A trio formed in the rarified, purified, sanctified air of the High Zero Festival, In Defense of Memory makes its Red Room debut. Laura Ortman is a Brooklyn, NY composer, multi-instrumentalist and artist, and a riveting performer. She produces and performs as a soloist and with collaborators including Tony Conrad, Jock Soto, Raven Chacon, Nanobah Becker, Okkyung Lee, Martin Bisi, Caroline Monnet, Michelle Latimer and Martha Colburn. Carlos Santistevan, bassist, co-founded High Mayhem Emerging Arts in Santa Fe, NM, and has helped drive numerous genre-bending music ensembles including The Late Severa Wires, iNK oN pAPER and Out of Context. His solo work incorporates acoustic and electric bass with live looping and electronics. Marshall Trammell is a percussionist & interdisciplinary cultural producer devoted to social issues. His unique training includes apprenticeships with Improvising and Folkloric masters, 20+ years as a Creative Music professional in the Bay Area, and MFA studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Integrated Electronic Arts.

Opener: I am so glad you asked. Corduroy comprises the fearsome women of High Zero according to their availability, which for this show will be CK Barlow (“whip-smart live sampling,” says M.C. Schmidt), Rose Burt (richly nuanced sax gestures), and Shelly Purdy (percussionist of legend for her outrageous collection of noisy objects and creative treatments). Don’t miss this never-before combination.