FOR STEFANOS TSIGRIMANIS
(2010)
vocalist, guitar, two turntables, electronics

WED. 12.7.11.  RED ROOM. BALTIMORE, MD
THU. 12.8.11.  MR. ROBOTO PROJECT. PITTSBURGH, PA.
FRI. 12.9.11.  OBERLIN COLLEGE, OBERLIN, OH.
SAT. 12.10.11.  SOUNDLAB. BUFFALO, NY.
SUN. 12.11.11.  SOUNDBARN. VALATIE, NY.
MON. 12.12.11.  RALPH'S ROCK DINER. WORCESTER, MA.
 

"Excellent.  I loved the honesty about it.... Definitely get your hands on the recorded version."
Douglas Laustsen, WRSU

For Stefanos Tsigrimanis is an elegy for my good friend and collaborator whose life was cut short after a bicycle accident in September 2010. It is scored for two turntables, voice, guitar and electronics.

The day before the accident, Stefanos and I were noisily rehearsing at his apartment for a gig the following week. As improvisations go, ours were always hit or miss... I guess most improvisations must have a success rate of around 50%. But Stefanos and I are both stubborn, so maybe ours were more often misses than hits. In retrospect, the most successful performances (to me) were a result that fool doing whatever the hell he wanted while I "held it down".

So I would be, in a sense, an accompanist.

I wrote this piece the week of his death and performed it at the gig we were supposed to do together. It was surprisingly easy to write - a pitch series, guideline-notation and performance instructions. Very open. And very sparse. I usually reserve this style of writing for guided group or duo improvisations, but this a solo piece.

So it is, in a sense, an accompaniment for a silent soloist.

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