Live performances: October 3, 4, 9 & 10 – all at 7:30pm; $10

SPOONBENDER ORCHESTRA is a Kansas City-based collective of musicians and artists dedicated to the discovery and performance of new music. Known for blending unorthodox instrumentation into panoramic soundscapes, the ensemble combines found objects, “discarded” technologies, cellos, kotos and glass bells into nocturnal stories where the sounds themselves become characters. Spoonbender Orchestra will feature the gongs and bronze chimes of Indonesian gamelan music as they premiere new work by composer Jeffrey Rukaman at La Esquina October 3, 4, 9, and 10. The ornate gamelan instruments have been designed specifically for the Spoonbender Orchestra, and will be woven into their relentlessly inclusive sound.

GAMELAN GENTA KASTURI, the region’s first gamelan orchestra, will perform traditional and contemporary Balinese music and dance in two concerts October 18 and 19, 2008 at La Esquina.
Gamelan is the preeminent orchestral music of Indonesia, and became a major influence on western music in the last century. Incorporating deep bronze gongs, finely tuned metallophones, bamboo flutes and kendang drums, gamelan continues to flourish in its homeland and around the world. Ancient traditions and experimentation are both embraced in this complex and energetic music. A special afternoon gamelan workshop will take place on Sunday October 19 in which members of Gamelan Genta Kasturi, led by Pak Gede Alonzo Conway, will demonstrate some of the inner workings of this fascinating music, as well as its enormous role in Indonesian life.

Jeffrey Rukaman (aka: Glendon Jethro, J. Ruckus, Glenda Jeffries, Jevy Rukaman, Doyle Magritte, etc.) has been a founding member of Gillham Park Orchtet, Necessity Brass Band, Gamelan Genta Kasturi, newEar, Terrestrial Consort, and Spoonbender Orchestra. He writes music for instruments, found objects, hardware/salvage constructions and voices. He has performed and collaborated with Lou Harrison, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Firesigh Theater, Rebirth Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Indonesian gamelan masters Ketut Gide Asnawa and Komang Astita, temple gamelans of Denpasar and Ubud, Transylvanian poet Andrei Codrescu, the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, National Audio Theater (as composer in residence), and National Public Radio, to name a few. Among his recent projects is “Sounds of Silents,” a series of silent films presented with live music composed by Rukaman at Kansas City Public Library’s Helzberg Auditorium.

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Personnel:
Brian Baggett - guitar
Jake Blanton - guitar
Bill McKemy - bass
Zach Albetta - drums

I hope you can join us for our mostly non-verbal salute to Eugene Debs, the Wobblies, Woody Guthrie, etc.

- Bill

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The Kansas City Public Library celebrates the first anniversary of its Stanley H. Durwood Film Vault with the unveiling of a new audio visual collection coupled with a live jazz performance during an open house reception at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

The Library will show off its new Kansas City Jazz Marquee Collection - a combination of CDs and DVDs funded by a competitively awarded grant from Baker & Taylor, Inc. - with multiple screenings and displays, complemented by refreshments and a live performance by the Bill McKemy Trio.

Admission is free, but reservations are recommended. Call 816.701.3407 to indicate your interest in attending or visit us online.

The Bill McKemy Trio will play original freeform jazz compositions blended with selections from Kansas City jazz greats such as Count Basie and Bennie Moten.

The Durwood Film Vault was once an actual bank vault in the First National Bank building that now houses the Central Library. The vault includes a seven-foot-tall steel door that is 20 inches thick and weighs 35 tons.

Thanks to a significant donation by the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation, the space now features a 8-foot by 5-foot projection screen, a three-chip DLP projector outfitted with a DVD player, a high-definition VHS player and satellite/CATV receiver, and a stereo surround system. The retro styling of its fixed theater-style seats, plush carpeting, and wallpanels enhance the film experience.

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For this performance:
Jeffrey Ruckma - piano, modified guitar, hammer dulcimer
Bud Stracker - cello
Bill McKemy - bass
Patrick Conway - percussion, saxophone
Steveland Morse - accordion, various effects

The music of composer Jeffrey Ruckma has been heard in concert halls, New Orleans parades, Indonesian Banjaras, jazz bars, electronic music festivals, parking garages, underground caverns, and the basement below Carnegie Hall. He has been nominated for a 2008 Charlotte Street Foundation Award and the Urban Culture Project will showcase his work later this year.

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