4/19/2001 12:00:13 PM|||Brian Fending|||

*** Musical Happenings ***
I performed with the Benji Tomasetti Quartet in opening the American
University Jazz & Blues Festival in March to an enthusiastic crowd. I look
forward to seeing that event grow in scope by next year. Many thanks to all
who made it out!
Gray Code (http://www.metatronpress.com) has been fairly inactive after
Northeast Tour 2001 in February/March, which drew great audiences in most
cities. [Hint: NEVER send gear via FedEx...]There were some pretty exciting,
developed/developing scenes on the tour and I look forward to playing those
venues again. We've all been busy on our own projects since and I'm not
alone in the writing and composing that our Tour has inspired. I have three
pieces completed and two more in the works. Look for such new pieces in
upcoming Gray Code performances!
*** Day Jobbing ***
I left 3Com Federal on 23Feb01, right before the tech industry began its
layoff spree and as everyone was scared to develop even a basic Web
presence. Since then, I've been high and low in search of something to suit
my skillsets and interests. "Landing" found me working on contract to
Versign/Network Solutions in Herndon - I could not be much happier about the
timing! Now that I'm no longer in demand-generation mode, I will have time
left in the day to finish much-delayed personal projects.
*** Gigs & Events ***
Guitarist Jonathan Matis and I will be open for the Golden Arm Trio at the
DC MoCA (M and 31st NW in Georgetown) on Tuesday, 24Apr at 8pm. It's sure to
be a great show. Jon and I have been exploring a post-rock (well,
post-EVERYTHING) improvisatory duo and are excited to present some new
material at this event. SEE THE PRESS RELEASE BELOW.
*** Personal Notes ***
Teaching multimedia design & development at American University this Spring
posed some interesting challenges, not the least of which was getting a grip
on e-learning outside of the musical domain. Toward this end, I've embraced
a model in which anything can be taught via the Web or at least a commercial
multimedia product. (Some things are best taught "live", but it makes for
great rhetoric, anyway.) At any rate: I've found that application of
Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory is largely resisted by students who have
little experience learning beyond fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice
tests. Have any other of you Howard Gardner (or Tom Regelski) fans noted
this in your students? Also, I've devised a systematic approach to
addressing MI in my multimedia e-learning applications - let me know if
you're interested in using it for distance or stored learning applications
and I'll send you my development outline.
That's all for now./BF
--
Brian Fending
*************************************
***** For immediate Release
Metatron Press presents The Golden Arm Trio (Austin, TX) with Brian Fending
and Jonathan Matis at
MOCA-DC: The Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington, DC 1054 31st Street,
Gallery Courtyard Washington, DC 20007 202-342-6230
Tuesday, April 24th - 8:00 pm, $10
The Golden Arm Trio is not a trio. Bandleader/composer Graham Reynolds at
piano and drums is the only constant. Beyond that, the cast is revolving.
One line-up might be Graham and a saxophonist; another with viola,
vibraphones and bass; or a large ten to fifteen member ensemble; and
sometimes just Graham by himself. Born of today's eclectic wide-scope
exposure to music, Golden Arm Trio most often gets called jazz of some sort.
However, more recent classically oriented material has confused that. Never
mind that the Austin band's tendency to play everywhere but the city's jazz
clubs makes any label difficult to stick. Actually, punk rock clubs were
the first home to the group.
Besides regular band activities of playing clubs and touring, Golden Arm
Trio is constantly involved in dance, theatre, puppetry, performance art,
experimental films, and new scores to silent films. Graham has worked with
choreographers Andrea Ariel, Ellen Bartel, Ashley Overton, and others.
Theatre projects have included productions by Salvage Vanguard Theatre, the
Rude Mechanicals, Vortex Repertory Theatre, etc. There was a new Petrouchka
with puppeteer Chris Green and many performances with Austin's Performance
Art Church (PEACH). The band has linked with Super 8 collective Austin
Cinemaker Coop, providing numerous scores for their films. In return, came
the Golden Arm Trio Film Project, a complete film version of the band's
self- titled first album. Both in Austin and on tour, Golden Arm Trio has
presented new scores for silent classics, including Battleship Potemkin, The
Lost World (with Brown Whornet), The Wind, and Bed and Sofa.
Together with fellow Austin band Brown Whornet, Golden Arm Trio has been
presenting a series of concerts with Graham's compositions as well as the
work of Peter Stopschinski. They have included a string quartet concert
with fifteen new works, and more recently, the premiere of Graham and
Peter's new symphonies with a forty piece orchestra. The concerts have been
consistent sell outs, drawing diverse audiences from punk rockers to
classical radio listeners. Upcoming events include and evening of chamber
music and two concerto premieres.
Along with Jinx Productions and Loveletter Recordings, Shamrock Records has
released Golden Arm Trio's first two albums. The eponymous first album
focused on Graham's work with saxophones. The second, Why the Sea is Salt,
shows Graham's development as a composer, and feature's the Tosca String
Quartet. A double cd of Graham and Peter's symphonies is forthcoming. One
of the discs will be the orchestral versions, the other will be piano
renditions played by the composers. Graham is also working on an all piano
album to be released later this year.
"Classically neo jazzetic carnival music ... sometimes beautifully serene,
other times darkly morose." --Grady Roper, Proper Gander
"One of the most exciting experimental groups around." --The Memphis
Commercial Appeal
Golden Arm Trio's Graham "Reynolds' exquisitely furrowed performances on
both piano and percussion continue to be just as awe-inspiring as his
compositions. Is there anything this man can't do?" --Greg Beets, Austin
Chronicle
"Denotes the difference between reviving jazz for a new market and
reinventing it for a new experience." --Dirk Richardson, San Francisco Bay
Guardian
For more information about the Golden Arm Trio, see:

