False Harmonics #14: Clone Decay (feat. Mary Halvorson) and Symphony (feat. Peter Evans) vs. GNR8RZ (feat. Simon Hanes)

False Harmonics is a musical series meant to explore new music and alternative approaches to composition, improvisation, and performance. Join us on April 11 for the 14th iteration of False Harmonics, featuring two mind-bending performances by Clone Decay and SYMPHONY vs. GNR8RZ.

Clone Decay is a new project headed by Mary Halvorson (guitar) featuring Kalia Vandever (trombone) and Weston Olencki (trombone, electronics), marking the first collaboration between these three artists. The trio will perform two new compositions—for two trombones and guitar, augmented by electronics and processing—ultimately producing a sound that begins as an acoustic trio and morphs into something else entirely.

SYMPHONY vs. GNR8RZ heads the second act of the night with a dual performance that will feature the ensembles performing live in relation to each other. SYMPHONY is a musical project headed by Peter Evans (trumpet, composition), featuring Alice Teyssier (flutes, vocals), Nick Jozwiak (bass), and Levy Lorenzo (percussion, live electronics). GNR8RZ is a quartet made up of Anthony Coleman, Simon Hanes, Aliya Ultan, and Calvin Weston. Each musician finds common ground in kinetic melodies and constant motion, zig-zagging between blown-out chaos and hypnotic grooves.

About the Artists

Clone Decay is a new project headed by Mary Halvorson (guitar) featuring Kalia Vandever (trombone) and Weston Olencki (trombone & electronics)—marking the first collaboration between these three artists. Read more about each musician below:

GNR8RZ is brought together by a shared energy. The quartet—Anthony Coleman, Simon Hanes, Aliya Ultan, and Calvin Weston—find common ground in kinetic melodies and constant motion, zig-zagging between blown-out chaos and hypnotic grooves. They first thought to collaborate because of their individual passions for vigorous sound, wondering what might come out of a combination of Hanes’s potent electric guitar and bass, Weston’s ultra-powerful drums, Ultan’s incandescent cello, and Coleman’s undisputable improvisatory wisdom. The result is GNR8RZ’s pummeling music, built on the tenets of close communication and unstoppable vigor.

Each artist brings their own perspective to the group’s blazing sound: Hanes’s work as a composer bridges Italian soundtracks with contemporary classical and improvisation, heard in groups like his band Tredici Bacci; Weston’s drumming has been heard in a wide range of jazz ensembles, including groups like Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time Band and The Lounge Lizards; Ultan’s cello and vocal music bridges her classical training with improvisatory and multidisciplinary ideas; and Coleman, a veteran improvising pianist from New York’s downtown scene, often makes music that draws from his Jewish heritage. Together, they build a sound based on the sheer abandon of noise and shredded melodies, the surprises of improvisation, and the joy of making music in the moment. Learn more: https://simonhanes.com/gnr8rz

SYMPHONY is a musical project headed by Peter Evans (trumpet and composition), featuring Alice Teyssier (flutes, vocals), Nick Jozwiak (bass), and Levy Lorenzo (percussion, live electronics).

This performance features a Next Jazz Legacy Awardee, made possible by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.