WITH JA DEANE
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Local musician and composer JA Deane's three decades in music include work with Ike and Tina Turner, Lawrence "Butch" Morris, Brian Eno, Jon Hassell, John Zorn, Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin. Deane performs a solo set and conducts his Out of Context ensemble 7:30 pm Sunday, May 20 at the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque.
SFR: What brought you to Santa Fe?
JAD:
I'd lived in LA, the Bay Area, New York, Paris. It was time to get out of the city. Colleen [Mulvihill, Deane's longtime partner] and I had a career collaborating on dance/music projects; the Center for Contemporary Arts brought us out here twice to perform, in the '90s. Santa Fe was actually too much city for us; we've been living in Ribera. We really wanted to live…out.
How have you experienced being a musician and artist here?
This June, we'll have been here 12 years. My perception is that a decade ago, there wasn't a thriving music scene here. Lots of musicians and composers, but they seemed to be working by themselves, not coalescing into a scene. In the past six years, especially since High Mayhem started, the scene here is on a par of any place. Not in numbers maybe, but definitely in energy, diversity, creativity…amazing.
On a par with New York, Paris, the Bay Area?
Yes, I'd say so. Living in San Francisco, for example, there was a huge number of artists, but the scene was invisible; then all of a sudden, a venue would pop up and everyone would start talking about the Golden Age of Creative Music, then it would disappear again. Twelve years ago, this area was the same, but there's much more consistent visibility and coherence here now.
How would you describe your ensemble, Out of Context?
Sessions happen in 'real time,' with no predetermined or notated passages, and unfold based on what I do, which is called 'conduction.' We're in our 10th year! It's amazing to me that we've been able to do this. I conduct a group of 12 musicians [John Baldwin, cornet; CK Barlow, sampler/live sampling; Matt Deason, electric bass; John Flax, spoken word; Katie Harlow, cello; Sam Rhodes, bassoon, soprano sax and voice; Joseph Sabella, vibes, marimba, percussion; Carlos Santistevan, acoustic bass; Bonnie Schmader, alto flute; Molly Sturges, voice; Alicia Ultan, viola; Jefferson Voorhees, drums, pakawaj].
What is conduction?
It's basically musical sign language. I'm currently using 40 signs. The ensemble creates music that is not composed or notated. But the system is very accurate, very concise. In words, conduction seems abstract, but when you see it…
Why is the visual aspect so important for the audience?
It's a huge part of what makes the process concrete. We always try to set up in the round, so all of the audience members can see. It's an odd kind of dance. It becomes clear that, while the signs are precise, they're not overly defined; there are multiple interpretations. It's a real ensemble music made by strong individuals. A lot of audience members think the person doing the conduction has some sort of agenda or preplanned sequence of signs. This is not the case.
So each session by Out of Context is completely improvised?
We manifest a sound, then we go from there. It's a feedback loop. When the ensemble gets to the highest place, we're not making any choice at all; at the appropriate moment, you're holding up the appropriate sign and the musicians respond with the appropriate sounds. There's no thought, you're not making decisions; if you're analyzing or thinking, the music has already gone past.
How do you rehearse an ensemble in this process?
We get together at least once a month, but they're not rehearsals. 'Rehearsal' implies we're preparing. I call them sessions; a lot of things get thrown away during a 'rehearsal.' In creating this ensemble, there was a real thing with vocabulary…'rehearsal, improvisation, composition'; [there is] so much baggage for musicians and artists in these terms, and the baggage has nothing to do with the process of creating music.
What's next in your creative life?
I'm headed to Italy this summer to work with Butch Morris and the Verona Opera Orchestra. So-called 'classical' musicians initially have a hard time with conduction, but by the end of the first session, they're creating coherent pieces in real time.
What would you say to a reader to whom this all sounds very abstract and perhaps intimidating?
I get enthusiastic reactions to my solo performances and the Out of Context ensemble. It's probably been presented to people as 'avant-garde' or, even worse, 'experimental,' but people who come to our shows find it incredibly accessible. There is an appetite for surprise that is unconscious, sometimes. With many music events, even before you walk in the door, you know what you are going to hear. There are so few where you are truly surprised. People want to be surprised.
