharnaz Samaeinejad,  poetry by Federico García Lorca & translations by Ahmad Shamlou.

Pre-order the digital download or the gorgeous art book and CD here: 
https://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/love-crystal-and-stone-2

Get info about our album release party on May 9 here:
https://www.theinvisibledog.org/all/2022/5/9/tak-ensemble-amp-ashkan-behzadi-love-crystal-and-stone

http://takensemble.com

026. Announcing: Love, Crystal and Stone

Charlotte and Laura speak with Eric Wubbels about the piece he's writing for TAK, titled 'Interbeing'. They talk about making music that responds on a deep level to what's going on in the world, about how debating with friends helps you to forge your own creative voice, how food relates to music, and many other things. 

We're giving the first public performance of 'Interbeing' this Saturday, May 21 at 8pm at the Dimenna Center! Tickets are PWYC and can be reserved here : https://www.takensemble.com/interbeing

Eric's selected bibliography for Interbeing includes:
Rirkrit Tiravanija- pad thai ; Untitled (1999) ; The Land
Nicolas Bourriaud- Relational Aesthetics
Melanie McLain- Uncoreographic Sculptures
Thich Nhat Hanh- How to Love
Anne Carson- Antigonick
Rick Burkhardt- Great Hymn of Thanksgiving

For more about Eric Wubbels: http://www.wubbelsmusic.com/
For more about TAK: tps://www.takensemble.com

027. Eric Wubbels

“It is the act of people being together, and finding that space together that I find most fascinating, and it’s the most difficult thing, I feel like I’m still learning how to do that and will be trying to do that for the rest of my life”.

In this week’s episode, Marina and Madison speak with Catherine Lamb about her extensive practice of composing and performing in rational intonation, Erv Wilson’s proof of the harmonic series as a spiral, the process of tuning in as an expression of human agency in performance. We also talk about paradoxical roles of tones, her string quartet divisio spiralis, the Harmonic Space Orchestra, and tips for performers who are interested in deepening their relationship with rational intonation.

The music at the beginning and end of this episode is from "divisio spiralis," performed by the JACK Quartet, from their 2021 album CATHERINE LAMB: String Quartets (Kairos)

The music in the middle of the episode is an excerpt from "three bodies moving" from the 2019 album of the same name (Another Timbre), performed by Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick - cello; Eric km Clark - violin; and Phil O'Connor - bass clarinet

For more information about Catherine Lamb, you can visit her website: https://www.sacredrealism.org/artists/catherine-lamb/

028. Catherine Lamb

“My belief is that music was sort of a mediation between humanity and the wild world; a way of speaking back to the world that speaks so many languages.”

In this week’s episode, Charlotte and Laura speak with Nina Dante and Bethany Younge about their album Lizard Tongue, released a year ago on TAK Editions. We talk about intimacy with collaborators, listeners and nature; what fulfilling collaborations can look like and advice for non-male people working in the male-dominated realm of music technology.

The music in this episode comes from Lizard Tongue. 

To listen to the album, head to:
https://ninadantebethanyyounge.bandcamp.com/album/lizard-tongue 

For more about Nina Dante:
https://www.ninadante.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thesnakesaidtotheriver/?hl=en

For more about Bethany Younge:
http://www.bethanyyounge.com/

For more about TAK Ensemble: 
https://www.takensemble.com/

For info about our upcoming concert on Wednesday Nov. 9, 2022:
http://www.takensemble.com/tickets/tak-terrain-11922

029. Lizard Tongue with Nina Dante and Bethany Younge

In this episode, Madison speaks with Johnny Chang and Keir GoGwilt about their album ‘hope lies fallow’, which was released on Another Timbre. The conversation encompasses their recompositions of Orlando di Lasso and Hildegard von Bingen, the sociological resonances of chamber music, instant ramen as a metaphor for art making, amidst much more.

hear the full album at:
https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/album/hope-lies-fallow

for more about Keir GoGwilt:
https://kgogwilt.com/

for more about Johnny Chang and the Viola Torros project:
https://soundcloud.com/johnnychchang

to donate to TAK's year-end fundraising campaign:
https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/tak

for more about TAK ensemble: 
http://takensemble.com

30. hope lies fallow with Keir GoGwilt and Johnny Chang

On this episode, gabby fluke-mogul speaks with Laura and Charlotte about their work as an improviser, and how it relates to embodiment, infinite matrices of time and space, form, feeling, and boundaries. 

gabby will play in a trio with Tcheser Holmes and Mara Rosenbloom on SWOONFEST, a festival celebrating TAK’s tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center!

Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here:
https://www.takensemble.com/swoonfest

Hear a live recording of the trio here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBazukTKh3Q&t=579s

gabby’s solo album ‘Love Songs’:
https://flukemogul.bandcamp.com/album/love-songs

gabby’s ‘rue’ presented by Roulette Intermedium: 
https://vimeo.com/696223673

031. gabby fluke-mogul

On this episode, Chris Williams speaks with Marina and Madison about time travel, the ethics of collaborating with the dead, and the spirituality of building a practice of breathing as a wind player. 

Chris will perform a solo set at SWOONFEST,  a festival celebrating TAK’s tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center. 

Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here:
www.takensemble.com/swoonfest

Check out “Relay,” Chris’s most recent release with Booker Stardrum, here:
https://cachedmedia.bandcamp.com/album/relay

And his album “Sans Soleil” with Patrick Shiroishi, here:
https://chriswilliamstpt.bandcamp.com/album/sans-soleil

And for more information about Chris, check out his website:
https://www.chriswilliamssound.com/

032. Chris Williams

On this episode composer and performer Natacha Diels speaks with Ellery and Charlotte about electronics, collaboration, friendship, AI, fun and high stakes.

Natacha will play her solo set Somewhere Beautiful (with assistance from TAK) on SWOONFEST, celebrating TAK’s tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center!

Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here:
https://www.takensemble.com/swoonfest

Hear previews of Natacha’s set here: 
https://soundcloud.com/natachadiels/somewhere-beautiful
https://vimeo.com/762363167
https://vimeo.com/762343816

033. Natacha Diels

This week on the podcast, Madison and Ellery interview Rodnie King and Riot Dent of Sour Spirit, a chaos noise rock duo based in Philadelphia. 
Sour Spirit will close out night 2 of SwoonFest, TAK’s festival celebrating our 10th anniversary, May 5th and 6th at The Clemente in NYC. 

For tickets, visit www.takensemble.com/swoonfest – if you get your tickets by April 20th, you can take advantage of a very sweet discount!

To hear more of their music, check out their their Bandcamp – especially their most recent album, LIVE DUSS III (featured in this episode): https://sourspirit.bandcamp.com/album/live-duss-iii

For info on upcoming shows, be sure to follow them on socials @sourspirit

034. Sour Spirit

This week, Madison and Marina speak with Michelle Lou. 

TAK will be premiering Michelle's new work "In a Forest" on night 2 of SWOONFEST, May 5 + 6 at The Clemente on Manhattan's Lower East Side. For more information and to reserve your tickets, visit www.takensemble.com/swoonfest

The music from this episode is a live recording of Michelle's piece "Different Furs," performed by Yarn/Wire. You can hear the complete performance here: https://yarnwire.bandcamp.com/track/michelle-lou-different-furs-2017

Check out her newest album, HoneyDripper: https://michellelou.bandcamp.com/album/honeydripper

035. Michelle Lou

Marina and Charlotte speak with Phong Tran about growing up on the internet, collaboration and simulation theory. 

Phong opened SWOONFEST, our tenth anniversary festival, one month ago today with a set of brand new original music created live on analog and modular synthesizers. 

The music from this episode is from Phong’s album The Computer Room, hear the whole thing here:
https://phongtran.bandcamp.com/album/the-computer-room

for more about Phong:
https://www.phongmusic.com/

for updates on his upcoming project with Ballet Collective, head to their website:
https://balletcollective.com/

for more about TAK: 
http://takensemble.com

036. Phong Tran

On this episode, Marina speaks with the members of sinonó, who will be joining us in concert this Saturday Oct. 7 at the Dimenna Center in New York City. 

sinonó is a brief submergence, a string of choices, a container for the communion of rigor and failure. This NYC-based trio, featuring Isabel Crespo Pardo (voice), Lester St. Louis (cello), and Henry Fraser (bass), performs graphic scores and poem-songs composed by Crespo. sinonó will release their debut album in early 2024. 

To learn more about sinonó, visit https://isabelcrespo.com/sinono

to learn more about Interbeing, visit https://www.takensemble.com/being

037. sinonó

On this episode, Charlotte and Laura speak with Bryan Jacobs in advance of TAK’s premiere of his piece ‘Organic Synthesis Volume 2’ on Thursday Dec. 7, 2023.  

To hear more of Bryan’s music, go to https://soundcloud.com/bryanjacobs-1

Please contribute to TAK’s year-end fundraiser at http://takensemble.com/support

Our upcoming concert, Machine Tongue, featuring ‘Organic Synthesis Volume 2’,  ‘In a Forest’ by Michelle Lou and ‘la quemadura es el lenguaje con que juro…’ by Andres Guadarrama will be on Thurs. Dec. 7 at 8pm, at 580 Sackett St. Brooklyn NY, tickets are pay-what-you-can.

