Posts Tagged: dean santomieri
Guitar and Violin
Santomieri and Farhadian (click image to view large)
Dean Santomieri and Thea Farhadian perform at the Berkeley Arts Festival space on University Ave, May 26th. This début performance for the duo included a set duets, followed by solo pieces in which Mr. Santomieri read a spoken word piece, while Ms. Farhadian played a suite of short pieces for violin and computer. They concluded with another set of duets. While rehearsed, the duets are largely improvised pieces ranging far and wide over jagged harmonic terrain, sometimes incorporating prepared instrument techniques. While perhaps not completely lacking a tonal center, the effect of the many of the pieces was that of unbounded tonal exploration. Challenging, yes. But thoroughly enjoyable.
Berkeley Arts Festival: Dean Santomieri and The Glasses
It is pure coincidence that after a lengthy hiatus, this next post is again related to the Berkeley Arts Festival. Dean Santomieri reprised his spoken word presentation from the previous performance and he was followed by jazz quartet The Glasses. Mr. Santomieri’s set was one piece shorter and all around tighter than last time. The Glasses came together to perform songs penned by bassist Safa Shokrai. The rest of the quartet was: Chris Grady, trumpet; Larry Leight, trombone; Dave Mihaly, drums. I hear that the quartet usually includes a violin rather than trombone, but the arrangements and the chemistry for this performance were outstanding. Hopefully, we’ll get to hear more of them in whatever configuration they can muster. The light was low, but I managed to get a few decent shots.
Sight, Word and Sound: Connections in Unexpected Places
Dean Santomieri at Berkeley Arts Festival, August 13 2011
- Dean Santomieri at Berkeley Arts Festival, August 13 2011
Dean Santomieri at Berkeley Arts Festival, August 13 2011
Berkeley Arts Festival, August 13 2011
Berkeley Arts Festival, August 13 2011
When I was interviewing for my present job, the conpany’s live-work balance and tendency to hire interesting and creative people were offered as plusses. I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I was just interested in the job. But it turned out to be true; there seem to be a larger than expected number of musicians and artists working there. It has helped me to reconnect with art activity that I have lost touch with after years of grad school, parenting, and full-time work. A case in point was last Friday evening when I ventured out to the Berkeley Arts Festival to see one of my co-workers perform his spoken word/sound art. The venue presents visual works on the walls along with the performances on the stage.
Dean Santomieri is well-known in the performance scene around the Bay Area. I’m sorry not to have been familiar with his work prior to getting this job, chatting at work, finding lots of common interests, and exchanging recordings. In any case, the performance last Friday was wonderful. Dean is a great writer and story teller, and he accompanies himself with a battery of electronics and guitars, creating a aural environment that nicely supports the spoken word without ever getting in its way. The writing, what I might call magical realism, drew me in right away, eliciting a curious mixture of delight and trepidation.
And it was inspirational too. I’m not giving up photography, but I’m pledging to myself to fire up the old electronics and get back to work. And speaking of photography… I wish I had sat closer and gotten a shot of Dean playing that crazy, electric resonator guitar. I will next time.
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