Theo Bleckmann
Encyclopedia
Theo Bleckmann is a vocalist and composer
.
Bleckmann has released a series of very well-received albums on Winter & Winter, including recordings of Las Vegas standards, of Berlin Kabarett, and of popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda), a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody), and his new acoustic Solos for Voice “I dwell in possibility”.
Bleckmann has worked with such artists as Laurie Anderson
, Anthony Braxton
, Steve Coleman
, Dave Douglas
, Phillip Glass, Meredith Monk
, Michael Tilson Thomas
, John Zorn
and The Bang on a Can All-Stars
and was a guest vocalist with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus
, Estonian Radio Choir, Merce Cunningham Dance Company
and Mark Morris Dance
and most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for fifteen years. He has recently been interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air.
Recognized as both a performer and composer, his work spans concerts, installations, theater, cabaret and performance art. He has sung worldwide on some of the great stages including Carnegie Hall's
, Zankel Hall, and the Sydney Opera House
. The New Yorker
called him a 'local cult favorite', The New York Times
'excellent' and according to OUT Magazine Bleckmann is 'a singer who's only recently fallen to earth' and indeed Bleckmann's style has something otherworldly and ethereal.
Bleckmann is also an educator. He is professor of Jazz Voice at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and Adjunct Assistant Professor at The New School, Queens College and New York University.
Theo Bleckmann grew up appreciating both traditional music from his native Germany as well as American popular music and The Great American Songbook
. He trained as an ice dancer in Germany, and was a junior champion before deciding to pursue a career in music. In 1989 Bleckmann moved from his native Germany to New York City
(subsequently becoming an American citizen in 2005) after meeting legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan
at a workshop in Graz, Austria
, who remains an influential mentor and colleague to this day. Together they can be heard on Sheila Jordan's Jazzchild (High Note 1999).
His 2001 release, Origami (Songlines, 2001) received four and a half stars (out of five) from Down Beat magazine
making it one of the Best Releases of 2001, as well as declaring him a 'Rising Star' in their recent Critic's Polls.
On 15 October 2011 the album, Hello Earth! - The Music of Kate Bush was released. It contains covers of fourteen of Bush classics, including "The Man with the Child in His Eyes
", "Running Up that Hill
", and "This Woman's Work
", as well as songs from Side B of Hounds of Love
, "The Ninth Wave." After seeing Bleckmann perform some of the Bush cannon live in 2010 in preparation for recording the album, New York Times music critic Nate Chinen wrote: “Kate Bush is a special fit for him. The arc of her career, uneasily abutting art-rock and alternative music, jibes with his own off-kilter profile. And she’s another transfixing singer with a penchant for careful diction and spooky connotation, and deep interest in the subconscious.”
Twelve Songs by Charles Ives with Kneebody, (Winter&Winter, 2008) Grammy Nomination 2010 Best Classical Crossover Album
Furthermore, Bleckmann and Hollenbeck are both equal members of the Refuge Trio and Theo Bleckmann is part of John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble. (see section for detailed information)
Kirk Nurock;
Looking Glass River (Traumton-Indigo, 1995)
Theo & Kirk, (Traumton-Indigo, 1992)
Ben Monder
can be heard on Monder's Recordings:
Excavation and
Oceana (Sunnyside)
and on their two duo releases:
At Night (Songlines, 2007)
No Boat (Songlines, 1997)
song "Refuge of the Roads". The collaborative trio was formed to play at the '2002 Wall-to-Wall Joni Mitchell Marathon Concert' at Symphony Space
in NYC. Since then, they have continued to explore music with mystery and exuberance. They fashion a transformative experience for the audience with their music and spirit.
Refuge Trio with Gary Versace and John Hollenbeck (Winter&Winter, 2008)
in The Village Voice
.
, Kristian Schultze
with Bertolt Brecht
providing much of the texts.
Berlin - Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile (Winter&Winter, 2007)
Eternal Interlude (Sunnyside Records, 2009), Grammy Nomination in 2009
Joys and Desires (Intuition 2006), Grammy Nomination in 2006
A Blessing (Omnitone 2005)
). The repertoire features each artist's individual approach to music and creates a unique collective at the same time.