038. Bryan Jacobs

On this episode, Charlotte speaks with composer and performer Kamala Sankaram about her recent site-specific works. 'The Buried Brook' is a soundwalk that follows the currently buried Tibbets Brook in the Bronx, and 'The Last Stand' is an experimental opera and sound installation for trees.

About Kamala Sankaram: https://www.kamalasankaram.com/

Hear the new album Bombay Rickey: https://bombayrickey.bandcamp.com/album/bombay-rickey

Support your artistic ecosystem by donating to TAK 's year-end fundraiser. Get great perks like meditation tracks, tutorials, and TAK merch: https://www.takensemble.com/support

039. Kamala Sankaram

On this episode, Charlotte speaks with composer and performer Kurt Rohde and visual artist Marie Lorenz about the site-specific opera Newtown Odyssey, written for and about NYC's Newtown Creek.  

for more about the opera: https://www.newtownodyssey.com/

About Kurt Rohde: https://www.kurtrohde.com/

About Marie Lorenz: http://www.marielorenz.com/

Support your artistic ecosystem by donating to TAK 's year-end fundraiser. Get great perks like meditation tracks, tutorials, and TAK merch: www.takensemble.com/support

040. Kurt Rohde And Marie Lorenz

Charlotte and Madison speak with  poet, playwright, educator, actor, producer, and director Modesto "Flako" Jimenez about his site-specific theatre work originally inspired by his Bushwick neighborhood, Taxilandia, and multidisciplinary theatrical work Mercedes.

for more about ¡Oye! Group: https://www.oyegroup.org/
About Flako: https://www.flakojimenez.com/
Photos from brooklyn gypsy taxi flow series:
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bgtflow/?hl=en

for more about TAK: http://takensemble.com
Our March 2 show: https://www.cprnyc.org/events/tak-ensemble-nothing-but-a-puff-of-wind

David Bird's album Wire Hums: https://david-bird.bandcamp.com/album/wire-hums

041. Modesto "Flako" Jimenez

A very special announcement from TAK Ensemble.

Announcing: TAKs Haven!

Brandon Lopez is a New York-based composer and bassist working at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. His music has been praised as “brutal” (Chicago Reader) and “relentless” (The New York Times). 

On this episode, Ellery and Madison of TAK talk to Brandon about his new piece, "Empty and/or Church of Plenty," which TAK will premiere on December 14th at St. Mary's Harlem.

Brandon's website - https://www.brandonlopez.nyc/
and Bandcamp - https://nevernotagravedigger.bandcamp.com/

Info about the December 14th premiere - https://www.facebook.com/events/712511089258696/

Anner Bylsma playing J.S. Bach Cello Suite 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTVqjD4Yigg

Cecil Taylor live in Munich in 1984 - 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL0cqbWZYsE

002. Brandon Lopez

David Bird is a composer and multi-media artist based in New York City. His work explores the dramatic potential of electroacoustic and mixed media environments, often highlighting the relationships between technology and the individual, and has been performed internationally by some of the best performers working in the field of contemporary music. He also happens to be director of Creative Research with TAK Ensemble, and a founding member of the group. 

On this episode, Marina Kifferstein and Ellery Trafford of TAK speak to David about his piece "Series Imposture," featured on TAK's recent album Oor. 

To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com

To learn more about David's music: http://davidbird.tv

To watch the Adam Curtis documentary The Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGJqU-JpbXw

To learn more about Lewis Nielson's music: http://www.lewisnielson.com/

003. David Bird

Ashkan Behzadi’s music combines a miniaturist lyrical craft with an aim to invoke the collective-memory of folklore music through the use of allusion and pastiche. The question of genre-identity and genre-blurring and, in particular, the relationship between modern lyric and contemporary music is at the core of his aesthetic and artistic research. 

In this episode, Marina Kifferstein and Charlotte Mundy of TAK speak to Ashkan about his piece “Az hoosh mi..” for the violin and soprano, in which the musical dimension of the text, an erotic post-language Persian modern poem, expands in the texture of the music to create an elaborated heterophonic relationship between the voice and violin. “Az hoosh mi…” is featured on TAK’s recent album, Oor. 

To stream and purchase Oor: takensemble.bandcamp.com

To learn more about Ashkan’s music: https://soundcloud.com/ashkan-behzadi

005. Ashkan Behzadi

Tyshawn Sorey is a multi-instrumentalist and composer born in Newark, New Jersey, known for his mastery and memorization of incredibly complex scores. He has performed nationally and internationally with his own ensembles, as well as artists such as Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, John Zorn, Claire Chase, Evan Parker, and Anthony Braxton, among many others. 

He has been commissioned by The Spektral Quartet, Ojai Music Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and more recently Carnegie Hall and Opera Philadelphia. He was awarded a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship. 

