Brian Allen News
I recently was in Merida, Yucatan for a grant from Meet the Composer Global Connections to perform my compositions with Mexican musicians. We had a beautiful time and the music was a blast. The quartet was guitarist Armando Martin from Merida, bassist Arturo Baez and drummer Hernan Hecht, both from Mexico City and myself on trombone, electrons and voice.
I created a website (in English and Spanish) for the group and the event, which includes videos, MP3s, artwork, photos, newspaper interviews and more. There was a really moving project that we did with the audiences of the two concerts to integrate the visual with the aural. We passed out paper and pencils to everyone to draw or write down their impressions or the music. I was blown away by the 40+ submissions we received.
In conjunction with my activities in Merida, I celebrated the release of a new amplified solo trombone called six years L8R. A tiny microphone explores the uncharted innards and outtards of the trombone, revealing a sometimes alien soundscape of magnified overtones, scrapes, taps, squeeks and buzzes. I hand design and assemble each package with old school floppy disk sleeves, available though my website at this moment.