MOSS (Sunyside Records, 2008)
2009 Schumann’s Favored Bar Songs, with Fumio Yasuda; Winter&Winter 910 152-2
2008 Twelve songs by Charles Ives, with Kneebody; Winter&Winter 910 147-2
2008 Refuge Trio, with Gary Versace and John Hollenbeck; Winter&Winter
2007 Berlin - songs of love and war, peace and exile; with Fumio Yasuda Winter&Winter 910 138-2
2007 At night, Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder; Songlines Recordings SGL 1561-2
2006 Las Vegas Rhapsody - The night they invented champagne, Theo Bleckmann with Fumio Yasuda and the Kammerorchester Basel; Winter&Winter N° 910 116-2
2005 anteroom, Theo Bleckmann; Traumton 4483
2001 origami, Theo Bleckmann; Songlines, SGL 1534-2
2000 static still, TheoBleckmannJohnHollenbeckDUO; gpe records, GEP 6823
1997 No Boat, Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder Duo; Songlines SGL 1516
1995 Looking-Glass River, Theo Bleckmann-Kirk Nurock Duo; Traumton-Indigo 2412
1992 Theo & Kirk, Theo Bleckmann-Kirk Nurock Duo; Traumton-Indigo 2404
SELECTED GROUP OR SIDEMAN RECORDINGS
2009 Eternal Interlude, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble; Sunnyside
2008 Moss w/Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhann, Kate McGarry and Luciana Souza; Sunnyside
2008 Impermanence, Meredith Monk; ECM
2007 The Carbon Copy Building, Band on a Can; Cantaloupe Records
2006 Joys and Desires, John Hollenbeck and Jazz Bigband Graz feat. Theo Bleckmann; Intuition
2005 A Blessing, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble; Omnitone
2005 Oceana, Ben Monder Quartet; Sunnyside
2006 Excavation, Ben Monder Quartet; Sunnyside
2006 Lucidarium, Steve Coleman; Label Bleu Records
2004 Zippo Songs, Phil Kline; Cantaloupe Records
2002 Mercy, Meredith Monk; ECM
2002 The Whitney, Biennial 2002 exhibition catalogue with CD; Whitney
1999 Jazz Child, Sheila Jordan; High Note,
at Philip Morris to compose and create a music performance piece out of Kenneth Goldsmith's
text Fidget, which Bleckmann scored for voice, piano, percussion, bass, video and three sewing machines. In real time, four seamstresses sewed a paper suit out of the hundreds of sheets of paper that were Bleckmann's libretto
.
), incorporating visual and vocal elements of dream and subconsciousness into an evening-length performance piece.
, Bleckmann co-created The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz a new music opera in collaboration with director Valeria Vasilevski and composer Eric Salzman
.
by Steven Spielberg
, Star Trek: Envoy (Meredith Monk
) and Kundun
(Phillip Glass)
One of his recent appearances on television include "The David Letterman Show" with the performance artist Laurie Anderson on July 14, 2010.
Theo Bleckmann sang in John Moran's Book of the Dead at the Public Theater
in NY, performed a lead in Bang on a Can's Obie Award
-winning opera Carbon Copy Building and frequently appears as a soloist with The Bang on a Can All-Stars
.
In collaboration with director Laurie McCants and set designer Elaine F. Williams, he wrote the music and performed The Alexandria Carry On, which has been traveling the US and was performed at the actual library in Alexandria
, Egypt
.
2009 “Duet for One” for solo voice
2009 “I dwell in possibility” (poem by Emily Dickinson) for voice and chimes
2009 “I am not enough” for voice and toy microphone
2008 “elegy” for 2 voices and loops
2008 “Take my life” for voice, piano, Glockenspiel and drums
2007 “I build my time” (poem by Kurt Schwitters) for voice, piano and string quartet
2007 “Schmidt Lied” (poem by Kurt Schwitters) for voice, piano and string quartet
2007 “To what shall I compare this life” (lyrics Priest Monsei) for voice, piano and percussion
2007 “Happiness” for voice, piano and drums
2007 “Longing” for four voices, cello, percussion and Fender Rhodes
2006 “Orchard” (poem by Rumi) for five voices and guitar
2004 - 05 “Anteroom” for 16 voices
2004 - 05 “A small house can carry as much happiness as a large one” for voices and kalimba
2004 “Lament for a Jungle” for voices and paper
2003 - 04 “The Alexandria Carry On” songs and music for voice, flute, percussion and shruti box (lyrics by Laurie McCants adapted from Ancient Greek and Egyptian sources)
2001 “DNA” for voice, piano, guitar, vibraphone, electric bass and percussion
2001 “None of the Above” for voice, piano and vibraphone
1997 “Men in Black” Alien language for Soundtrack
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...
