Jeremy Young is a composer and maker of concrète electronic tape music from Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, Quebec. He is a member of the experimental poetry_sound unit Cloud Circuit, alongside writer Deanna Radford, and the electroacoustic modern classical trio Sontag Shogun, with pianist Ian Temple and sound/voice artist Jesse Perlstein, as well as other projects. In 2024, Young launched The Royal Editoryal, a new music writing blog. Young’s forthcoming record, Cablcar, is due out in February 2025 via Halocline Trance.
Making use of a sine and square wave oscillator system, analog 1/4″ tape and open reel loops, filtered radio and EMF signal, and foley-inspired sound treatments from amplified surfaces and objects, Young’s improvisational and compositional techniques are influenced by Cagean aleatoricism as well as haptics-based praxis and deep listening. His McLuhan-esque approach lies in combining the physical treatment of audio signal (piezo mic’d objects and surfaces, manipulations of tape and tone via texture and voltage) with complex musical content, to create sonic narratives that are anchored by the media on which they are recorded, edited, and/or played back. Young’s live performances are improvisational and grid-less.
Links:
https://cargocollective.com/jeremyyoung/
https://jeremyyoung.bandcamp.com
Simone Baron is a polyglot pianist, accordionist, improviser and composer whose work “ego-less, genre agnostic and without expectations” (JazzTimes) engages curiously and charismatically with a broad spectrum of idioms. Educated at Oberlin and Tel Aviv University and joyfully de-educated at festivals and performances across Europe and the Americas, Simonehas won grants, fellowships, commissions and residencies from Chamber Music America, South Arts, the Hambidge Center, Sacatar Foundation, Strathmore, Marble House Project, Avaloch Farm, the Banff Centre, and Spectrum Toronto to name a few. In 2016 Simone founded Arco Belo, a diasporic chamber music ensemble, that has toured nationally. Simone is a Victoria Artist and plays a Poeta XB Accordion, and is a founding member of the Boulanger Initiative. simonebaron.com
Susan Alcorn: One of the world’s premiere exponents of her instrument, Susan Alcorn has taken
the pedal steel guitar far beyond its traditional role in country music. Having first
paid her dues in Texas country & western bands, she began to expand the
vocabulary of her instrument through her study of 20th century classical music,
visionary jazz, and world musics.
Though known for her solo work, she has collaborated with numerous artists
including Pauline Oliveros, Eugene Chadbourne, Chris Cutler, the London
Improvisors Orchestra, the Glasgow Improvisors Orchestra, Joe McPhee, Ken
Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bourdreuil, George Burt,
Evan Parker, Caroline Kraabel, Michael Formanek, Zane Campbell, and Mary
Halvorson among others. In 2017 she received the Baker Artist Award and in 2018,
along with saxophonist Joe McPhee, the Instant Award in Improvised Music. Her
album “Pedernal, released in 2020, was included in several “Best of theYear” lists
including the New York Times.
Wild and beautiful and disturbing and downright bloody odd in turn. Frankly, trying to describe
Alcorn’s music is bit like trying to paint wind: you’re better off just turning it on and letting it
happen – Bob Fitzpatrick, The Guardian
A pioneer of the pedal steel guitar in improvised music. – Bill Milkowski, Downbeat
Susan Alcorn pulls an energy out of the pedal steel that feels both ancient and otherworldly. – Lars
Gotrich, NPR
