Ora Clementi is the duo of Canadian sound artist crys cole and Australian composer-performer James Rushford. Formed in 2013, their collaboration is a unique investigation into liminal performance states, with a focus on text and speech as preconscious thought processes. Central to cole and Rushford's duo are questions surrounding interpretation, the function of memory, semiotics, and the syntactical discipline of sound within both listener and performer. Utilizing various musical approaches in unorthodox and disorienting ways, their work incorporates field recordings, electronics, contact mics, various wind and keyboard instruments, percussion and voice. Using movement, conceptual performance practice and both amplified and acoustic sound, Ora Clementi play with subtleties of sensory perception, invoking a dreamlike context that hovers between musical performance and pure abstraction.
Originally a percussionist, Vito Ricci has crossed paths within the experimental jazz, avant-garde and punk scenes of downtown New York for decades. His pioneering experiments in electronic music are recently experiencing a resurgence thanks to a retrospective 2xLP set, I Was Crossing A Bridge released by Music From Memory this spring (a label named after Ricci’s 1985 album). Tonight Ricci combines his recordings with live sound, performing on computer, modular, and “wrench guitar” with special guests Lise Vachon and Steve Dalachinsky.
crys cole is a Canadian sound artist working in composition, improvised performance and sound installation. Generating subtle and imperfect sounds through haptic gestures, she creates textural works that continuously retune the ear. Delicately seeking to both reveal, and obscure, the intricacy of seemingly mundane sounds and sources. She has exhibited and performed in Canada, Europe, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and the USA. In addition to her ongoing collaborations with James Rushford and Oren Ambarchi (AU). She has also worked with Keith Rowe, Lance Austin Olsen, Jamie Drouin, Mathieu Ruhlmann, Tetuzi Akiyama, Seiji Morimoto, Anthea Caddy, echo ho, Tim Olive and many more. Her work has been published on labels Black Truffle, Penultimate Press, Touch, MeGO, caduc, Bocian, Another Timbre and Infrequency editions.
James Rushford (b. 1985) is a Los Angeles-based Australian composer, keyboardist, violist and improviser. His work is drawn from a familiarity with specific concrète, improvised, avant-garde and collagist languages. He has been commissioned by ensembles including BBC Scottish Symphony, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Neon and has had work featured in the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Ultima Festival, Unsound Festival NY, and Tectonics Festival (Scotland), among others. Collaborators include Oren Ambarchi, Kassel Jaeger, Klaus Lang, Jon Rose, Golden Fur, Michael Pisaro, Graham Lambkin, David Behrman, Sophia Brous, and Joe Talia.
On the leading edge of NYC’s underground music scene, Vito Ricci produced only a handful of self released cassettes and one LP between 1983-1985 with most of his work being recorded for experimental theatre and performance art pieces. Starting out as a percussionist, Ricci’s early musical journey led him to improvised and experimental jazz; he has worked alongside such luminary musicians as Rashied Ali, Byard Lancaster, Peter Zummo and Yousef Yancey. Quickly becoming involved in the avant-garde scene with spoken word performances, film scores for independent movies and even playing in punk bands with performances at venues such as CBGB’s and Mudd Club, Vito’s own compositions drew on all of these influences whilst channeling them through his experiments with synthesizers and drum computers. Drawing comparisons with New York’s downtown No-wave scene Vito’s compositions blend his unique use of intricate percussion with a wide sphere of musical influences to create a world of hypnotising ambient, meditative minimal-synth through to dubbed out electronic funk and even left-field boogie. With most of Vito Ricci’s music remaining previously unreleased, Music From Memory’s compilation ‘I Was Crossing A Bridge’ unveils Vito Ricci’s unique and visionary take on electronic music.