Friday, May 30 8:00pm:
Ayman Fanous/Tomas Ulrich (Cello) Duo
with Special Guest Chris Speed (Reeds)
9:30pm:
Ayman Fanous/Jason Hwang Duo
with Special Guest, Tatsuya Nakatani (Percussion)
$10 General Admission
Saturday, May 31 8:00pm:
Ayman Fanous and Andrea Parkins (accordion and electronics)
9:30pm:
Ayman Fanous, Ned Rothenberg (Reeds), Ikue Mori (laptop, electronics) and Tatsuya Nakatani (Percussion)$10 General Admission
Over the last 25 years, Ayman Fanous has forged a singular synthesis of classical and flamenco guitar technique with contemporary free improvisation. By yoking the expansive techniques of these demanding guitaristic approaches to a contemporary aesthetic, Fanous has developed a
unique voice, full of both fiery virtuosity and harmolodic openness and complexity. It has been described as “a stylistic amalgam of Derek Bailey and Paco de Lucia” (Signal to Noise). To this combustible mix, Fanous adds a number of extended techniques to create a rich tapestry of textures and colors.
While the guitar is Fanous primary instrument, he also reaches back into his Egyptian ancestry in improvisations on the bouzouki, an instrument which intimates the musical spirit of cultures from Central and South Asia to the Middle East, Balkans, and North Africa. Although he has only recently begun to release recordings, his duo partners have included a number of leading jazz and improvisational musicians including Bern Nix, Tomas Ulrich, Jason Hwang, William Parker, Frances-Marie Uitti, Ned Rothenberg, Mark Feldman, Mat Maneri, Lori Freedman, Kinan Azmeh, and Tatsuya Nakatani.
Over two nights at the Firehouse Space, Fanous will bring together some of the most original and acclaimed improvising musicians in New York to debut four different ensembles, including several first meetings, in multicultural explorations of free chamber improv.*
“The duo release Zilzal further defines the evolution of two master musician/composers pursing the most imaginative alternatives to the status quo.”
–Karl Ackerman, Allaboutjazz.com
“This is music with ambition… for new forms of sounds, new ways to express things, full of emotional depth, with emotions that are too complex to be canvassed in old forms, too elusive to be captured in patterns, too deep to be expressed in shallow tunes.” –Stef, Freejazzblog.org*
“If [this music] is beautiful, it is the beauty of awe. At times it is wistful, at times wildly screeching. At times the musicians complement each other, at times they seem to be at war. At times one steps front and center, at times the other. This music that is on the edge of the future. It is music that needs to be heard and explored.” –Jack Goodstein, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“The flamenco and classical guitar roots of Fanous are paired perfectly with the evocative flights of fancy demonstrated by Hwang. Zilzal is built on passion both to the extreme and to the minimalist perspective; to venture into the cultural extremes as exhibited within Zilzal and and make the music accessible to a broad based audience is simply amazing.” –Brent Black, Criticaljazz.com *
Nilometer at Roda, from Zilzal, by Ayman Fanous and Jason Hwang:
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