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DRUMMER/COMPOSER/STORYTELLER SEAN NOONAN WILL CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF A GAMBLER’S HAND AT A CD RELEASE CONCERT ON SEPTEMBER 24 AT ROULETTE IN BROOKLYN
Show Will Premier CD’s Music for Drum Set and Double String Quartet and Will Feature Both The Momenta Quartet and a Special Improv Quartet – Mat Maneri, Jason Kao Hwang, Tom Swafford, and a cellist (TBA).
What: Sean Noonan’s Gamblers Hand Feat: Mat Maneri, Tom Swafford, Momenta String Qt, Jason Kao Hwang
Where:Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, 2/3/4/5/A/C/G/D/M/N/R/B/Q trains & the LIRR
When: September 24, 8pm
Cost/Info: $15/10 members/students/seniors, http://www.roulette.org
On September 24, drummer/composer/storyteller Sean Noonan will celebrate the August 14 release of A Gambler’s Hand, his third release on Songlines Recordings, with a show at Roulette. A Gambler’s Hand, a suite for amplified/unamplified string quartet and drum kit/percussion, combines the aesthetics of downtown jazz/rock, improv and comprovisation with composition inspired by American experimentalists such as Cowell, Nancarrow and Zorn. At any particular moment, rock grooves might be locking with insistent string ostinatos, which then morph into spiky counterpoint reminiscent of Bartok. Delicate-harsh writing for the quartet is woven around Seanپfs eclectic, lyrical and organic drumming in a highly original fusion. The music represents an original story by Noonan, an absurd, dreamlike tale of an Irish gambler who one day finds himself trapped inside a wall. The story has been adapted for a 30-minute silent film that will receive its premiere at the performance; Noonan will also narrate parts of the story between movements.
Praised by the New York Times for its “focused, fluid performance” and by Sequenza 21 for its “fire, fantasy and absolute musical commitment,” The Momenta Quartet has premiered over fifty works in the past seven years and has collaborated with over 80 living composers. Since 2004, Momenta has given over 100 concerts, among them 60 in New York City at such venues as Roulette, The Stone, Le Poisson Rouge, Issue Project Room, Tonic, BargeMusic, Symphony Space, Americas Society, Asia Society, and the Austrian Cultural Forum. The quartet is celebrated for its innovative programming, juxtaposing contemporary works from widely divergent aesthetics with music from the classical canon.
About Roulette
Roulette – one of New York City’s premiere venues for experimental music for over 33 years - has reopened bigger and better than ever. Located in a newly renovated 1920s Art Deco concert hall in Downtown Brooklyn, the new Roulette features two levels of seating for up to 400 people(600 standing), an expanded multi-channel sound system, projection screen for film and multi-media events, state-of-the-art lighting system, modular stage, and a specially designed floor to accommodate dance. Teamed with bold new programming, the new Roulette promises to be one of the most exciting places in New York City - if not the country - to experience adventurous music and art.