.
Biography
Theo Bleckmann is a jazz singer and new music composer, he was GRAMMY NOMINATED and received the ECHO award in 2010. His work was described as “from another planet” (New York Times), as “magical, futuristic,” (AllAboutJazz), “limitless” (Citypaper, Philadelphia) “transcendent” (Village Voice) and “brilliant” (New York Magazine).Bleckmann has released a series of very well-received albums on Winter & Winter, including recordings of Las Vegas standards, of Berlin Kabarett, and of popular “bar songs” (all with pianist Fumio Yasuda), a recording of newly-arranged songs by Charles Ives (with jazz/rock collective Kneebody), and his new acoustic Solos for Voice “I dwell in possibility”.
Bleckmann has worked with such artists as Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
, Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
, Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
, Dave Douglas
Dave Douglas (trumpeter)
Dave Douglas is an American jazz trumpeter and composer whose music derives from many non-jazz musical styles, including classical music, folk music from European countries and Klezmer. He has been a member of the experimental big band Orange Then Blue...
, Phillip Glass, Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
, Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is currently music director of the San Francisco Symphony, and artistic director of the New World Symphony Orchestra.-Early years:...
, John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
and The Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon...
and was a guest vocalist with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus
San Francisco Symphony Chorus
The San Francisco Symphony Chorus is the resident chorus of the San Francisco Symphony .-Background:Established in 1972 at the request of Seiji Ozawa, then the San Francisco Symphony's music director, the chorus first performed in the 1973-74 Symphony season. the SFS Chorus today gives a minimum of...
, Estonian Radio Choir, Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Merce Cunningham
Mercier "Merce" Philip Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was at the forefront of the American avant-garde for more than 50 years. Throughout much of his life, Cunningham was considered one of the greatest creative forces in American dance...
and Mark Morris Dance
Mark Morris
Mark William Morris is an American dancer, choreographer and director whose work is acclaimed for its craftsmanship, ingenuity, humor, and at times eclectic musical accompaniments...
and most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for fifteen years. He has recently been interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air.
Recognized as both a performer and composer, his work spans concerts, installations, theater, cabaret and performance art. He has sung worldwide on some of the great stages including Carnegie Hall's
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Zankel Hall, and the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
. The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
called him a 'local cult favorite', The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
'excellent' and according to OUT Magazine Bleckmann is 'a singer who's only recently fallen to earth' and indeed Bleckmann's style has something otherworldly and ethereal.
Bleckmann is also an educator. He is professor of Jazz Voice at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and Adjunct Assistant Professor at The New School, Queens College and New York University.
Theo Bleckmann grew up appreciating both traditional music from his native Germany as well as American popular music and The Great American Songbook
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
. He trained as an ice dancer in Germany, and was a junior champion before deciding to pursue a career in music. In 1989 Bleckmann moved from his native Germany to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(subsequently becoming an American citizen in 2005) after meeting legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan
Sheila Jordan
Sheila Jordan is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Jordan has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to a notable solo career....
at a workshop in Graz, Austria
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
, who remains an influential mentor and colleague to this day. Together they can be heard on Sheila Jordan's Jazzchild (High Note 1999).
Solo Projects
Bleckmann's latest release, I dwell in possibility (Winter&Winter, 2010) is one of a kind. Inspired by the Arte Povera, the '60s Italian art movement that created installations with the simplest and "poorest" materials, Bleckmann creates with humble means and the devotion of a prayer. Besides his voice and a myriad of acoustics, Bleckmann has chosen some unlikely companions for his solos: music boxes, megaphones, autoharp, glasses, water, shruti, and various toys.His 2001 release, Origami (Songlines, 2001) received four and a half stars (out of five) from Down Beat magazine
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
making it one of the Best Releases of 2001, as well as declaring him a 'Rising Star' in their recent Critic's Polls.
Hello Earth! - The music of Kate Bush
This project goes beyond merely re-creating Kate's Bush music but taking it to even further realms of sound and interpretation. He is joined in this venture by long-time collaborator percussionist John Hollenbeck, bassist Skuli Sverrisson and keyboardist Henry Hey and special guest, mult-instrumentalist Caleb Burhans on viola, guitar and laptop.On 15 October 2011 the album, Hello Earth! - The Music of Kate Bush was released. It contains covers of fourteen of Bush classics, including "The Man with the Child in His Eyes
The Man with the Child in His Eyes
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" is a song by Kate Bush. It is the fifth track on her debut album The Kick Inside and was released as her second single in 1978.-Overview:...
