Born
02-19-1950 in Detroit, MI I
have been involved with the arts for most of my life. I began
studying the alto sax at the age of 14 in middle school and have been
playing/ studying in varying capacities since.
After
periodic explorations
of drama, poetry, architecture, visual art, a B.F.A. and
an M.F.A. and a stint in Europe, I arrived in NYC in 1989 with my
family and an alto sax. In
the past 18 years I have been actively involved with the NYC Improv
Scene: Amica
Bunker, the Improvisers
Collective and
most recently the C.O.M.A.
series at ABC No-Rio. recent as in the
past 10 years
As a composer I
have incorporated
traditional musical scoring techniques with visual/graphical and
performance oriented presentations and a simple philosophy- sound and
vision are inter-related in life and art resulting in
communication.
Although
primarily an alto saxophonist I play a number of reed, flute,
percussion and string instruments at varying degrees of competency per
composition requirements and recently began including computer altered
sound files in performance as background for improvisation. Currently my
instruments of choice are: Alto, Tenor &
Soprano Saxophones Bb Clarinet, Eb
Alto Cl & Bb Bass Cl
This has resulted in my performing and
collaborating with an extreme
variety of types of improvised music including.. Guitarist
Sten Hostfalt Doug
Walker's Alien Planetscapes Cecil
Taylor's Ptonagas William
Hooker's Ensembles Judy
Dunaway's Balloon Trio Rowe
Siwula Miano Trio Dialing
Privileges Trio w. Dom Minasi & John Bollinger BCJ
Trio with Chris Welcome & John McCellan A + B2 with
Robert Marsh Market
Street Jazz w. Ken Simon, Hal
Onserud, Karen Borca & Jackson Krall Dagaz
Trio w. William
Parker & Michael Evans BE Duet w.
Evan Gallagher Tan
Dun Katsuyuki
Itakura Michael Khoury The Improvisors
Collective (NYC) Glass Factory w.
Donald Miller Duet with Ravi
Padmanabha The B & B Duet
w. Bob Meyer Erie
Nites w. Robyn Siwula HSM w. Gary Hassay
& Toshi Makihara Trio with Eyal
Maoz & Dale Miller The Jeff Platz
Ensemble Joseph Scianni Jeffrey Hayden
Shurdut Music in the
Foreground w. Ge-Suk Yeo the Slam trio w.
Adam Lane & Toshi Makihara The Lower Eastside
Social Club w.
Matty Paris,
Gregory Wildes, Christobal
Jacques and Drew Gardner Expositions of
Freedom Now! w. Vattel Cherry
& Jeff Arnal MAMBO MANTIS w. Bonnie Kane,
Chris Welcome & Ray Sage and most recently in duet with Guitarist Carsten
Radtke
I
have been honored also to work with these musicians and composers
- Peter
Kowald,
John Fischer, Perry Robinson, Newman Taylor Baker, John Voigt, Wilber
Morris Clare De Brunner, Joseph Daly, Vincent Chancey, Christoph Irmer,Maria de
Alvear, Theo
Jorgesmann, Ralff Schussel, Hans Tammen, Killick, Phillip
Lang, Tini Hagler, Michael Zerang, Fred Lomberg Holmes, Stan Nishimura,
Nils Gerod, Jesse Henry, Louis Barnes, Mark Hennen, Rashid Bakar,
Pelthead, Fly, Frank Keeley, Christian Begemann, Pieter Prije, Olaf
Rupp, Harri
Sjorstrom, Richard Keene, Tor Snyder, Bob Littman, Matt Weston, Eric
Zinman, Glynnis Lomon, Tatsuya Nakatani, Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen,
Heiner Metzger, Hans Schüttler,
Likas Ligeti, Sarah Weaver, James Ilgenfritz,Motoko Shimizu, Ed Chang,
Brian Osborne, Raoul Björkenheim, Sei Mguel,
Fala
Mariam, Margarida Garcia, Manuel Mota, Ernesto Rodrigues, Guilherme
Rodrigues, Moe Staiano,Hill
Greene, Joe McPhee, Daniel Carter,
Christopher Forbes, Bern Nix, Paul Hession, Francois Grillot, Yuki
Saga, Ryusaku Ikezawa, Jiro Shoda, Syd Smart, Mario Rechtern, Jacques
Nobili, Hannes Schweiger, Hermann Stangassinger, John Edwards, Mick
Beck, Paul Moore, Mike Fortune, Kit Demos, Gary Wallen, Django
Carranza, Brian Groder, Jordon Schranz, Mike Pride
Selected Discography:
New on Konnex Records Projection: Zero Blaise Siwula
alto/tenor sax
Carsten Radtke guitar
Soon to be released on Ayler
Records The Duet -
Blaise Siwula alto & tenor sax
Bob Meyer drums
The BCJ Trio -
Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax
Chris Welcome guitar
John McLellan drums
from Konnex
records The Total Improvisation Unit
1. New York Moments
with
Blaise Siwula alto/tenor&sop sax Dom
Minasi guitar
Nobu Stowe piano Ray Sage drums
2.
