N.K.

A Night of Instrumental Mutations

Axel Dörner & Sukandar Kartadinata
Liz Allbee & Sukandar Kartadinata
Tony Buck, Ava Mendoza & Liz Allbee

My name is Ava Mendoza. I play guitars and stompboxes and write music. Currently I’m based out of Brooklyn, NY, having recently relocated here from Oakland, CA. Over the last decade I’ve toured throughout North America and Europe playing my own music and in many different bands, as well as theater and film productions. In any situation I am committed to bringing expressivity, energy and a wide sonic range to the music. I’ve recorded or performed with musicians including singer Carla Bozulich (Evangelista, The Geraldine Fibbers), Fred Frith (Massacre, Henry Cow, Art Bears), Nels Cline, Jaamaladeen Tacuma, Tune-Yards, and more. I’ve played on recordings released by labels Weird Forest, Tzadik, Clean Feed, NotTwo, ugEXPLODE, Resipiscent, Tompkins Square, and others.

Friendly critics have called me “Oakland’s avant-jazz virtuoso” (Village Voice), “a versatile and virtuosic guitarist” (The San Francisco Film Society), and “a wizard on a semi-circle of effects pedals, but… equally adept with FX-less technique,” (A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz).

Sukandar Kartadinata crafts modern musical instruments made from code and microchips rather than wood or brass. His designs are usually custom-made depending on the specific needs of individual musicians or media artists.

Kartadinata studied computer science at FH Karlsruhe, but developed most of his skills while working at the music technology institutions ZKM, STEIM, and CNMAT, as well as the Topophonien project. From the latter he derived his interest in spatialization, applied for example in the Neo-Bechstein duo or more recently to his amplified guitar case.
His main focus though is on interfacing between real and virtual domains, typically via sensors and associated technology. Where projects allow he strives for embedded solutions, to imbue his instruments with a stronger identity untethered from the typical tangle of assorted gear.

In his musical practice Kartadinata combines the above with his electric guitar playing where the emphasis is on improvisation and extended playing techniques, being rooted in the Berlin echtzeitmusik community. His guitar is a rare case where he actually complements modern technology with wood and brass.

Axel Dörnertrumpet, electronics, composition; Born in Cologne,1964. Studied piano and trumpet (with Malte Burba) at the Musikhochschule, Cologne. Lives in Berlin since 1994. He has worked together with numerous internationally respected figures in the fields of “Improvised Music”, “Composed Contemporary Music”, “Jazz” and “Electronic Music”. He has developed a unique style of trumpet playing based in part on unusual, often self-invented techniques. He has toured in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia and appeared on numerous CD and record releases.

further informations: http://www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/ps/efi/musician/mdorner.html

Tony Buck Born in Sydney in 1962, Tony 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. Apart from The Necks, he is probably best known as leader of hardcore/impro band PERIL.

Early in his musical life, after having graduated from the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, he became very involved in the jazz scene in Australia, often touring with visiting international artists such as Vincent Herring, Clifford Jordan, Mickey Tucker, Branford Marsalis and Ernie Watts, as well as Australians Mark Simmonds, Paul Grabowsky, The catholics, Sandy Evans and Dale Barlow.

Following time spent in Japan, where he formed PERIL with Otomo Yoshihide and Kato Hideki, Tony moved to Europe, and has involved himself in many projects there, including the development of new “virtual” MIDI controllers at STEIM in Amsterdam.

Tony has played, toured or recorded with, among others, Jon Rose, Nicolas Collins, Tenko, John Zorn, Tom Cora, Phil Minton, Haino, Switchbox, The Machine for Making Sense, Ne Zhdall, The EX, Peter Brotzmann, Hans Reichel, The Little Red Spiders, Subrito Roy Chowdury, Clifford Jordan, Kletka Red, Han Bennink, Shelley Hirsch, Wayne Horvitz, Palinckx, and Ground Zero.

Liz Allbee (US 1976) works with the imaginarchic potential of sonic material. Through electro-acoustic composition, improvisation, and instrument-building, she focuses on issues of embodiment, extension and technology. She is interested in proto-lingualism, gestures, loops and ticks of communication, in re-configuring hands and the tools that make them.