", "Running Up that Hill
Running Up That Hill
12" Maxi single -Charts:-Placebo version:Alternative rock band Placebo covered "Running Up that Hill", releasing it originally on the bonus disc of their 2003 album Sleeping with Ghosts, then featuring it on Covers and the US version of Meds in 2007. Placebo's take on the song is more downbeat than...
", and "This Woman's Work
This Woman's Work
- Disc 2 - Lionheart :- Disc 3 - Never for Ever :- Disc 4 - The Dreaming :- Disc 5 - Hounds of Love :- Disc 6 - The Sensual World :- Disc 7 - This Woman's Work: Volume One :- Disc 8 - This Woman's Work: Volume Two :...
", as well as songs from Side B of Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love
Hounds of Love is a 1985 album by the British singer Kate Bush. It was Bush's fifth studio album, and her second no. 1. It has since been certified Double Platinum in the UK...
, "The Ninth Wave." After seeing Bleckmann perform some of the Bush cannon live in 2010 in preparation for recording the album, New York Times music critic Nate Chinen wrote: “Kate Bush is a special fit for him. The arc of her career, uneasily abutting art-rock and alternative music, jibes with his own off-kilter profile. And she’s another transfixing singer with a penchant for careful diction and spooky connotation, and deep interest in the subconscious.”
"Twelve Songs by Charles Ives" with Kneebody
The Wire: "Fluff-toned American singer Theo Bleckmann and New York based jazz group Kneebody […] look deep inside the DNA of Ives's material to extrapolate contemporary resonance. 'Songs my mother taught me' and 'The Housatonic at Stockbridge' are recast as sepia memories of the originals, as Bleckmann uncovers an impressionistic side of Ives using well-judged electronic atmospherics to put distance between then and now." April 2009Twelve Songs by Charles Ives with Kneebody, (Winter&Winter, 2008) Grammy Nomination 2010 Best Classical Crossover Album
Bleckmann/Hollenbeck Duo
Bleckmann particularly enjoys performing in duo. He and percussionist and composer John Hollenbeck forge a bond born of a long track record of working together including their duo, which is captured on Static Still (GPE records 2000) and Hollenbeck's Quartet Lucy (CRI 2001).Furthermore, Bleckmann and Hollenbeck are both equal members of the Refuge Trio and Theo Bleckmann is part of John Hollenbeck's Large Ensemble. (see section for detailed information)
Bleckmann/Nurock Duo
Bleckmann has also collaborated extensively with composer and pianistPianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Kirk Nurock;
Looking Glass River (Traumton-Indigo, 1995)
Theo & Kirk, (Traumton-Indigo, 1992)
Bleckmann/Monder duo
His ongoing collaborations with guitaristGuitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Ben Monder
Ben Monder
-Biography:Monder attended the University of Miami. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians including Lee Konitz, Toots Thielmans, Paul Motian and Maria Schneider....
can be heard on Monder's Recordings:
Excavation and
Oceana (Sunnyside)
and on their two duo releases:
At Night (Songlines, 2007)
No Boat (Songlines, 1997)
Audiopool - Duo with Sissel Vera Pettersen
Audiopool is a collaboration between two eerily like-minded musicians: Sissel Vera Pettersen from Norway and New York-based Theo Bleckmann. Both singers use their voices as an instrument incorporating live electronic processing and looping to create mercurial and haunting compositions, improvisations and soundscapes. Audiopool premiered in the summer of 2008 at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Using only accessible instruments (a FLIP HD camera and household lighting) they extend their sensibilities to creating miniature vocal/visual landscapes while translating their live electronic vocal manipulations to video.Refuge Trio
Refuge Trio takes its name from the Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
song "Refuge of the Roads". The collaborative trio was formed to play at the '2002 Wall-to-Wall Joni Mitchell Marathon Concert' at Symphony Space
Symphony Space
Symphony Space is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings...
in NYC. Since then, they have continued to explore music with mystery and exuberance. They fashion a transformative experience for the audience with their music and spirit.
Refuge Trio with Gary Versace and John Hollenbeck (Winter&Winter, 2008)
Las Vegas Rhapsody
Bleckmann's collection of showtunes, Las Vegas Rhapsody - The Night They Invented Champagne with the Chamber Orchester Basel and pianist, arranger, Fumio Yusada (Winter&Winter, 2006) has been described as "the most transcendent vocal album in many a moon", by Francis DavisFrancis Davis
Francis Davis is an American author and journalist. He is best known as the jazz critic for The Village Voice, and a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly. He has also worked in radio and film, and taught courses on Jazz and Blues at the University of Pennsylvania...
in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
.
