Ken Field is a saxophonist, flautist

Flautist

A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...

, percussionist, and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

. Since 1988 he has been a member of the electrified modern music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is a musical group founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980.The music of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic is almost entirely instrumental, and incorporates many different musical elements; critic Rick Anderson writes, "Very few bands have ever managed to straddle the worlds of...

, with whom he has recorded eight CDs.

Career

Field has been Composer-in-Residence at the Ucross Foundation

Ucross Foundation

The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...

, Wyoming, the Fundación Valparaíso

Fundación Valparaíso

Fundación Valparaíso is an international arts residency organization located on the Mediterranean coast of Andalucia, Spain, in the old Moorish hilltown of Mojacar....

, Spain, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts

Atlantic Center for the Arts

Atlantic Center for the Arts is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary artists’ community and arts education facility dedicated to promoting artistic excellence by providing talented artists an opportunity to work and collaborate with some of the world’s most distinguished contemporary artists in the...

, Florida. He has performed for President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, and with former J. Geils frontman Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf is an American Rhythm and Blues, Soul and Rock and Roll musician, best known as the lead vocalist for the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983; and for a successful musical solo career to date with writing partner Will Jennings.- Life and career :Wolf was born in the Bronx, New York...

. Ken Field is a Vandoren

Vandoren

Vandoren is a well known manufacturer of mouthpieces and reeds for clarinet and saxophone. Vandoren's products are used by professionals and amateurs around the world.-History:...

 Performing Artist.

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

Field leads the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

Revolutionary Snake Ensemble

The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble is an improvisational brass band based in the Boston area that specializes in playing New Orleans second line brass band music, as well as other modern improvised celebratory music. Led by saxophonist Ken Field, the group's colorful costumes and creative...

, a New Orleans-inspired improvisational brass band. Their 2008 release Forked Tongue appeared on best-of-year lists in the Village Voice and the Estonian Postimees

Postimees

Postimees is an Estonian daily newspaper. It was established in 1 January 1857 by Johann Voldemar Jannsen and became Estonia's first daily newspaper in 1891....

, as well as on lists in Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin, and New York. Year of the Snake, the group's 2003 debut release, was included on best-of-year lists from WNYC

WNYC

WNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...

 Radio, the Gambit Weekly

Gambit Weekly

Gambit is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based free alternative weekly newspaper that was established in 1981 as Gambit Weekly. Gambit features reporting about local politics, news, food and drink, arts, music, film, events, environmental issues and other topics, as well as listings...

, and the Italian station Radio Popolare

Radio Popolare

Radio Popolare is an independent radio station based in Milan, Italy. It was founded in 1976 in Milan. Radio Popolare is one of the oldest listener-supported radio stations in Italy. Rp is known for its progressive and liberal political orientation...

. The group has performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....

, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...

, the Puffin Cultural Forum, Berklee Performance Center, and numerous other venues, and has been nominated for a Boston Music Award, and several Boston Phoenix/WFNX

WFNX

WFNX is a New England commercial alternative rock radio station. The station began broadcasting on Monday, April 11, 1983. It was one of the first American commercial stations to play alternative rock and has become a leading radio station for breaking new alternative music.WFNX broadcasts on 101.7...

 Best Music Poll awards.

Field has also composed music for animation, film, and dance, including music for children's television program Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

.

Discography

• Subterranea (1996)
• Pictures of Motion (1999)
• Tokyo in F (2000)
• No Such Animal (2006)
• Under the Skin (2006), Innova Recordings

Other work

Field has undertaken residencies and conducted workshops at a number of US universities. He was formerly on the faculty of the Music Maker School, where he taught saxophone and flute. He also hosts The New Edge, a weekly radio program on WMBR

WMBR

WMBR is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology student-run college radio station, licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and broadcasting on 88.1 FM. It is all-volunteer and funded by listener donations and MIT funds...

 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

, and curates and co-directed Cultural Constructions, an intercultural music performance project.

External links