Free Jazz from the Sanctuary is a 13-part series of jazz performance videos featuring some of the world’s most talented improvisers, recorded live in concert at The Sanctuary For Independent Media. Free Jazz from the Sanctuary is a co-production of NY Media Alliance and the Arts Department at Rensselaer, made possible in part with support from the NYS Council on the Arts and the NYS Music Fund, established by the NYS Attorney General at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers.
**foto of band here**
Instrumentalist/Bio: The Thirteenth Assembly is a collective made up of Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Mary Halverson (guitar) and Jessica Pavone (viola), some of the fastest-emerging young artists in New York City’s creative music scene performing in four different and musically distinct small ensembles.
**video of performance here**
Press contacts
Steve Pierce
Ph: (518) 272 – 2390
Over the course of the evening of Saturday, December 1, 2007, each group performed a short thirty-minute set, offering a glimpse of the vibrant and varied stylistic diversity and creativity of this particular musical community. Especially for this Thirteenth Assembly Tour, these four close friends and frequent collaborators formed a new quartet, with each member contributing original compositions.
THE BANDS
Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo
Bynum and Fujiwara take the experiences of their fifteen-year collaboration to create a mix of pre-conceived elements and spontaneous improvisation in a stirring horn and drum duo.
“On True Events, a scintillating album, Mr. Bynum, a cornetist, and Mr. Fujiwara, a drummer, engage in a duologue crackling with improvisational energy but guided by compositional prescription.” – Nate Chinen, The New York Times
Mary Halvorson/Jessica Pavone Duo
A Brooklyn based collaborative ensemble that has been working together for four years composing and performing a unique body of music, drawing from classical, jazz and folk traditions while experimenting with new forms.
“They listen as though they’re hotwired into each other’s brain their taut structural discipline prompting a domino effect of great ideas.” – Philip Clark, The Wire
Taylor Ho Bynum Trio (w/Mary Halvorson & Tomas Fujiwara)
A small group committed to the further exploration of the extensions of composition and improvisation pioneered by 20th century masters like Ellington, Ives, the AACM, etc, with a third millennial flavor and a trickster sensibility.
“With his keen ear and extensive repertoire of brass techniques both vintage and cutting-edge, Taylor Ho Bynum excels in settings both sophisticated and playful; his triomates – guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara – summon these moods and many more.” – Time Out New York
The Thirteen Four (w/Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone, Taylor Ho Bynum & Tomas Fujiwara)
Especially for this Thirteenth Assembly Tour, these four close friends and frequent collaborators will form a new quartet, with each member contributing original compositions.
Websites:
www.maryhalvorson.com
www.jessicapavone.com
www.taylorhobynum.com
www.tomasfujiwara.com
Discography:
Taylor Ho Bynum & Tomas Fujiwara – True Events (2007, 482 Music)
Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone – Prairies (2005, Lucky Kitchen)
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet & Trio (featuring MH, TF, JP) – The Middle Picture (2007, Firehouse 12)
(MH & JP also have a forthcoming album on Skirl Records, Fall ’07 release)
(The Taylor Ho Bynum/Stephen Haynes Double Trio, featuring MH & TF, has a forthcoming album on Engine Records, Fall ’07 release)
also:
Anthony Braxton – Quintet (London) 2004 (2005, Leo Records)
(featuring THB & MH)
Anthony Braxton – Sextet (Victoriaville) 2005 (2006, Victo Records)
(featuring THB & JP)
Anthony Braxton – 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (2007, Firehouse 12 Records)
(featuring THB, MH, JP)
Matana Roberts Quartet – The Calling (2006, Utech Records)
(featuring THB & TF)
Taylor Ho Bynum
Born in Baltimore in 1975, Taylor Ho Bynum is a composer and bandleader, performing on cornet and various brass instruments. He was raised in Boston and while he was in high school, he started studying with the trombonist and teacher Bill Lowe and they still continue to work together. He attended Wesleyan University and graduated in 1998 with a BA in music. He also got his MA in composition in 2004 where he met Anthony Braxton, a great saxophonist and composer.
