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C. Spencer Yeh, Magda Mayas, SK Kakraba, Tony Buck

Reheat & Shiver: a Night of Improvisation at the Villa Aurora

C. Spencer Yeh – solo (violin, voice)
C. Spencer Yeh/ Magda Mayas (piano) – duo (Premiere)
SK Kakraba – solo (gyil [xylophone])
SK Kakraba/ Tony Buck (drums/ percussion) – duo (Premiere)

Complimentary refreshments will be served from 7-8pm and the concerts will begin at 8pm.

Parking for this concert is on Los Liones Drive, 90272. Shuttles will begin service at 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Los Liones and Sunset Blvd., 90272.

Tickets
$ 15 General, $10 Friends of Villa Aurora members
Buy tickets online: http://reheat-and-shiver.bpt.me/

We’ve been so lucky to have Magda Mayas and Tony Buck in town doing their residency as fellows at the Villa Aurora that we put together one more concert to say thank you and wish them well before they head back to Berlin.

Alongside Magda and Tony, we are showcasing the work of two visionary musicians whose practices extend in so many directions that they will each be heard solo and in collaborations with Magda and Tony on this night.

C. Spencer Yeh is recognized for his interdisciplinary activities and collaborations as an artist, improviser, and composer, as well his music project Burning Star Core. He’s got the touch with sound. His work has been presented at MoMA NYC, Whitney Museum NYC, Walker Art Center Minneapolis MN and the Liverpool Biennial. Recent recordings include “Solo Voice I-X” (Primary Information), “Wake Up Awesome,” with Okkyung Lee and Lasse Marhaug (Software Recording Company), and “Long Pig” by New Monuments, his trio with Ben Hall and Don Dietrich (Bocian).

Ghana’s SK Kakraba is arguably the foremost living exponent of the gyil, a native xylophone constructed from 14 wooden slats arrayed across calabash gourd resonators. What gives the instrument its unique character is the buzzing sounds that accompany each marimba-like tone, produced by silk walls of spider egg sacs pulled across each hole drilled into the gourds. Kakraba grew up in Saru, a traditional farming village in northern Ghana, in a family of gyil players. In 2012 he moved to Los Angeles where he has quietly developed a growing fan base with his gripping solo performances, playing pieces that are traditionally used for a wide variety of functions—weddings, funerals, dances, and more. Last year Kakraba released two acclaimed solo recordings, including “Yonye” for the label run by Unwrinkled Ear alumni Sun Araw, and “Songs of Paapieye” the first newly recorded release on the celebrated reissue imprint Awesome Tapes From Africa. His sound is dazzling: warm meditative clusters of melody stack up to become glowing overtones of high-energy orchestral complexity.

Tony Buck is regarded as one of Australia’s most creative and adventurous exports, with vast experience across the globe. He has been involved in a highly diverse array of projects but is probably best known around the world as a member of the trio The Necks. Current projects include TRANSMIT (a guitar driven post-rock project), SPILL with Magda Mayas; New York based trios GLACIAL (with David Watson and Lee Renaldo); THE FELL CLUTCH (with Ned Rothenberg, Stomu Takeshi and David Tronzo) and a long standing duo with Axel Dörner. He also creates video works for use with live music performance and has had pieces shown in Tokyo, Belfast, Berlin, New York and Sydney.

Magda Mayas, born 1979, is a pianist living in Berlin. Developing a vocabulary utilizing both the inside as well as the exterior parts of the piano, using preparations and objects, she explores textural, linear and fast moving sound collage. Mayas performs internationally solo and in collaboration with a large number of musicians and composers. Current projects are “Spill”, a duo with drummer Tony Buck, a duo with Christine Abdelnour (sax) and “Great Waitress”, a trio with Monika Brooks (acc) and Laura Altman (cl). Since 2013 she has also been producing radio pieces for ABC Australia and Deutschlandradio Kultur and has released 20 CDS to date.