Brooklyn Moments with
Blaise Siwula alto/tenor sax, bass cl. &
flutes Nobu Stowe piano
Ray Sage drums\
Big Hearts
(Cadence Jazz Records) -
Katsuyuki Itakura piano Blaise Siwula
alto/tenor sax / cl Ryusaku
Ikezawadrums
The Slam Trio (Cadence Jazz
Records) -
Blaise Siwula alto/tenor/sop. Adam Lane bass
Toshi Makihara drums
Tandem
Rivers (Cadence Jazz Records) -
Blaise Siwula reeds & Adam Lane bass
One Eyed Jack
(Cadence Jazz Records) -
Joseph Scianni piano, Blaise Siwula reeds, Ken Filiano bass & Hal
Onserud bass
Sound Scapes - Denmarkâs Intuitive Music Conference 2001Concerts
in Copenhagen DK
Orange Bird
& Pink Bat (Art.Cappuccinet.Com)
Ge-Suk Yeo vocals & Blaise Siwula reeds
Badlands(C.J.R)-
Expositions of Freedom ....Now!
B. Siwula/V. Cherry/J. Arnal
Duet - Blaise Siwula alto sax, Dom Minasi acoustic guitar Blaise Siwula
Trio - Dialing Privileges (CIMP)
Blaise Siwula al. sax. Dom Minasi 12 strg. guitar, John Bollinger drums
ROWE-SIWULA-MIANO
-
Tim Rowe drms, Blaise Siwula rds/perc.,Tonino Miano kybrd
Publications that have reviewed my projects include: Option, High
Performance, Cadence Jazz Magazine, JazzOSphere (Fr), Modern Drummer,
Jazzimprov (Fr), Jazz Times, All About Jazz, All Music Guide,
Geocities, Pittsburgh Tribune, Columbia Spectator (Columbia U. NYC),
Flagpole (Athens GA) and One Final Note.
VENUES and/or FESTIVALS,
CONCERTS, EVENTS
NYC- Knitting Factory, Roulette, CBGBâs, CBâs 313 Gallery,
CBGBâs Lounge,Brecht Forum, Under Acme, Cooler, Amica
Bunker Fest-ivals 92-93, Symphony Space, Gargoyle Mechanique, Jerome
Cooper Gallery, ABC No Rio, Amos Eno Gallery, University Settlement,
Brownies, Stork Festival 1994, Angel Orensanz Foundation, U.N. Chapel.
