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Narrowland Arts
Presents
THE MIND’S EYE
at The Schoolhouse Center
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Saturday, August 25 at 8 p.m.
FRANCES RICHARD
Presenting M.P. Landis /
Ori Kaplan/ Geoff Mann Narrowland Arts is pleased to present The Mind’s Eye at The Schoolhouse Center. This summer’s residency at the Schoolhouse Center takes its form as a concentric curatorial, an episodic salon in which a group of seven participants have been invited not to perform but to invite. Each resident is asked to turn outward and enact his or her own contribution by choosing another artist to come and make an event in Provincetown. In this way a series of readings, concerts, talks, exhibitions, and other
happenings will proliferate, each contextualized by the interests of the instigating participant, but realized in the performance of the guest. In practice, then, the season’s visiting artist is not an individual, but a kaleidoscopic figure shaped by elastic accidents and long-standing appreciations, the interconnections that generate what’s known as inspiration.”
On Saturday, August 25 at 8 p.m. FRANCES RICHARD will present an
evening of avant garde jazz with Ori Kaplan and Geoff Mann. The event
takes place in Manso Hall. Tickets are $10.00 and may be reserved for purchase at the door at 508.487.4800 X 105.
FRANCES RICHARD is a poet, critic, and educator. She writes frequently about contemporary art and is nonfiction editor of the literary journal Fence. Ms. Richard has been essential in the planning and development of “The Mind’s Eye” series, contributing the catalogue essay “Quicksilver” and providing the piece with it’s essential
ground.
M.P. LANDIS lived and worked in Provincetown for eight years. During
that time jazz became important in his painting process, a relationship he continues to explore today. While on the Lower Cape he began to DJ for local jazz radio programs using the alias “Miles Bachman”. Avant Garde jazz pulled him to New York, where he currently lives, works, and regularly exhibits his paintings. Landis’ artwork is directly influenced
by the music being presented for this evening; at times he paints/ performs on stage during the shows. His paintings can be seen at the Robyn Watson Gallery in Provincetown from August 10-23, (http://www.robynwatsongallery.com/).
GEOFF MANN is a New York City musician and composer who plays in
numerous bands throughout the city. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 1st 1969, Ori Kaplan started his
musical training at nine years of age at the Jaffa Conservatory playing
melodica, recorder and clarinet. At seventeen, he picked up the tenor saxophone playing in DXM, a pioneering industrial Israeli rock band. He began studying sax with Stu Hacohen. Hacohen was responsible for exposing Kaplan to modern jazz. Kaplan began mastering his instrument by transcribing Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Rollins and Coltrane solos, and later moved on to Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp and David Murrey. After a short stint in the Israeli army, he chose to continue his education in NYC where all his favorite musicians lived and created. Kaplan received a music scholarship and studied at New School University from 1991-1995 with many renowned musicians,
including Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Reggie Workman, Makanda McIntire,
Dave Liebman and George Garzone. Attracted to the organic style of the alto sax, he shifted focus away from his primary tenor sax studies. Developing a hybrid style with a tenor approach to the alto sax was critical to the evolution of his musicianship. His career in New York took off as he led various sessions and small gigs in and around the city, exploring the traditional jazz repertoire and vocabulary while pushing his creative limits in search of his own voice on the horn.
In 1997 he formed his "Trio Plus" with Tom Abbs on Tuba and Bass and
Geoff Mann on drums and began developing his skills as a composer and band leader. Later in1999, Kaplan formed a quartet with the members of Trio Plus with the addition of Steve Swell on trombone. In 1997, he also joined William Parker's Little Huey Orchestra and a number of other avant jazz projects related to the Knitting Factory and the Vision Festival (with Karen Borca, Alan Silva, Visions Orchestra). He currently maintains involvement with Jump Arts, an arts and education coalition voted "Best Arts Collective" by the New York Press 2000 and regularly plays in festivals including Vision Fest, Texaco Fest, Bell Atlantic Fest, CMJ and more.
He joined the rock band Firewater in 1998 and toured the U.S. and
Europe. During the same time period, he formed his own "Ori Kaplan Percussion Ensemble" with Susie Ibarra and Geoff Mann on percussion and Andrew Bemkey (most notably of Reggie Workman's band) on piano. Drawing from middle eastern, Asian and southern U.S. aesthetics, this ensemble's varying cultural influences infuse the
music with fresh dialogue and innovative improvisation. In the last 2 years, he recorded four releases as a leader. Kaplan received the
Jerome Foundation Scholarship for Young Jazz Composers 2001. He has also collaborated and recorded with: Pink Noise Sax Quartet, Firewater,
Speedball Baby, Gogol Bordello, Alan Silva, Vision Orchestra, William Parker, Roy Campbell and many others.
What people are saying about Ori Kaplan...
"Alto saxophonist Ori Kaplan has been leading various groups over the last few years, releasing a couple of excellent if under-appreciated albums. His compositions are often challenging, featuring acrobatic opening vamps before the group opens things up. Kaplan isn't afraid of creating a groove (as the group does on opener "Crisis Dream") or
swingin' hard if the mood is right. Here, he's joined by the great Susie
Ibarra on drums and percussion, Kaplan's regular drummer Geoff Mann and pianist Andrew Bemkey. The dual drum/percussion attack is a potent rhythmic combo that covers the sound spectrum from kettledrum to little bells. The lightning fast Ibarra flits around with her usual,percussive flair, leaving Mann to add some umph. Out front, Bemkey adds flourishes while Kaplan parries with pointed jabs of his own."
~Tad Hendrickson: CMJ New Music Report Issue "Some jazz fans will remember alto saxophonist Ori Kaplan's 1999
debut, Realm - it was one of the more promising debuts in recent memory. Kaplan creates intelligent avant-bop compositions that are interesting to listen to, and the tunes still have plenty of room left for the players to do their thing. Kaplan sounds particularly inspired here, with fingers running all over his horn to create spiraling melodies, robust honks and a variety of non-traditional squeaks and squeals. To top it off, he doesn't sound like Ornette, which should be the goal of every modern day avant-garde alto saxophonist besides John Zorn.
Tastefully balancing between post-bop and more freeform playing, this is another solid chapter from Kaplan, an altoist worthy of wider recognition." ~Tad Hendrickson, CMJ New Music Report Issue " As Kaplan's horn makes its moves, it conflates the drama of Jimmy Lyons and the friskiness of Ornette Coleman. His Trio has a way of bobbing, weaving, and ruminating with a nervy savoire-faire." ....."As it bobs and weaves with trombonist Steve Swell, you're likely to hear just how jovial it can be as well." ~ Jim Macnie, Village Voice
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