Le Quan Ninh and a 16-piece ensemble perform from the French percussionists improvisational scores, including a newly commissioned piece.
Lê Quan Ninh - percussion
Anthony Almendarez - trumpet, electronics
Aaron Bielish - viola
Dave Dove - trombone
Sonia Flores - double bass, voice
Emmanuel Guajardo - electric bass
Ryan Hollaway - electronics
Justin Jones - voice, synthesizer
Danny Kamins - saxophones
John Alan Kennedy - percussion
Gabriel Martinez - percussion
Ernesto Montiel - objects on guitar
Rebecca Novak - cornet, objects
Seth Paynter - saxophones
Aga Zet - synthesizer
Since the 1980’s, French percussionist Lê Quan Ninh has been developing a singular improvisational approach, exploring the resonant qualities of the bass drum as an amplifier and surface for friction, material textures, and rhythms produced when objects encounter each other. Ninh was at the forefront of a new language for percussionists in improvised music, one in which a visual transparency focused attention on the relationship between objects and their sounds. Ninh’s language set the foundation for how many improvisational percussionist work to this day.
Lê Quan Ninh’s interest in materiality as a performer is accompanied by his acute sense for ensemble improvisational process. Drawing from his background as a classically-trained musician who performs experimental pieces, Ninh has developed a series of scores for improvisers called Blocs d’incidence. Nameless Sound has assembled a 16-piece ensemble to give the first ever US performance from Blocs d’incidence, including a new piece commissioned specifically for this concert and developed from Ninh’s rehearsal sessions with the Nameless Sound Ensemble.
The residency of Lê Quan Ninh with Nameless Sound has been made possible through Jazz & New Music, a program of FACE Foundation and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States with support from the Florence Gould Foundation, the French Ministry of Culture, Institut français, SACEM (Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique) and Bureau Export.