In this episode, Laura Cocks and Charlotte Mundy of TAK talk to Tyshawn about “Ornations,” written for TAK and featured on their album, Oor.
  
To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com

More about Tyshawn Sorey’s music: http://tyshawnsorey.com

008. Tyshawn Sorey

Madison Greenstone is a clarinetist currently based between San Diego and New York City. Her creative practice encompasses contemporary & experimental music, improvisation, noise & acoustic feedback, and band-like collaborations with other creative performers. She has performed as a featured artist of the Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik and the Lucerne Festival Academy. Notable performances have been as a soloist presented by ISSUE Project Room, as part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial in Los Angeles, and in recital at the Vigeland Mausoleum (Oslo). Madison is the clarinetist of TAK Ensemble, a founding member of the [Switch~ Ensemble], and can be heard on Wandelweiser Editions and Another Timbre. 

Madison is a doctoral candidate at UC San Diego and received her Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music.

In this episode, TAK flutist and Executive Director Laura Cocks and Technical Director Taylor Brook interview Madison, who is the newest member of TAK ensemble.

This episode was edited by Marina Kifferstein with help from Alex Van Gils.

009. Madison Greenstone

Marina Kifferstein is a violinist, composer, and a founding member of TAK ensemble and The Rhythm Method string quartet. She also performs regularly Talea, Wet Ink, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and is a co-administrator of the Open Improvisations concert series. As a composer her work has been performed across the U.S. and Europe. Marina is currently a DMA candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center. She holds an MM in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a BM in Violin from Oberlin Conservatory, and a BA in English from Oberlin College.

On this episode, Charlotte and Madison interview Marina about TAK's beginnings and about her life outside of TAK. 

To dive deeper into Marina's work, go to http://marinakifferstein.com

To download TAK's most recent album, Oor, go to http://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/oor

010. Marina Kifferstein

Shaped by sonic sensitivity from a young age, Pittsburgh based composer/performer/artist Devon Osamu Tipp creates unorthodox musical environments from ostensibly incompatible realms. Tipp’s music draws influence from his Japanese and Eastern European roots, his experiences as a jeweler and painter, improvisations with plants, and his studies of gagaku and hogaku in Japan and the US.

TAK had the pleasure of working with Devon earlier this year when we were in residence at the University of Pittsburgh, where he’s currently pursuing a doctorate in composition.

On today's episode, Devon speaks with Dresden based composer, shō performer, and sound artist Chatori Shimizu. As the First Prize Winner of the 2016 Malta International Composition Competition, Shimizu's works have been performed and exhibited throughout Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States. 

For more information about today's guests, find them online at the links below. 

Devon's website: https://www.greengiraffemusic.info/
... and his bandcamp: https://devonosamutipp.bandcamp.com/

Chatori's website: https://www.chatorishimizu.com/
Score follower of Mimi Spelunking (2019), by Chatori Shimizu, performed by Naoyuki Manabe (Shō), Tai Chihiro (Vla.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpv7vCkzgM

Today's episode was produced by Devon Osamu Tipp in collaboration with TAK ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

012. Devon Osamu Tipp and Chatori Shimizu

This week on the podcast, Ashkan Behzadi and Saharnaz Samaeinejad interview Marxist political theorist Alan Woods about art and socialism. 

Alan Woods was born in 1944 in Swansea, South Wales, into a working-class family with strong Communist traditions. At the age of 16 he joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and became a Marxist. He studied Philosophy and Russian at Sussex University, and later in Sofia (Bulgaria), and at Moscow State University (MGU). He has a wide experience of the international labor and solidarity movements, particularly in Latin America, Pakistan, Russia, and Spain, where he participated in the struggle against the Franco dictatorship. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists in the UK. Along with Ted Grant, Alan Woods was one of the main theoreticians of the Militant tendency in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, and the editor of the Militant International Review. He is currently the political editor of the popular website In Defence of Marxism (www.marxist.com), and Secretary of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). He is the author of hundreds of articles, pamphlets, and books, covering a wide range of issues including revolutionary politics and current events, economics, history, philosophy, art, music, and science.

You can read some of Alan's articles on his website, In Defense of Marxism: https://www.marxist.com/tag/65-alan-woods.htm

This episode was produced by Ashkan Behzadi and Saharnaz Samaeinejad in collaboration with TAK ensemble, and edited by Ashkan, Saha, and Marina Kifferstein.

013. Ashkan Behzadi, Saharnaz Samaeinejad, and Alan Woods

Conversations with composers and other musicians working in the vibrant new music community of New York City and beyond. Episodes are curated by and often feature members of TAK, an ambitious ensemble that “impresses with the organicity of their sound, their dynamism and virtuosity — and, well, just a dash of IDGAF as they slay the thorniest material like it’s nothing” (WQXR).

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