Kendra Steiner Editions Celebrates Five Years [Show Preview + CD Review]

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Kendra Steiner Editions 5th Anniversary Concert
Sunday, July 31
Salvage Vanguard Theatre (2803 Manor Road)
$5, 7pm
[info]

I once teasingly referred to an alto saxophone-driven performance art piece on Facebook as something that San Antonio-based CD-R label and chapbook press Kendra Steiner Editions should release, which sparked a little ire from my friend and KSE label artist Alfred 23 Harth. His point was valid - that as the imprint was just getting off the ground, it needed all the serious encouragement that it could get. In an age where basically anybody with a little cash and a desire to make something can self-release music in a physical or online form (and one doesn't even need a bank account - there's always Kickstarter), it does get somewhat difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. But Kendra Steiner Editions is definitely on a path to make a name for itself, releasing almost two hundred poetry chapbooks since 2006 by writers like Stuart Crutchfield, Misti Rainwater-Lites, Byron Coley, Doug Drahme, and imprint founder Bill Shute (many are out of print). Though Shute's work is the most visible in the catalog, KSE isn't a vanity project, as it seeks to uncover lesser-known artists in poetry and sound with a dedicated do-it-yourself aesthetic, simple and to the point.

In 2010, Shute and KSE expanded from chapbooks into a music label, based on a longtime interest in DIY and outsider music. So far nearly ten limited-edition discs have been released, including works by international artists Massimo Magee and Alfred 23 Harth, and Texans Venison Whirled and Nick Hennies. The label's fifth anniversary will be celebrated Sunday night at the home of the Church of the Friendly Ghost, Austin's Salvage Vanguard Theater, with performances from current and future KSE sound artists like Nick Hennies, Venison Whirled, Lee Dockery, Rick Reed and Vanessa Rossetto.

Hennies' Objects is of a piece with other recent solo works including Psalms (Roeba, 2010) and Lungs (Full Spectrum, 2010). As he states in the liner notes, "meaning is derived from an object's utilitarian function rather than any emotional or intellectual concept; it's only after direct interaction with the object that a greater understanding of [it] and of the self is later reached." Objects features one 35-minute piece for conga, woodblock, vibraphone, triangle, and claves with natural acoustic resonance and no electronics. The music is naked and simple, presenting the relationship between the body, acoustic environment, and object as a dance of repeated striking motions implying short physical distance and unfettered meditation. It's certainly minimalist and at first blush relatively austere, but reveals characteristics of the materials that are surprisingly nuanced - one doesn't expect a woodblock to have depth, but it's incredibly full-sounding and, when placed atop the metal lamella of a vibraphone, given a vaguely chordal sheen. The same goes for the claves, and it's hard not to recall the opening of Terry Riley's In C when encountering this sort of muted plenum. Certain objects and their attendant sonic characteristics are usually thought of as "dull" when they're unpitched, but of course performers and music can tease out a surprising array of variations with a limited palette. Hennies' work certainly uncovers instrumental elements previously thought of as "obscure" and makes them compelling and beautiful.

German-born and South Korea-based saxophonist, electronic artist, improviser and composer Alfred 23 Harth (or Alfred Harth, if you prefer) has released both a full length and a 3" CD-R on Kendra Steiner Editions. The former,Microsaxophone III, is solo and the latter, Red Canopy, has him joined by pianist Soojung Kae and bassist Chang U Choi. Harth has been a force on the international creative music scene since 1968 as a founding member of such ensembles as Just Music, Energy Movement Totale (EMT), Goebbels-Harth Duo, Cassiber, and Gestalt et Jive. The Microsaxophone series is an extended solo music concept, building on the language of woodwinds and voice with laptop, Kaoss Pad and contact mikes, and using techniques like bowing the saxaphones' valves and exploring various methods of manipulating keys and pads. Microsaxophone III goes so far as to also include overdubbed spoken texts, both recent and dating back to 1972. Like a lot of Harth's work, there's an element of audio-collage to the proceedings, a practice which has informed both his ensemble work and solo performance - whether stylistic mashups of political songs, punk rock and free jazz or literal sound-collage of prerecorded and acoustic elements.

"Doublespeak" is the centerpiece for the latter approach, which includes fragments of a Nobuyoshi Araki interview and Harth's recitation of words by D.T. Suzuki (in German), sometimes clearly enunciated and at other times half-spoken, half-sung through the saxophone and with multiple threads superimposed to create a dense, jittery field. The inclusion of Korean gagok (pop operatic classical music) lends an absurdist contrast to the diced voice parts, shunting it to a garish collision that nevertheless maintains a vibrant cohesiveness. The final half is a slower-paced exploration of high-pitched wails and deep sputters acting as ghostly chiaroscuro on the vocal parts. There is an adage that the saxophone is an extension of the human voice, and that is taken to a literal level with "Doublespeak," which could be one of the most important recent works of found poetry/audio collage to have made its way to disc. That said, the presence of Harth's curled reed pillows and full tone, even when subdivided into areas of spittle-flecked microtones, is clear throughout and his stature as a world-class improvising instrumentalist and conceptualist is unsullied on this hour-plus disc.

Kendra Steiner Editions: [website]
Nick Hennies: [website]
Alfred 23 Harth: [interview]