Opening the show, will be the local duo of guitarist Jonathan Matis and
percussionist Brian Fending. The Fending/Matis duo explores the fertile
territory between composition and improvisation. Their repertoire consists
of pieces utilizing various degrees of precomposed structures and materials
combined with improvisation in various ways. Fending and Matis have been
performing together for years as members of the DC-based improv ensemble,
Gray Code.
Both performers specialize in extended techniques of their instruments.
Matis incorporates various tools and implements in addition to electronic
signal processing to coax unusual sounds from the guitar. Fending brings a
wide variety of experience with percussion instruments of the world into
play on what appears at first as a somewhat typical jazz kit. Easily able to
free himself of the timekeeper role, Fending is an elegant colorist informed
by rigorous technique. Both players have extensive experience with ensemble
deep listening and improvisation.
Perhaps it could be called post-rock? Maybe it's free jazz? Or possibly D)
none of the above? Audio recordings are available for download at
and
.
This performance will include several new works, including: 'staccato and
sporadic' which takes advantage of Matis' extended guitar techniques and
uses loops to create dense textures which the percussion attempts to
imitate. Also on the program: 'catalog of sounds,' which uses timed
segments of limited sonic vocabularies to create a Rothko like texture.
Jonathan Matis studied
composition at Connecticut College with Noel Zahler, and at the Hartt School
of Music, studying with Steven Gryc, Robert Carl, and David Macbride. He
received the Mahan Prize in Music from Connecticut College in 1993 and the
Diemente Prize from the Hartt School in 1999. Jonathan plays the electric
guitar primarily, and has performed in many different types of ensembles, in
a wide variety of venues. He has performed live on radio and television,
and in festivals. He played in the prog- core band Snuggles and the ambient
free improv ensemble Tiktok, both in Austin, Texas and with Casual Saturn, a
Connecticut-based collective of improvising musicians.
Brian Fending is an active, Washington, D.C. based percussionist
specializing in World and 20th-century musics. His undergraduate (BM, 1996)
work was completed at SUNY College at Fredonia under Theodore Frazeur, D.
Thomas Toner, and Kay Stonefelt, where he earned the Performer's Certificate
in 1996. Graduate study found him at Miami University (MM, 1999) with
William R. Albin. In addition to the Matis/Fending duo, Gray Code and his
solo work, Brian is also a freelance web designer and Lecturer in multimedia
design and development at American University.
For more information about the artists, please see

Contact: Jonathan Matis j_matis@yahoo.com 301 785-0884
http://www.metatronpress.com/ ###

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