Bill Orcutt brought his guitar family (and more) to Roulette in Brooklyn for a weekend celebrating the music of Palilalia Records and his expanded universe.
For a certain crowd, the past weekend at Roulette in Brooklyn felt like a special dream come true. For three days, guitar hero Bill Orcutt hosted a series of sets from artists who've released music on his label Palilalia Records, each one an avant-garde spectacle that made for a celebration of true sonic wonder and experimental beauty. Much like his own music (whether solo or with his various collaborators), the music throughout the weekend ranged in dexterity while all still centering around what felt like an indescribable theme. Yes there was lots of guitar music, both acoustic and electric, but as the weekend carried on, things evolved to new degrees of extremes as the free spirited sounds introduced new instruments and marvelous complexity.
Friday began with Shane Parish playing the music of electronic band Autechre, solo on acoustic guitar. His recent record Autechre Guitar, naturally, made its NYC premiere and had the sold-out crowd immediately hooked and ready to devour the weekend. Transforming IDM/techno into guitar-based music already feels like quite the challenge, but doing so on an acoustic guitar only continues to boggle the mind, but witnessing Parish bring this to life was inspiring and made the music feel like his own song craftsmanship. Bill introduced each set of the night and for Kris Gruda, Orcutt informed us that it was the first album he'd ever released other than his own and still was one of his favorites to this day. Gruda seemed humbled by this intro and carried that joy into acoustic takes on classics from Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman. His exaggerated and minimal chords almost resembled Monk's clawhammer approach to piano, but replicated on acoustic guitar. At times stretching into looser interpretations and other times hitting right on the themes of songs like "Epistrophy" and "Peace" were well received by the crowd. When Orcutt himself finally took to the stage, he hit play on his laptop to queue up the haunting melodies of his spellbinding record How to Rescue Things which instantly put the whole room in a trance. These ghostly vocals and otherworldly strings conjured up some magic over which Orcutt laid to waste his guitar, the metallic riffs wrapping around the delicate melodies with barbs of steel. An enrapturing album, hearing it live was a whole new experience that overtook the space with fever and illusions of grandeur. Watching him weave together these pieces, it seemed effortless, him leaning back in his chair and casually stringing together these epic tracks of captivating music. Chuck Roth was up fourth and after a brief intermission and their delicate, dissonant tunes were a bit of a reprieve after the squall that Orcutt unleashed only moment beforehand. Closing things out was the Guitar Quartet which consists of Shane Parish, Ava Mendoza, and Wendy Eisenberg joining Orcutt to bring his four guitar compositions to the stage all under the direction of Parish. On this occasion, the quartet highlighted Orcutt's recent album Music in Continuous Motion, his first collection of new four-part music in five years. On stage, the four luminaries of their instrument were in lock-step as they unfurled these angular and head spinning tunes. It was hard to choose a point of focus as each member on stage would pass the spotlight on to their peer in curious and near illusive ways. Just when you'd set your eyes to one player, you'd hear a new riff enter the mix and divert your attention elsewhere. When Mendoza broke a string, Orcutt took the opportunity to improve a solo as a way to distract and keep the momentum of the night from stalling and before we knew it, they kicked right back into gear. With the alternative tuning and elimination of strings down from six to four, they make the guitar sound almost like a new instrument, the range entering a new dimension and to watch their faces light up with joy as they bounce off one another to keep the complex rhythms in motion, it radiates the emotion back to the crowd and made everyone ready to be back in their seats for night two.
