Drums: Justin Allen with Savannah Harris

Thursday, October 15th, writer and performer Justin Allen continues his 2020 ISSUE residency with the premiere of Drums, a performance stemming from ongoing research into how to emulate, experiment with, and better understand the performance practices of punk singers. This performance is co-presented with The Chocolate Factory Theater, and will be streamed from their theater in Long Island City, New York.

Building on his work Explain Totality (version 4) in which he performs as a singer of a four-piece punk band, Allen is preparing a series of performances in which he sings and experiments with screaming vocal techniques, accompanied by three isolated instruments: electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. The performances focus on the individual instruments, incorporating both rehearsed and improvised material as well as movement. The third performance of the series, Drums, will feature drumming by drummer, composer and producer Savannah Harris.

Justin Allen experiments with performance and writing. His work focuses on the ways aesthetic, structural, and conceptual features in art and language communicate social histories. He has performed at Performance Space New York and Brooklyn Museum with frequent collaborator Devin Kenny, and performed solo work at Movement Research at the Judson Church, BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and ISSUE Project Room, among other venues. He has read his poetry, fiction, and nonfiction at venues such as The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, Kampnagel (Hamburg, Germany), and Artists Space. His work has received support from Franklin Furnace, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and The Shed. He is from Northern Virginia and lives and works in New York City.

Savannah Harris is a New York City-based drummer, composer and producer. She has performed alongside Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran, Kenny Barron, Aaron Parks, Terence Blanchard, Geri Allen, and Georgia Anne Muldrow. She currently tours with Etienne Charles’ Creole Soul, José James, Peter Evans' Being + Becoming, the María Grand Trio, Or Bareket, and avant-garde art collective Standing on the Corner. Savannah is an active collaborator creating interdisciplinary works with The Second City improv group, Vail Dance Festival Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, and visual artist Mark Fox. As a bandleader, Savannah has taken her trio to Wine and Bowties' Feels V festival as well as the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. She was awarded the Harlem Stage Emerging Artist Award in 2019, and holds her master's degree from Manhattan School of Music, under former program director Stefon Harris. She is also a teaching artist for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz For Young People programs.

Audio description by Azure D. Osborne-Lee, captions by LC Interpreting Services.

[Image description: Justin, a Black person wearing black gym shorts, a grey t-shirt, and black socks stands in a wide stance with his back to the camera, throwing one arm upwards and the other downwards simultaneously. Sepia performance lighting casts his shadow onto an adjacent wall].