Bynum has a unique musical voice and he is willing to take his chances in a variety of musical contexts. His projects include ensembles in jazz music, working with DJs, contemporary classical composers and world music ensembles, composing for film and theater, and collaborations with dancers and visual artists. Presently, he is part of the ensemble SpiderMonkey Strings and Thirteenth Assembly. He has also developed a lot of solo music with his cornet and does duo work with Rachel Bernsen, a dancer and choreographer. He has recently recorded some songs that are based on children’s books by Daniel Pinkwater with Lisa Saffer, Bill Lowe, and David Bryant.
Bynum not only leads his own groups, but he also performs regularly with a lot of figures in creative music. He has been featured on over thirty records. He did work with Anthony Braxton that goes from duo to orchestra, and they most recently appeared in Europe. Their CD together “Duets (Wesleyan) 2002” has gotten a lot of response from critics. Bynum is also a member of Cecil Taylor’s Orchestra Humane and recently performed a week long NYC engagement in celebration of the great pianist’s 75th birthday. He is a member of The Fully Celebrate Orchestra, which was declared best jazz group by The Boston Globe, The Boston Music Awards, and The Boston Phoenix Music Poll.
He is now performing in two collaborative trios, one with bassist Adam Lane and drummer Andrew Drury, and the other one with bassist and guitarist Joe Morris and drummer Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng. He also does performances with the Jason Kao Hwang Quartet, the Matana Roberts Quartet, Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng’s band, Zemong el Gallo Bueno, the Carl Atkins/Bill Lowe Big Band, The Aardvark Jazz Orchesta, and the Sound and Vision Orchestra. He collaborated with Paradigm Shift and Trio Ex Nihilo, and he also did a duo with percussionist Eric Rosenthal.
Bynum is very involved with the arts community as a producer and as an educator. He has taught all the age groups from kindergarten to college and he has produced several major festivals and concert series. He is now living in Brooklyn, NY.
Mary Halvorson
A guitarist and composer who has been active in New York since 2000 after her studies at Wesleyan University and the New School, she has her own band, The Mary Halvorson Trio, and she also co-leads a chamber music duo with violist Jessica Pavone and rock duo People, with drummer Kevin Shea. She also has performed many ensembles with saxophonist and composer Anthony Braxton, Tim Berne, Trevor Dunn, and many others. Her trio made its debut Dragon’s Head in 2008 and it was very successful, leading critics to call her the most original jazz guitarist in this decade.
Jessica Pavone
A string instrumentalist and composer based in Brooklyn, she has been active in New York City for the past eight years. She is known best for her performances with Anthony Braxton all over the world and for her duo project with guitarist Mary Halvorson. Pavone has received grants from the American Music Center and commissions to write chamber music from the MATA Foundation.
She is currently leading and playing bass guitar and viola in her band, The Pavones. It is a 60s inspired band which she also composes for. She also plays viola and composes for No Way to Say Goodbye, a string quartet. Her CD shows her determined works as a solo violist and it was recently released by Nowaki in France. Pavone improvises in bands as an instrumentalist led by William Parker, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Matana Roberts. She has also interpreted new music by Glenn Branca, James Fei, Butch Morris, and many others.
She has her own self run label, Peacock Recordings, and she has been documenting her music since 2000 through it. She was recently given a grant from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Recording Program. She has a list of works that are available on her web site, along with her growing discography. Jessica Pavone is currently available teaching violin, viola, cello, piano, and composition.
Tomas Fujiwara
Born and raised in Boston, MA, Tomas Fujiwara fell in love with music at the young age of seven while listening to the classic drum battle record, Rich vs. Roach. He studied with Joyce Kauffman for two years and then began an eight year study with the great drummer and teacher, Alan Dawson. Fujiwara moved to New York City in 1994 and since then he has been working as a leader and composer for many different ensembles. He has also been working on the side as a composer for theatre, film, and dance, and also as a teacher and clinician. He has also worked on the side with a wide variety of artists who vary in styles and settings.
He currently is involved in Tomas Fujiwara and The Hook Up, Taylor Ho Bynum/Tomas Fujiwara Duo, The Thirteenth Assembly, and others. He has performed at many different venues across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and also has appeared on many different recordings. Fujiwara was a cast member from 2000 to 2005 of the touring and New York companies of the Off Broadway hit STOMP. He has taught many workshops, master classes, and drum clinics as a teacher as well as giving private instruction for over 10 years.