Kicking off night 2, Ava Mendoza returned after a killer set as part of the quartet that closed Friday night and her solo set was another blazing showcase of fiery riffs that ripped through the room with ecstatic purpose. Her instrumental tracks from her recent solo records were the stuff of wonder and she capped it off with a brand new tune that featured the addition of vocals (the first of the weekend) and set the tone for more greatness ahead. In another first of the weekend, Chris Corsano joined Bill Orcutt on stage and added drums to the mix of the guitar heavy weekend. As remarked by Corsano, "Roulette was the first venue we played as a duo fourteen years ago" so it felt extra special to watch them unravel their menacing work that blended free jazz drums with Orcutt's naturally freewheeling guitar for a combustive set that once again had the room spinning and people shouting with joy at the end of each of their pieces. Watching them create these massive tunes on stage was like watching mind readers collaborate together as their wild, chaotic tunes somehow found each other to unite in a fashion that was bewildering as much as it was life-affirming. Any chance to watch these two interact on stage is a real joy and even with an abbreviated set (as they all were over the course of the weekend), it was still like capturing lightning in a bottle and witnessing the electricity bound between them with unfiltered passion. After the intermission, Cyrus Pireh, Orcutt's proclaimed "world's greatest living guitarist" took to the stage and brought more contemporary guitar wonder into the fold. Sitting on the floor of the stage, it was one of the harder sets to see of the weekend, but the rapturous music ricochetted around the room with pure force that made it easy to fall into a daze while the music wrapped around in a dazzling display of sensational wonder. Headlining the night was a thirteen person led rendition of Orcutt's The Four Louies (which was making it's East Coast premier), an experimental interpretation of the Kingsmen classic "Louie Louie," played to an extent that totally shifted the perspective and transformed the track into something absolutely original and out of the world. Taking to the front of the stage were five organists and they were back by double drums, guitar, bass, maracas, and a noise board all of which added excessive texture and brutal volume to the night and made for an absolutely sublime moment that had people once again crying out with bursts of pure elation. Pushing things to the limit, it was an enriching experience of unabashed experimentalism that still had its roots in pop sensationalism that was flipped on its head. As the song's legendary riff mutated into walls of sound, the drummers bashed away at their kits while the guitars added layers of volume all while Bryan Day manipulated effect pedals to twist things into new dimensions.
Added as a bonus night after the announcement of Friday and Saturday's showcases, Sunday featured three sets that brought the weekend to a finish with flying colors. Performing for the first time as a duo, Mariam Rezaei joined Bill Orcutt for a combination of turntablism and guitar work that had collective minds once again spinning as Rezaei mixed everything from classical to crooners to drum n bass / techno beats all of which Orcutt shredded over, creating more outbursts of gnarly technicolor splendor. Performing "Modesty of the Magic Thing," harpist Zeena Parkinks joined forces with William Winant who primarily rocked the xylophone for their set which brought chamber music and modern classical together with noise jams and striking, avant-garde moments that made for jarring yet enticing moods that overtook the room with powerful demands of attention. Parkins lashed away at the strings of her harp while Winant's approach to the xylophone was concentrated and tenacious. Moving over to a gong for one of their final moments, Winant attacked the giant instrument, scraping against it with metal rods while Parkins held a microphone to the other side and stretched out these brutalist tones, challenging the audience with their abrasive style. A staggering work, it was a stunning penultimate set of the weekend that perfectly tee-ed up Orcutt's final appearance of the extravaganza. Once known as the Fucked Up Trio, Orcutt, Steve Shelley, and Ethan Miller now use their own names when they take the stage together as a group and their elastic noise jams spring to life with such satisfaction and overall appeal that it's no wonder Orcutt knew that this is how the weekend should come to an end. Coming together as well-seasoned musicians, the band balance each other out with remarkable skills that it feels like they've been playing together for eons, their ease and flow gentle, yet with purpose. Miller's nimble bass lines push the groove forward with maximal chill while Shelley holds down the beat in an ever so loose rhythm that allows for them to be playful without loosing total control. It might be easy to label Orcutt's slashing guitar as the star of the show, but watching them together it's clear how much they teeter between one another, each adding something to anchor the sound and keep things from falling into full jam band territory, their knack for the experimental side never disappears into the background and the marriage of these elements if what makes them such a righteous group that reminds you just how great, fun, and expressive music can and should be; no frills and all thrills. While the acts that played all weekend might not be big names to most, for a certain audience, this was a weekend for the ages and one that the collective will surely talk about for a long time to come. Seeing a packed venue all weekend and being around so many people also elated to see this particular brand of music was not only endearing, but encouraging as well. At one point over the weekend, while emceeing between sets, Bill said something to the effect of "I can't express in words what this all means, but I could play a guitar solo that says it." Naturally, of course, things had to truthfully end with him laying out one last solo, bringing that idea to fruition and saluting those who came for the weekend the proper acknowledgement of just how special this felt to Orcutt as well. A weekend for the fans, because of the fans.
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