Marco Cappelli Equally versed in free improvisation and classical music, guitarist Marco Cappelli has performed in a fascinating array of collaborations both as a soloist and in ensemble settings. A founder of the acclaimed Italian contemporary music group Ensemble Dissonanzen, Cappelli currently lives in New York, where he is involved with the contemporary and avant-garde music scene. In addition to Underwolf Records, he has recorded on Tzadik, Ictus Records, and Mode Records.
Anthony Coleman is a composer, improvising keyboardist, and teacher. Coleman has been awarded grants from New York Foundation on the Arts (1988 and 2006), New York State Council on the Arts, and Meet the Composer. He has received residencies from the Yellow Springs Arts Center (1987 and 1990), the Djerassi Colony (1989), the Frei und Hansestadt Kulturbehörde of Hamburg, Germany (2002), and the Civitella Ranieri Center, Umbertide, Italy (2003). Coleman has recorded 13 CDs under his own name, and he has played on more than 100 recordings released on Tzadik and New World Records, among others.
Appears on: UW 002
Hampton Fancher is the screenwriter of Blade Runner and the writer and director of The Minus Man (winner of the Grand Prix Jury Award, Montreal Film Festival). Born in East Los Angeles, he started out as a dancer, then become an actor, appearing in film, television, and plays here and abroad. His book of fiction, The Shape of the Final Dog, was released in 2012 by Penguin. He lives in Brooklyn.
Noah Kaplan is a composer and saxophonist from Topanga Canyon, CA. He graduated from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Joe Maneri and Jerry Bergonzi. He has performed and curated for the Boston Microtonal Society, and was the recipient of the Jonathan Keith Foundation award in 2005 for his work with microtones. His debut album, Descendants, was released on HatHut Records in 2011 to critical acclaim. In addition to his quartet, Kaplan co-leads Dollshot, participates in a variety of New York based ensembles, and composes for an ongoing project with writer Hampton Fancher. He is also featured on recordings on NotTwo and Creative Nation Music. He lives in Brooklyn.
(Photo: Monia Lippi)
Appears on: UW 001, UW 002, UW 003, UW 004
Rosalie Kaplan is a singer living in Brooklyn. She studied at the New England Conservatory and graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School, where she designed a unique program in modern music. In 2009, Rosalie formed Dollshot as a vehicle to explore musical experimentation through art song. In addition to Dollshot, Kaplan has a duo with electronic composer Caroline Park. She has performed at Le Poisson Rouge, Galapagos and The Stone among other venues.
(Photo: Monia Lippi)
Appears on: UW 001
Desmond Knight is a composer and sound artist. An avid armchair naturalist, he has spent many a day and night in far flung regions, recording, collating and archiving all manner of sound for his personal audio library. He creates vast, interlocking soundscapes, utilizing his field recordings and found sound mechanical noise. Knight currently resides in the lost hills of New Jersey.
Appears on: UW 005 (coming soon)
Wes Matthews is a composer whose work has been commissioned by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Minnesota Orchestra in addition to performances of pieces at the 2008 Bang on a Can Summer Festival and the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam. Matthews graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he studied with Bob Brookmeyer, Lee Hyla, and Bob Moses. He has received awards from the Boston Microtonal Society, the BMOP/NEC composition contest, the NEC Contemporary Ensemble Composition Competition, and the Japan Society of Boston.
(Photo: Monia Lippi)
Appears on: UW 001
Giacomo Merega Born in Italy, schooled in Boston, bassist Giacomo Merega lives in New York, and is a leading voice in the avant-garde music scene. In 2008, his debut album The Light and Other Things, featuring slide-guitarist David Tronzo, was released to critical acclaim and as part of Noah Kaplan’s Quartet he appeared on Descendants, on HatHut Records. He has performed internationally and is featured in records on HatHut, NotTwo, Creative Nation Music, among others.
Appears on: UW 001, UW 002, UW 003, UW 004
Mauro Pagani is an Italian violinist and founding member of progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi. In 1977 he left the band to follow a solo career, and his first solo album, titled Mauro Pagani included contributions from fellow PMF members and others. Pagani is an experimenter of sound related to blues, Mediterranean music, and free improvisation. His composition credits include soundtracks for two movies, Puerto Escondido (1992) and Nirvana (1990), by the Italian director Gabriele Salvatores.
Appears on: UW 002
Sparrow is a poet, writer, and presidential candidate who lives in the hamlet of Phoenicia, New York. He is the author of America: A Prophecy– The Sparrow Reader, and his writing appears regularly in The Sun magazine.
(Photo: Jennifer May)
Appears on: UW 002
David Tronzo is an American guitarist best known for his innovation of pairing the techniques of electric slide guitar with the genres of bebop, modern jazz, rock, downtown music, and experimental music. Tronzo has been voted among the “Top 100 Guitarists of the 20th Century” and the “Top Ten Jazz Guitarists” by Musician Magazine, as well as “Best Guitarist in NYC” by the New York Press. He has recorded with David Sanborn, Reeves Gabrels, Wayne Horvitz and The Lounge Lizards, among others.
Appears on: UW 004