Join Cutting Ceremony and Matt Lavelle at The Rotunda in a first-look at Cutting Ceremony's debut record. A limited number of demo CD's will be available for purchase.
Doors will open at 7pm, $15 suggested donation.
About the musicians:
Cutting Ceremony is a new improvised music trio. The members are:
----- Pete Dennis (they/he), a musician, improviser, composer, visual artist, and teacher. Living in West Philadelphia, Dennis is inspired by their beautiful community and the future. Other ever present inspirations include William Parker, the works of Octavia E. Butler, their partner Abigail, and the knowledge that all vibrations carry the potential to transmit the truths of life and death. Dennis’s recorded creations are released using the project name Search for the Infinite Light and include but are not limited to: Killing a Dixie Hummingbird (2019), World’s End Welcoming Committee (2021), and pastē (2022). They believe that sound is the foundation of healing and would like to acknowledge all master improvisers of the past, present, and future;
----- Pete Dennis (they/he), a musician, improviser, composer, visual artist, and teacher. Living in West Philadelphia, Dennis is inspired by their beautiful community and the future. Other ever present inspirations include William Parker, the works of Octavia E. Butler, their partner Abigail, and the knowledge that all vibrations carry the potential to transmit the truths of life and death. Dennis’s recorded creations are released using the project name Search for the Infinite Light and include but are not limited to: Killing a Dixie Hummingbird (2019), World’s End Welcoming Committee (2021), and pastē (2022). They believe that sound is the foundation of healing and would like to acknowledge all master improvisers of the past, present, and future;
----- Tracy Lisk (she/her), a percussionist who mainly performs on drum set, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ms. Lisk’s history as a painter and background in Brazilian percussion inform the substance of her improvisations which contain references to rhythmic structures while maintaining a fluid, suspended continuity. She has collaborated with William Parker, saxophonist Gary Hassay, Andrea Pensado, dancer Ryuzo Fukuhara (JP, SI), and Mia Zabelka (AU), cellist Helena Espvall (PT), among others;
----- and Abe Mamet (he/him), a French horn player from Denver, Colorado and living in Mt. Rainier, MD. Abe's main artistic motive as a composer and instrumentalist is to use considered composition and rigorously practiced improvisation to more honestly ground himself, his fellow musicians, and his audiences within the spaces they occupy daily. Abe is further interested in expanding the use of the French horn in groove-oriented improvised music (aligned with and informed by jazz/creative music/BAM), and expanding the technical and theoretical limitations of that instrument.
Cutting Ceremony is honored to perform alongside Matt Lavelle. A forward-thinking trumpeter and odd clarinet specialist, Lavelle has earned a high reputation as a gifted soloist with a bent toward adventurous free jazz. Initially emerging on the New York jazz scene in the early 2000’s, Lavelle studied with Ornette Coleman prior to the legendary saxophonist’s death, and played with artists like Sabir Mateen, William Parker, Jemeel Moondoc, Bern Nix, William Hooker, and Giuseppi Logan. His own albums showcase his inventive sound, influenced by the ‘60s avant-garde as well as more contemporary idioms. Lavelle is also a visual artist and a writer and is working to find ways to combine all three practices.
Doors will open at 7pm, $15 suggested donation.