Context
- Improvisors Collective 94-95, Cornelia Street, PS 122, Pink Pony,
Saint Peters - Jazz Concert, Vespers and All Night Soul, The
Alternative Museum, Triad Theatre, Three Jewels Cafe, I&O Festival
2002 Brooklyn, NYCaravan of Dreams, Rapp Art Center, Cave Canem Crazy
Nannyâs, Gas Station, New Theatre for the Performing Arts, Viva
House Benefit, 6th Street Garden La Perla Garden, La Mama La Galleria,
St. Marks Dance Space, DIA, 5C,
WKCR, WFMU, 1st St. Cafe, 3rd St. Music School, Vision for the 21st
Century,Spiral, Nightengale, Washington Sq.Church, Sothebyâs
Atlanta, GA Eyedrum
2001/02, Athens GA 2001/2002, Cullowee NC 2002, Tucson AZ 2001- Matt
BeveklInstitute, Pittsburgh, PA(Pub. Health Aud), Boxheart Gallery
2001/Baltimore MD(Redroom)/ Washington DC(MOCA Gallery)/New Orleans,
LA(Mermaid Lounge)/Atlanta, GA
(WREK&Eyedrum)/Athens, GA(Engine Room)/ Louisville, KY(ArtWatch)/
Cahattanooga,
TN(Lamarâs) 2-28/3-10-01Boston, MA - Zeitgeist 9-2000/11-2000,
Middle
Eastern 2-99East Hampton- FlyWheel 9-00, 11-00 Koln, Germany - The Loft
w. Maria de Alvera, Theo Jorgesmann, Ralff Schussel 94 Bremen- MIB w.
Nils Gerold, Michael Drews & Christoph Irmer 96 Hagan- Werkhof
Hohenlimburg,
Wuppertal- Gallerie Epikur & Dusseldorf- R. Steiner Sch. w.Agora II
Kassel- Schlachof w. Hans Tammen, Martin Speicher, Ove Volquartz &
Christoph
Irmer 96Berlin- Anorak w. Harri Sjorstrom & Olaf Rupp 96, Bern
&
Zurich, SWD-WIM w. H. Hani & G. Muller 94 Foto-Gallerie w. Phillip
Lang
& Tini Hagler Amsterdam, The NLD- Binnen Pret, Quelle, De
ConcertZender
w. Tim Rowe & Tonino Miano 95, Nov. 2002 Tour with Ge-Suk Yeo
-Amsterdam,
Hamburg, Darmsatdt,Berlin, Hildesheim & Szczecin Poland Eindhoven,
The Netherlands- Het Apollohuis - ãNowHereä w. Tim Rowe
&
Tonino Miano 95 Poughkeepsie, N.Y.- The Masc Center for the Performing
Arts w. NY ensemble 90 Cleveland, Ohio- The Cleveland Center for the
Performing Arts w. Evan Gallagher 90 Chicago, Ill- Lunar Cabaret w. Bob
Marsh and Michael Zareng 96 Ypsilanti, Michigan- WEMU w. Bob Marsh
87,88 New Haven, Conn..- ART SPACE, Yale, St Patrickâs, May Day
on the Commons w. Stan Nishimura 92,93,99,00, 01 Hartford Conn.- U. of
Conn. w. William Hooker 94 Princeton, New Jersey - w. W. Hooker, M.
Hennen, L. Barnes and R. Keene 97 Providence, Rhode Island - Rhode
Island School of Design w. William Hooker & Jesse Henry
96Philadelphia, PA- Phil. Music Festival 1995 w, W. Hooker & D.
Walker, 5 Spot w. W.H. 97Windsor (Artists Perf.
Co-operative),Toronto&Montreal (CKUT- McGill U.), Canada w.
Pelthd.Detroit -Contemporary Art Gallery 11-99, Entropy 11-00/6-02
(Artist Market, River front Festival, Paradigm Dance
Studio, Mich. Gallery), Ann Arbor (Art Festival), Canterbury House Ann
Arbor
11/2002, Rochester (Jewish Cultural Center), Pontiac (ISIS) and Royal
Oak
(Olympiad of Theatrical Events), Mich. w. Paradigm Dance Theatre and
(a+b)2
84-89 San Francisco, California (1972-76 Coffee Houses) Big Sur
Experimental
Music Fest 5-2000 The Aladdin Tour with National Touring Musicals to
Singapore,
Bangkok, Thailand, Manila, Philippines and Hong Kong. 12/6/ 94 to
1/12/95.
TV Commercial - Calvin Klein Escape Perfume 1994....Wooden Flute.
Scores Top to Bottom: 1. Fancy
Dancer 2. Life on the Otherside 3. What Monk!
