Jeremiah Cymerman’s Big Exploitation

Saturday, February 24 @ 40 Watt Club

originally published February 21, 2007

Jeremiah Cymerman

There is an increased interest and admiration among the American indie-rock scene for jazz and experimental music of a particular stripe; namely, the forward-thinking music created by Miles Davis, Albert Ayler, Alice and John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Sun Ra, among others. Though encouraging, this also leads to an awful lot of posturing and a tendency for some musicians to assume that because they admire said artists that they are somehow attuned to them. Nothing kills jazz faster than this mass pseudo-intellectual uprising that seems to occur every few years. Jazz, and by extension experimental music in general, is propelled by long-haul students and innovators; not by quick-change artists who fancy themselves a musical version of Kerouac’s angel-headed hipster.

Jeremiah Cymerman is in it for keeps. He will return to Athens from his New York home to celebrate a CD release [see review here] with his Big Exploitation group. Throughout three performances in a single night, Cymerman will present the drone work of Matthew Welch (Tzadik Records) as Welch performs his "Symphony of Drones, Opus 44.” In this piece, Welch displays his particular droneplay system, which incorporates various ornamentation and excursions with the flexibility to allow for "real-time negotiation" (i.e. improvisation).

Cymerman will host two film presentations accompanied by music. First up is Just a Closer Walk With Thee by Jonathan Railey, with music composed by Cymerman featuring a six-piece group. Then Cymerman will present The Short Films of Jonathan Railey with the director running the projector and featuring a cream-of-the-local-crop 13-piece ensemble.

This unique performance will also take place at ATHICA (hosted in conjunction with the "Transience" exhibit) on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Both shows are a treat and the type of thing that separates the faithful from the window shoppers. (Note that Saturday's $5 show at the 40 Watt is an early one that starts at 7 p.m. and is separate from the club's Black Lips/ Dark Meat show later on in the evening.) For the uninitiated, think of it as a language lesson by the immersion method. Learning languages is never a simple affair, but is nearly always a rewarding experience.

Gordon Lamb