Brian McWhorter said his music has been described as “Post-Zorn jazz for those with a short attention span,” an homage to John Zorn, an avant-garde musician who gained fame in the ’90s for producing experimental music. If McWhorter’s music is ideal for the concentration-impaired, then Sound-Bytes is its perfect venue.
McWhorter, an assistant professor of trumpet at the University, organized Sound-Bytes to give students the opportunity to enjoy contemporary performances between class and lunch. McWhorter and different guests will play 10 to 14 minute shows Mondays starting at 11:54 a.m. The performances are held in the “living room” of Collier House, 1170 E. 13th Ave., across the street from the EMU, and are free.
“Students can end their classes and check out some fairly advanced, unusual and, at times, crazy music,” McWhorter said.
The crazy aspect of the music is McWhorter’s way of promoting experimentation within the music school by giving participating faculty members an opportunity to try out new things on an audience that normally wouldn’t have access to the genre.
“It’ll be interesting,” McWhorter said, “but not threatening. A lot of contemporary concerts hit you over the head, and then they hit you over the head again and keep on hitting.”
In addition to its music, Sound-Bytes will serve as a venue for original artwork by Chris Coleman, a professor in the art school.
The first performance featured endy emby – the duo composed of McWhorter on trumpet and Aaron Trant on percussion – and special guest Mark Gould, who, among other accolades, was the principal trumpeter for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York for 30 years and is a professor at Julliard. McWhorter and Gould stood opposite each other in the front of the packed room, each improvising, playing off the other’s notes. Trant sat behind them, a snare drum between his legs, a large plastic bucket propped upside down on his shoe and a hub cap serving as a cymbal on the chair beside him. Experimental music, indeed.
After 10 minutes of improvisational jazz – dissonant and piercing, engaging and graceful – the trio ended with a fanfare that Trant composed. McWhorter took his trumpet to the back of the room while Gould stood front and center. Trant rose, walking slowly toward the door while playing the drum still nestled between his legs. When Trant was on the Collier House patio, overlooking the crowds of students busily making their way through campus, he pounded his drum and shouted, “One, two, three, four,” and the group finished with a flourish.
“I think it went really well,” Gould said afterward. “Except for the fanfare, it was truly improvisational. This is a great venue to explore that.”
Trant acknowledged he may have startled passers-by on University Street, “But in this town, you never know,” he said.
Performances will continue every Monday in January, although McWhorter hopes to extend Sound-Bytes throughout the term. Reactions from the music school have been positive, he said, and other professors have expressed interest in performing.
Even though Monday is a holiday, McWhorter will perform at the same time, playing a piece in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. titled “Hikari,” which means “light,” by Somei Satoh. “It is a beautifully elegant new work for trumpet and piano that is rarely played,” McWhorter said. For more information, go to www.boiledjar.com/soundbytes.
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