When composer and musician Ben Miller takes the stage at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn on Friday August 7th, he will trade his guitar for a conductor’s baton, and lead his 15-piece saxophone ensemble, the Sensorium Saxophone Orchestra (SSO), through a rousing evening of musical offerings that will no doubt turn the audience on its collective ear. Best known for his work in the genres of punk/avant rock, avant-jazz/free improv., and electronic/noise, Miller’s latest musical venture marries his love of orchestral and 20th century art music with his own unique “all-intervallic” compositional technique. The result: intricately crafted works of art, written for and played by the SSO, believed to be NYC’s first and only recording saxophone orchestra.
Honed by months of rehearsal, SSO now brings the fruits of its hard work to public performance. The August 7th show will feature their interpretation of IN C by Terry Riley, the “Grandfather of Minimalist Music”. Riley’s wife Ann notes enthusiastically, “Although IN C has been performed hundreds (maybe thousands) of times, I’m sure this will be a first for saxophone orchestra.” The play-list will also include three of Miller’s own compositions, Glow White (recorded for composer Glen Branca’s In-Search-of-The-Lost-Chord-Contest), Switch (a sound-painting improvisation) and sections of Symphony of Suspicious Activity, slated for a vinyl release later this year.
SSO is the latest evolution in Miller’s three-decade career, which began in 1969 with the formation of the psych-rock band, Sproton Layer, with brothers Roger (Mission of Burma, Alloy Orchestra) and Laurence (Destroy all Monsters), with whom he played sax in the mid-1970’s. The 1980’s saw Miller exploring abstract minimalism in GKW with language artist Robert Currie. By 1997 Miller was composing and performing with Chicago’s The Eleven Mirrors Ensemble; more recently he has engaged in collaborations with author Carol Novack, filmmaker Matt Kohn, playwright Lori Borts, and multimedia artist Orin Buck. In addition to SSO, Miller is currently active in several other creative entities; Ben Miller/degeneration, Third Border and M3, an ongoing recording project with brothers Roger and Laurence.
For some, the road from punk progenitor to post classical modernist composer may seem an unlikely one. Miller cites growing up in a musical household as a formative influence on his eclectic career. “My father’s love of classical and 20th century music played a big part in my appreciation of orchestral music. In college, I listened to a lot of Eric Satie, Edgar Varese, and Olivier Messiaen.” An opportunity to record with Glen Branca’s 100 Guitar Orchestra in 2004 and 2006 opened Miller’s eyes to the untapped potential of a saxophone orchestra. “I discovered that by using an entire orchestra with only a single instrument type, the end result was incredibly cohesive and in no way limiting. With the uniformity of timber, range and technique, the over-all sound is as if one gigantic instrument is playing”.
On August 7th, the Issue Project Room audience will hear the gigantic instrument that is SSO.
Future SSO performances are set for later this year at the Brooklyn Lyceum (SSO’s NYC premiere ofSymphony of Suspicious Activity Sept. 17th), the Brecht Forum (October), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (December).
William Hooker is an artistic whole, a vast circle of vision and execution. A body of uninterrupted work beginning in the mid-seventies defines him as one of the most important composers and players in jazz. As bandleader, Hooker has fielded ensembles in an incredibly diverse array of configurations. Each collaboration has brought a serious investigation of his compositional agenda and the science of the modern drum kit. As a player, Hooker has long been known for the persuasive power of his relationship with his instrument. His work is frequently grounded in a narrative context. Whether set against a silent film or anchored by a poetic theme, Hooker brings dramatic tension and human warmth to avant-garde jazz. His ability to find fertile ground for moving music in a variety of settings that obliterate genre distinctions offers a much-needed statement of social optimism in the arts. A disciplined, adaptive, and energetic approach to his medium insures that the oeuvre of William Hooker will continue to grow thicker and richer.
William Hooker has released over 20 critically acclaimed CDs. As a composer, he has received commissions from Meet the Composer, the NY State Council on the Arts, Real Art Ways and others, and has led many creative ensembles with musicians from diverse backgrounds, including Lee Ranaldo, David Murray, David S. Ware, William Parker, DJ Spooky and Thurston Moore. Hooker often reads his poetry during performances as part of the musical compositions.