Berlin - Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile
Theo Bleckmann's second collaboration with Yusada is an extension of his love for music from his native country Germany surrounding the themes of love, war and peace. The repertoire consists of works by composers Hans Eisler, Kurt WeillKurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Kristian Schultze
Kristian Schultze
Kristian Schultze was one half of the German New Age band Cusco. Schultze has partnered up with Michael Holm and the two have produced numerous new age albums...
with Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
providing much of the texts.
Berlin - Songs of Love and War, Peace and Exile (Winter&Winter, 2007)
Schumann's Favored Bar Songs
It's wonderful to plunge into the Schumann's Bar, to feel the atmosphere, to hear the sound of the jazz piano, the warm and clear voice of the singer and the typical back ground noises. Fumio Yasuda and Theo Bleckmann present song after song in a terrific performance. Winter&Winter has made itself a name particularly through the creation of AudioFilms (cinema for closed eyes). »Schumann's Favored Bar Songs« (Winter&Winter, 2009) is one of these AudioFilms, a simple but exciting sound story of a wonderful place.John Hollenbeck Large Ensemle
Bleckmann is also a featured vocalist in Hollenbeck's three Large Ensemble recordingsEternal Interlude (Sunnyside Records, 2009), Grammy Nomination in 2009
Joys and Desires (Intuition 2006), Grammy Nomination in 2006
A Blessing (Omnitone 2005)
Moss
Moss is a vocal ensemble composed of some of New York's most diverse and interesting (jazz) singers (Theo Bleckmann, Peter Eldridge, Kate McGarry, Lauren Kinhan and Luciana SouzaLuciana Souza
Luciana Souza is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who has crossed over into classical music.Daughter of poet Tereza Souza and singer-composer-guitarist Walter Santos, she grew up in São Paulo. She is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston from which she received a Bachelor's...
). The repertoire features each artist's individual approach to music and creates a unique collective at the same time.
MOSS (Sunyside Records, 2008)
Selected Discography
2010 I dwell in possibility, Theo Bleckmann; Winter&Winter 910 168-22009 Schumann’s Favored Bar Songs, with Fumio Yasuda; Winter&Winter 910 152-2
2008 Twelve songs by Charles Ives, with Kneebody; Winter&Winter 910 147-2
2008 Refuge Trio, with Gary Versace and John Hollenbeck; Winter&Winter
2007 Berlin - songs of love and war, peace and exile; with Fumio Yasuda Winter&Winter 910 138-2
2007 At night, Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder; Songlines Recordings SGL 1561-2
2006 Las Vegas Rhapsody - The night they invented champagne, Theo Bleckmann with Fumio Yasuda and the Kammerorchester Basel; Winter&Winter N° 910 116-2
2005 anteroom, Theo Bleckmann; Traumton 4483
2001 origami, Theo Bleckmann; Songlines, SGL 1534-2
2000 static still, TheoBleckmannJohnHollenbeckDUO; gpe records, GEP 6823
1997 No Boat, Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder Duo; Songlines SGL 1516
1995 Looking-Glass River, Theo Bleckmann-Kirk Nurock Duo; Traumton-Indigo 2412
1992 Theo & Kirk, Theo Bleckmann-Kirk Nurock Duo; Traumton-Indigo 2404
SELECTED GROUP OR SIDEMAN RECORDINGS
2009 Eternal Interlude, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble; Sunnyside
2008 Moss w/Peter Eldridge, Lauren Kinhann, Kate McGarry and Luciana Souza; Sunnyside
2008 Impermanence, Meredith Monk; ECM
2007 The Carbon Copy Building, Band on a Can; Cantaloupe Records
2006 Joys and Desires, John Hollenbeck and Jazz Bigband Graz feat. Theo Bleckmann; Intuition
2005 A Blessing, John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble; Omnitone
2005 Oceana, Ben Monder Quartet; Sunnyside
2006 Excavation, Ben Monder Quartet; Sunnyside
2006 Lucidarium, Steve Coleman; Label Bleu Records
2004 Zippo Songs, Phil Kline; Cantaloupe Records
2002 Mercy, Meredith Monk; ECM
2002 The Whitney, Biennial 2002 exhibition catalogue with CD; Whitney
1999 Jazz Child, Sheila Jordan; High Note,
Fidget
Bleckmann's multidisciplinary works include a commission by the Whitney Museum of American ArtWhitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
at Philip Morris to compose and create a music performance piece out of Kenneth Goldsmith's
Kenneth Goldsmith
Kenneth Goldsmith is an American poet. He is the founding editor of UbuWeb, teaches Poetics and Poetic Practice at the University of Pennsylvania and is Senior Editor of PennSound. He hosted a weekly radio show at WFMU from 1995 until June 2010...
