Machine Project

Mark Dresser – Spectral Delivery
5pm Sunday Dec 9th
Free

The excavation of musical possibilities from the double bass is the subject of Mark Dresser’s lecture/demo/performance. Exploring the micro details of string vibration through improvisation, recording, analysis, codification, and composition has led to the development of a custom made electro-acoustic pick-up system and a rich body of music. Expect minutiae and the macro view through musical, acoustic and metaphoric lenses.

Mark Dresser (1952) is an internationally acclaimed bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator. He is documented in over one hundred recordings including nearly thirty CDs as a soloist, band-leader or collaborator including his recent solo CD, UNVEIL, and the cooperative, TRIO M with Myra Melford and Matt Wilson, and Air Walkers duo with trombonist Roswell Rudd. A major focus of his work has been on extending the sonic and musical possibilities of the double bass through the use of unconventional amplification.

For eighteen years he lived and worked in New York City where he recorded and performed with some of the strongest personalities in contemporary music and jazz including nine years with Anthony Braxton. This group was documented in Graham Locke’s Forces in Motion and numerous recordings. He has also performed and recorded with Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Anthony Davis, Dave Douglas, Fred Frith, Satoko Fujii, Gerry Hemingway Bob Ostertag, Joe Lovano, John Zorn, and many others.