New Harbours Music Series 2008 "Trailer"

New Harbours Music Series Trailer from Quintin Hewlett on Vimeo.


A summation of the musical performances featured at the Spring 2008 New Harbours Music Series.

Performers include Orphx, Polmo Polpo, Michael Snow + Matthew Boughner, Slither.

handheld camera, ambient sound + lighting


P + C = Orphx, Polmo Polpo, Michael Snow, Matthew Boughner, Slither, qzh, Throwaway Digital (2008)

A nicer version of this video is available from Vimeo.

Slither @ New Harbours Music Series 1.3

Slither plays Christ's Church Cathedral as part of New Harbours Music Series 1.3, June 13, 2008

handheld camera, ambient sound + lighting

P + C = Slither, qzh, Throwaway Digital, 2008

New Harbours Music Series 1.3 -- Slither + Fossils

New Harbours Music Series 1.3
Slither + Fossils
June 13, 9:00 PM
Christ’s Church Cathedral
262 James street North
Free Admission


The noisier and more experimental end of jazz has always been a troubling beast to many listeners. Throughout the history of the genre, musicians have been simultaneously playing within traditional structures and emphatically breaking past them in search of new musical horizons. Free jazz attained a popular zenith in the late sixties with reed players such as John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, and the genre was able to proliferate commercially despite the demands which it placed on listeners. Over the next two decades however, jazz was concretized in the public imagination as a genre of rigid formalism associated with easy-listening radio stations. Experimental jazz quickly relegated itself to the Japanese, European, and North American underground, where it remained a fertile though somewhat marginalised scene.

Michigan duo Slither are among the newer generation of musicians who work within the amorphously-conceived genre of free jazz (which is at this point more appropriately termed “free improvisation”). Clarinetist Heath Moerland and saxophonist Chris Pottinger have been performing torrid live shows for the past few years. Described as “Today’s jazz for today’s playboys” by Thurston Moore, Slither perform a combination of reeds and electronics that serves well to reinvigorate free improvisation fans and other aesthetes of the nearly-impossible. The cacophony which they create certainly falls within the noise camp, and a great deal of spectral beauty can be discerned as the horn instruments wash themselves of the sonic detritus. Indeed, the last time Slither performed in Hamilton, an amplified dish rack proved itself a worthy addition to the performance.



Local noise practitioners Fossils will also be performing at New Harbours. A trio centred upon the weekly improvisation sessions at band member David Payne’s downtown apartment, Fossils have been internationally championed as being among Canada’s elite experimental acts. Tape manipulation, no-input mixer feedback, prepared guitars, and an arsenal of electronics conjure a dissonant and distopic aesthetic of tortured landscapes and strained human relations. Much as the DJ scene of the 1990s revived interest in the vinyl culture of the previous generation of music listeners, the tape culture represented by Fossils signals to children of the 80s and 90s that their long-forgotten cassettes can still find a use despite the wear of neglect, magnetic drift, and oxidation.

Slither and Fossils play the final concert in the spring 2008 New Harbours Music Series at Christ’s Church Cathedral this Friday at 9 PM.

Michael Snow + Matthew Boughner @ New Harbours

Snow + Boughner in an improvised performance inside Christ's Church Cathedral on May 11, 2008. This concert was second in the New Harbours Music Series.

handheld camera, ambient sound + lighting

P + C = Michael Snow, Matthew Boughner, qzh, Throwaway Digital (2008)

Polmo Polpo @ New Harbours

Christ's Church Cathedral, April 11, 2008

handheld camera, ambient sound + lighting

P + C = Sandro Perri, qzh, Throwaway Digital (2008)

new harbours music series 1 - Polmo Polpo / Orphx

now with myspace goodness:

www.myspace.com/newharbours

NEW HARBOURS ANNOUNCES SPRING CONCERTS IN HAMILTON, MICHAEL SNOW AMONG PERFORMERS

The New Harbours Music Series Demonstrates Significant Cultural Influence For The Newly Revitalized City Of Hamilton

HAMILTON, ON – Music fans in Hamilton have long been organizing events for contemporary music. Musical performances in warehouses, stores, basements, and vacant buildings have been significant happenings for those in contact with the musical underground. Now, a series of spring concerts will bring experimental music to the industrial city of Hamilton, Ontario in a more official capacity.

The New Harbours Music Series intends to showcase regional, national, and international artists and performers who engage in experimental musical practises. Presented by the Hamilton Artists Inc. and coordinated by a volunteer committee of local music fans and musicians, the series is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of experimental music.

The concerts will be part of the monthly James Street Art Crawls, and will feature performances from the internationally-renowned multi-disciplinary artist Michael Snow (Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the first Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts), Polmo Polpo, and Slither, with local artists Orphx, Fossils, and Matthew Boughner.

“With the participation of Michael Snow, who ranks among the most significant and well-known artists in Canada, the New Harbours Music Series intends to bring attention to Hamilton’s art community,” says Quintin Hewlett, who is a member of the New Harbours organizing committee. “The James North art district is a jewel largely hidden to residents of Hamilton, who frequently look to Toronto for their culture. That city, great as it is, serves as a black hole sucking in everything from the surrounding cities. Meanwhile, I know people who have come to Hamilton from Europe and the southern U.S. to see shows here that they would not be able to see otherwise. People need to be made aware of what is occurring in their neighbourhood. Local artists like Orphx and Matthew Boughner have an international following. With New Harbours, we intend for Hamilton to experience its own event horizon.”

This series will occur April 11, May 9, and June 13, 2008 inside Christ's Church cathedral, which is located at 252 James Street North. In addition to the wonderful acoustic properties of the building, the cathedral was chosen as the inaugural venue for the music series as it is one of the most significant architectural and historical landmarks in Hamilton.

Furthermore, the downtown location of the cathedral allows this music series to be included in the James North Art Crawl, which is a monthly event currently gathering a national reputation for the increasingly influential output of the community which it fosters. The continued development of the art community in the James Street North gallery district is a prime indication of the rising economic and cultural influence of the revitalized city of Hamilton.

Culture needs to metastasize. we're already planning series for the fall of 2008, as well as spring 2009. New Harbours Music Series will continue to be an integral part of the cultural output of Southern Ontario.

April 11: Polmo Polpo + Orphx
www.cstrecords.com/bands_polmopolpo.html
www.myspace.com/orphx

May 9: Michael Snow + Matthew Boughner
www.actuellecd.com/bio.e/snow_mi.html
http://www.myspace.com/brownbirdcanread

June 13: Slither + Fossils
http://www.tastysoil.com/
www.myspace.com/fossilstrio

###

If you would like more information about New Harbours Music Series or the James Street North gallery district, please contact Ian Jarvis (ian@hamiltonartistsinc.on.ca) or Quintin Hewlett (quintin.hewlett@gmail.com)