text Fidget, which Bleckmann scored for voice, piano, percussion, bass, video and three sewing machines. In real time, four seamstresses sewed a paper suit out of the hundreds of sheets of paper that were Bleckmann's libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
.
Mercuria
In collaboration with performance artist Lynn Book, he created Mercuria (produced by the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
), incorporating visual and vocal elements of dream and subconsciousness into an evening-length performance piece.
The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz
Playing the gangster Dutch SchultzDutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
, Bleckmann co-created The True Last Words of Dutch Schultz a new music opera in collaboration with director Valeria Vasilevski and composer Eric Salzman
Eric Salzman
Eric Salzman is an American composer, author, impresario, music critic, and record producer.After studying composition with Morris Mawner at the New York High School of Music and Art , he continued his studies at Columbia University , where his teachers included Jack Beeson, Otto Luening and...
.
Film, Television and Theater
As a sound improviser, he has performed, created and developed movie, television and theater scores, among them an alleged space Alien language for Men In BlackMen in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
by Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Star Trek: Envoy (Meredith Monk
Meredith Monk
Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. Since the 1960s, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records.-Life and work:Meredith Monk is primarily known for her...
) and Kundun
Kundun
Kundun is a 1997 epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet...
(Phillip Glass)
One of his recent appearances on television include "The David Letterman Show" with the performance artist Laurie Anderson on July 14, 2010.
Theo Bleckmann sang in John Moran's Book of the Dead at the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
in NY, performed a lead in Bang on a Can's Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
-winning opera Carbon Copy Building and frequently appears as a soloist with The Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bang on a Can
Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon...
.
In collaboration with director Laurie McCants and set designer Elaine F. Williams, he wrote the music and performed The Alexandria Carry On, which has been traveling the US and was performed at the actual library in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
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Selected Compositions
2009 “Roundabout (4 J.A.C.K.) ” for string quartet, (commissioned by Ensemble Noamnesia)2009 “Duet for One” for solo voice
2009 “I dwell in possibility” (poem by Emily Dickinson) for voice and chimes
2009 “I am not enough” for voice and toy microphone
2008 “elegy” for 2 voices and loops
2008 “Take my life” for voice, piano, Glockenspiel and drums
2007 “I build my time” (poem by Kurt Schwitters) for voice, piano and string quartet
2007 “Schmidt Lied” (poem by Kurt Schwitters) for voice, piano and string quartet
2007 “To what shall I compare this life” (lyrics Priest Monsei) for voice, piano and percussion
2007 “Happiness” for voice, piano and drums
2007 “Longing” for four voices, cello, percussion and Fender Rhodes
2006 “Orchard” (poem by Rumi) for five voices and guitar
2004 - 05 “Anteroom” for 16 voices
2004 - 05 “A small house can carry as much happiness as a large one” for voices and kalimba
2004 “Lament for a Jungle” for voices and paper
2003 - 04 “The Alexandria Carry On” songs and music for voice, flute, percussion and shruti box (lyrics by Laurie McCants adapted from Ancient Greek and Egyptian sources)
2001 “DNA” for voice, piano, guitar, vibraphone, electric bass and percussion
2001 “None of the Above” for voice, piano and vibraphone
1997 “Men in Black” Alien language for Soundtrack
Awards and honors
Theo Bleckmann's work has been recognized with several awards including a Grammy Nomination in 2010 for the best "Classical Crossover Album". He received the ECHO Award for "Best Singer of the Year" 2010, a Bessie Award, Presser Award for Outstanding Talent and the ASCAP/GershwinAward for his composition "Chorale #1 for Eight Voices" as well as grants from Arts International, the Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art, New York Foundation for the Arts, Meet The Composer and the Council on Humanities, PA. He was also voted "Cultural Elite" by New York Magazine in 2005 and 2006.External links
- Theo Bleckmann's Official Website
- Winter & Winter (label)
- Songlines Recordings (label)
- Traumton