The release of Robert W. Getz's Wooden Box: Piano Improvisations Vol. 1 in 2001 jumpstarted a career which, for the most part, had been kept private. Practicing at home and occasionally playing in the Philadelphia area, Getz decided to make a studio recording when the technology of CD-R's finally seemed to make it affordable. Christening the label "Idyll Hands Recordings,"he intended to capture improvisational performances without overdubs, recordings that would bring the audience as close to the actual experience as possible.
Projects and performances followed soon after in 2002: an evening at NY's Knitting Factory was recorded for release as the label's 2nd issue, he participated in the long-form improv "Sound/Shift" that took place in Baltimore and which found him creating spontaneous music with Tom Boram and Chris Forsythe, he was invited to be a featured artist in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival's "Fresh Fringe" series, which presented the World Premiere of his "American Ecstasy (for Unprepared Piano)," and he recorded a collection of duets with saxophonist Elliott Levin (Tyrone Hill, Cecil Taylor entitled "Sassafras Hello," which Cadence Magazine called "a storming set".
His latest project, Anxious Trio, has just released New American Marches, an instrumental protest against the war in Iraq. With bassist Michael Barker and cellist Helena Espvall-Santoleri, the trio's music describes a vanishing America that's in danger of disappearing completely. A slightly different version of the Trio also presented the World Premiere this year of L'Ombres, a work written especially for a lunar eclipse that was occurring as it was performed.
Getz continues to explore the places his music can go, contributing keyboards to a new CD by Phil Carter (ex-Das Damen), Sisyphus Banana Peel, and planning for future recordings. He describes what he does this way: "For me, it's always been the purest form of play, wrestling with the keyboard and coaxing new discoveries out of it. A thread usually presents itself and I try to follow it, regardless of where it leads, sometimes doubling back to fill in what feels like empty spaces. While I'm doing it, I feel flooded with memories and possibilities. Although it's a difficult process to describe, it's always felt like a natural one and it has for over 30 years now."
And although his one-man shows can be a challenging and exhausting experience, he also rejects the notion that his music is complex or difficult to understand. "There's not much to analyze here. It's basically just some guy searching for the sounds that open the most doors for him. I hope it opens some for the audience, too."
This evening's performance will consist of one piece entitled, "(airplanes to go over the ocean)".
Cost: $7 - 15 sliding donation