Kuzu – “Hiljaisuus” artwork by Id M Theft Able
Tashi Dorji & I have a forthcoming LP with extraordinary saxophonist and human being Dave Rempis. We’re calling our new trio KUZU and our new record, entitled Hiljaisuus, is out September 14th via Astral Spirits (though we’ll also have copies available at our August dates):
“KUZU is a hard-charging but patient trio that came together in the fall of 2017, after saxophonist Dave Rempis, a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums) individually as part of a lengthy solo tour of the U.S. that he undertook in the spring of that year. Dorji and Damon’s work as a guitar/percussion duo has become well-known, a highly refined and specific language developed through relentless touring and recording over the last few years, with a sound that straddles improvised music, rock, and any number of as-yet-undefined territories. These two provide an incredibly fresh take on the possibilities inherent to spontaneous composition. Superimposing Rempis into this mix was a logical next step after the relationships they’d forged individually.
Musically, these three create a highly focused pallet of sounds. At times, spacious gestures carve up the canvas with the austerity of a calligrapher, while at others those sparse gestures build into an unstoppable tsunami of energy. Those waves are never impulsive or impetuous though, they ebb and flow logically and patiently out of simple and clearly defined sources. This trio pursues every gesture with tenacity, passing them back and forth until they’ve explored every facet of an idea.”
Catch us on tour next month in Texas and in October in Eastern/Midwestern US/Canada:
– Monday, August 13th – Kuzu @ house show, Beaumont, TX
– Tuesday, August 14th – Kuzu w/ Dane Rousay @ High Wire Art Gallery (326 Josephine St.), San Antonio, TX
– Wednesday, August 15th – Kuzu w/ Carter/Smith/Ruth/Gonzalez/Gonzalez quintet, Espina/Daghighi/Butler trio @ Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd.), Dallas, TX*
– Thursday, August 16th – Kuzu w/ Soft Healer, Dane Rousay. DJ Gerard Cosloy @ Sonic Transmissions Festival, Sahara Lounge (1413 Webberville Rd.), Austin, TX
*This date also features a screening of Milford Graves Full Mantis
– Thursday, October 4th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ The Mothlight (701 Haywood Rd.), Asheville, NC
– Friday, October 5th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ If ART Gallery (1223 Lincoln St.), Columbia, SC
– Saturday, October 6th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Ruby Deluxe (414 Fayetteville St.), Raleigh, NC
– Sunday, October 7th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ October Revolution In Jazz & Contemporary Music, Philadelphia, PA
– Monday, October 8th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Tubby’s (586 Broadway), Kingston, NY
– Tuesday, October 9th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Casa Del Popolo (4873 Boul Saint-Laurent), Montréal, QC
– Wednesday, October 10th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center (341 Delaware Ave.), Buffalo, NY
– Thursday, October 11th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Bop Stop (2920 Detroit Ave.), Cleveland, OH
– Friday, October 12th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Trinosophes (1464 Gratiot Ave.), Detroit, MI
– Saturday, October 13th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Elastic Arts (3426 W. Diversey Ave.), Chicago, IL
– Sunday, October 14th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Sugar Maple (441 E. Lincoln Ave.), Milwaukee, WI
– Monday, October 15th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Southern Illinois University, Old Baptist Recital Hall, Carbondale, IL
– Tuesday, October 16th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ Outside The Spotlight series, Lexington, KY
– Wednesday, October 17th – Kuzu (trio w/ Tashi Dorji & Dave Rempis) @ The Blockhouse (201 S. College Ave.), Bloomington, IN
Tashi & I also have a forthcoming duo cassette on Magnetic South called Soft Berm. This tape was recorded straight-to-cassette in glorious mono by John Anderson at Reverberation Vinyl in Bloomington, IL. Here’s a little taste of that performance as documented by Michael Mayer:
I’m also excited to announce the first new Open Sex LP in five years, White Horses, out September 7th on Louisville’s Sophomore Lounge records:
Artwork by Xerox the Kidd
“(Thee) Open Sex Music comes from a decade-long practice of reductive composition and improvisation. The group has encompassed over 20 artists lurking around punk and experimental music circles, interchangeably shifting from minimal tape purr, Hypnotist beat and proto-punk textures.
