What: Theo Bleckmann reinterprets the music of Kate Bush for the second installment of the Curated By Meredith Monk series.
When: Saturday, November 26, 2016, 8pm
Where: Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
Cost: $20/15 Online $25/20 Doors $50 Series Pass
Info: www.roulette.org / (917) 267-0368
Tickets: General Admission $20, Members/Students/Seniors $15, $25/20 Tickets at the door, $50 Series Pass
Brooklyn, NY – Vocalist Theo Bleckmann takes on the mysterious songbook of British pop recluse Kate Bush by not merely recreating Bush’s music but taking it into other realms of sound and interpretation. Bush’s œuvre is mysterious and often enigmatic in nature: unusual song forms, oracular lyrics and unpredictable meter- and harmony-changes are an anomaly in pop music, making her oeuvre the perfect vehicle for Bleckmann‘s distinctive, interpretive spirit and interest in the unusual.
Kate Bush’s use of British and Irish myths, her references to psychology, literature and film, her meticulously multi-layered productions and her unusually high voice make her idiosyncratic body of work challenging for other artists to interpret. Bleckmann first heard Bush as a young teenager and was immediately intrigued: ”Her music has this thing that I love in art: you’re instantly drawn into someone’s universe without really knowing why but somehow understanding everything in your heart.” Many teenage pop heroes came and went, but Kate Bush remained a constant in Bleckmann‘s life. “Her songs and records never became obsolete – I now realize that the way she layered sound, speech and music became a major influence for my live electronic looping aesthetic.” For Hello Earth!, Bleckmann chooses songs that warranted a different interpretation.
A jazz singer and new music composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, GRAMMY-nominated Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessible, sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful. A resident of New York City since 1989, Bleckmann has released a series of albums on Winter & Winter, including recordings of Las Vegas standards, of Weimar art songs, and of popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda); a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody); his acoustic Solos for Voice I dwell in possibility, and his highly acclaimed Hello Earth – The Music of Kate Bush. Bleckmann has worked with Meredith Monk as a core ensemble member for over fifteen years.
About the Series: Curated by Meredith Monk features performers selected by Monk who are following his or her own path, asking questions, finding places that fall between the cracks of genres or categories.