The most consistent participants, guitarist and sound tech John Dawson (Magnetic South Recordings) and percussionist Tyler Damon (Dorji/Damon Duo, Circuit Des Yeux), anchor the two side-long pieces on “White Horses” with their evolving language and repetitive form. They are joined by Ben Lumsdaine (Spissy, C&R House Band), Mark Tester and Landon Caldwell (both of Creeping Pink and Burnt Ones) whose electronic pianos hover overhead and dissipated into colored vapor.
Recorded and mixed by Cooper Crain, mastered by Mikey Young.”
Release shows are slated for Indianapolis at Hoy Polloy on August 30th and Bloomington, Indiana at the Blockhouse on August 31st. Details forthcoming…
Last weekend Circuit Des Yeux had some hometown dates with appearances at the Empty Bottle and at the Pitchfork Music Festival. Here’s an excerpt of what the Chicago Tribune had to say about the set:
“Best set of the weekend: I have no idea what a band is going to have to do to oust Circuit Des Yeux as set of the weekend. Conjure thunder? (…) Soft yet loud, this was a set that rocked harder than anything to date that weekend, the band part of the drama rather than mere accompaniment, setting Fohr’s amazing voice in bedrock. She cooed, moaned, screamed and bellowed, went deep, so deep with songs broad in scope, and nigh flawless in execution. Wow.”
Circuit Des Yeux has some dates scheduled through the end of the year, including a free show with Deerhunter at House of Vans in Brooklyn and some stateside performances of Haley’s re-imagined score to Charles Bryant’s 1923 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé:
– Saturday, August 18th – Circuit Des Yeux w/ Deerhunter @ House Of Vans (25 Franklin St.), Brooklyn, NY
– Sunday, August 19th – Circuit Des Yeux presents Salomé (1923) film score @ National Sawdust (80 N. 6th St.), Brooklyn, NY
– Friday, August 24th – Circuit Des Yeux presents Salomé (1923) film score @ The Art Institute Of Chicago (111 S. Michigan Ave.), Chicago, IL
– Saturday, September 8th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Hopscotch Festival, Raleigh, NC
EU
– November 9th-11th – Circuit Des Yeux presents Reaching For Indigo: Gaia Infinitus feat. members of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra @ Le Guess Who Festival, Utrecht, NL
– Tuesday, November 13th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Folk (Olof Palmes Plats 413 04), Gothenburg, SE
– Wednesday, November 14th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Revolver (Møllergata 32), Oslo, NO
– Thursday, November 15th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Fasching (Kungsgatan 63), Stockholm, SE
– Friday, November 16th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Inkonst (Bergsgatan 29), Malmö, SE
– Saturday, November 17th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Püschenfest, Puschen (Schlesische Str. 38), Berlin, DE
– Monday, November 19th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Klub FAMU (Smetanovo nábř. 2), Prague, CZ
– Tuesday, November 20th – Circuit Des Yeux @ Orpheum Extra (Orpheumgasse 8), Graz, AT
– Wednesday, November 21st – Circuit Des Yeux @ A4 (Karpatská 3089/2), Bratislava, SK
More announcements to follow but that’s it for now… – T
July 29, 2018
[permalink]
Art Institute Of Chicago, Astral Spirits, Cassette, Chicago Tribune, Circuit Des Yeux, Columbia, Dave Rempis, Hopscotch, kuzu, Le Guess Who, LP, Magnetic South, Mars Williams, Matt Lux, Medellin, Monofonus Press, National Sawdust, Open Sex, Pickathon, Pitchfork Music Festival, Salomé, Sonic Transmissions, Sophomore Lounge, Tashi Dorji, tejas, texas, Thee Open Sex, Trio, White Horses
Photographer unknown
Tashi & I, Spring 2019. Photo by Kari Leigh Ames.
Mette Rasmussen Quintet, Mainz, DE, November 2018. Photo by Frank Schindelbeck.
Dorji (not pictured) / Damon / Lopez at Magnolia Records, Knoxville, TN, March 2019. Photo by Julia Dratel.