Nmperign - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Early history

The idea for the group came when soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey decided to embark upon an ambitious cross-country tour, choosing trumpeter Greg Kelley and percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani as his travelmates. The three, who had been playing together in various groups for a number of months prior (most notably with multi-instrumentalist Masashi Harada), then began rehearsing regularly as a trio and recorded their first album at Studio 7A West in Charlestown, Massachusetts that summer. The album was released as 44'38"/5 by the Twisted Village label and the group began their 6 week cross country tour in November of that year. 2 weeks into the tour nmperign became a duo, with Nakatani departing for personal reasons.

Releasing an album of quiet abstract improvisations on a psych label and touring across the country garnered the group some attention. And despite Rainey's move to Chicago in 1999, the group
remained very active that year, beginning their ongoing collaboration with electronic musician Jason Lescalleet, travelling out to the West Coast for a number of concerts and making a 7 week cross country tour later that Fall. All of this activity resulted in the release of This is nmperign's 2nd CD on Twisted Village (which featured the group's last performance with Nakatani and their first performance with Lescalleet) and the collaborative CD In Which The Silent Partner-Director Is No Longer Able To Make His Point To The Industrial Dreamer with Jason Lescalleet on Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings is an independent record label for experimental music, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1997 by the artist Howard Stelzer and currently based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Intransitive publishes electro-acoustic music, free improvisation, sound art, sound poetry, and noise...

.

By the year 2000, Rainey was back in Boston and the group embarked on their first tour of Europe. It was at this time that the group began its relationships with a number of European improvisers including Axel Dörner and Andrea Neumann, with whom the duo would embark on a 4 week United States tour in September 2001.

Over the next few years, nmperign continued to travel the United States and Europe, including tours on both continents with percussionist Le Quan Ninh

Lê Quan Ninh

Lê Quan Ninh is a French percussionist active in contemporary music and free improvisation.He began studying piano at the age of 5, but turned towards percussion as a teenager. When he was 16, he entered the National Conservatory in Versailles. During this time he discovered free jazz...

and dancer Yukiko Nakamura, an inexplicable pairing with noise provacateur Emil Beaulieau

Emil Beaulieau

Emil Beaulieau, or more fully, “Emil Beaulieau: America’s Greatest Living Noise Artist” is the stage name of Ron Lessard, a prominent noise musician who primarily records for his own label: RRRecords. He has collaborated and performed with many well-known noise artists, including Merzbow, Pain...

(including some collaborations which came to be known as nmpeRRRon), and collaborations with Jerome Noetinger

Jerome Noetinger

Jérôme Noetinger is an improviser and composer of electroacoustic music based in Grenoble, France.He also runs the record label and record distributor Metamkine and writes in the French magazine Revue Et Corrigee...

& Lionel Marchetti, and Gunter Müller

Günter Müller

Günter Müller is an Swiss composer, improviser and visual artist based in Lupsingen, Switzerland.Günter Müller is a German sound artist that originally performed as a percussionist and drummer active primarily in free improvisation....

The BSC

The BSC was formed in 2000 by Bhob Rainey as a way to explore the dynamics of large group improvisation. The group also includes his nmperign partner Greg Kelley on trumpet, Mike Bullock on double bass, James Coleman on theremin, Chris Cooper on prepared guitar, Vic Rawlings on cello & electronics, Howard Stelzer

Howard Stelzer

Howard Stelzer is a composer and live performer of electronic music whose work is made primary from sounds generated by cassette tapes...

on tapes, and Liz Tonne on voice. The group has released one CD on Grob entitled Good (2003) and has collaborated a number of times with pianist Steve Drury and his Callithumpian Consort (performing graphic scores by Stockhausen,
Cardew and Christian Wolff), as well as with composer Christian Wolff in a realization of his graphic score, Edges. In 2010, the group released 23% Bicycle and/or Ribbons of the Natural Order, a download-only release which was made available by posting a tweet or "liking" it on Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

Damon and Naomi

In 2004, Damon and Naomi

Damon and Naomi

Damon & Naomi are an American dream pop/folk-rock duo formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500.-History:After Galaxie 500 completed a tour of the US supporting The Cocteau Twins, guitarist and vocalist Dean Wareham quit the band, forcing the cancellation of an...

, via their mutual friends at Twisted Village, invited nmperign to play on a bill with them and subsequently to play on their new album, which would be the first on their own 20|20|20 label. Rainey and Kelley appeared on a number of tracks on their 2005 album The Earth is Blue and also began performing live with the duo and guitarist Michio Kurihara

Michio Kurihara

is a Japanese guitarist who has played with Ghost, Boris and The Stars, formerly known as White Heaven. He has also released a solo album, Sunset Notes. He collaborated with Boris on the albums Rainbow and Cloud Chamber, and also appears on the Boris album Smile.-References:...

. Rainey became a touring member of the group and has performed with them throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. Both Kelley and Rainey have appeared on subsequent recordings with Rainey handling all the string and horn arrangements on their 2007 album Within These Walls.

Salt Peanuts

A seeming anomaly in the discography of nmperign is the 2003 CDr release Salt Peanuts released on American Tapes. Released in an edition of 80, the recording showcases 12 maniacal takes of the "head" section of the title standard as well 12 takes of the "head" of Donna Lee. Apparently the result of some good-natured heckling by John Olson and Aaron Dilloway

Aaron Dilloway

-Biography:He has been releasing and recording music since the age of 16. He was a member of experimental bands Couch, Galen and Universal Indians. He is a former guitarist and tape manipulator for the experimental band Wolf Eyes, which he left in 2005 to live most of that year in Kathmandu, Nepal...

of Wolf Eyes

Wolf Eyes

Wolf Eyes is a post-industrial/noise band from Detroit, Michigan, United States.-History:Wolf Eyes began as a solo project of former Nautical Almanac member Nate Young, with Aaron Dilloway joining in 1998, and John Olson in 2000...

at the 2003 De Stijl/Freedom From

Freedom From

Freedom From is a Minneapolis, Minnesota based record label which primarily focuses on the international noise underground genre. The label was founded in 1996 with its first official release by a San Francisco three-piece named Job. Up until early 1998, the labels focus was singularly cassettes,...

Festival in Minneapolis, the recording showcases nmperign's sense of humor and conceptual rigorousness.

Points of reference

Despite the fact that the title of their first album was not a reference to John Cage (but simply the total time of the album divided by the number of tracks), nmperign has used a number of literary and other references in their titles, ranging from Marguerite Duras' The Malady of Death and Four Novels, Georges Bataille's Poems, Zen Master Eihei Dogen, a book of interviews with Jean-Luc Godard, Herman Melville's Pierre; Or, the Ambiguities, a box of Chinese tea, The Doors and micromosaic artist Henry Dalton.

The name nmperign itself is derived from the Latin phrase "igNotuM PER IGNotius," meaning "the unknown through the more unknown."

2009 -

In 2009, Rainey moved out of Boston to New Orleans. This move was ironically timed with a renewed spate of activity from the band with the release of Ommatidia (their first duo recording since 2004's double LP We Devote Every Effort To Offer You The Best That You Deserve To Have For Your Enjoyment) on Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings

and a 1-sided collaborative LP with percussionist Jake Meginsky on Rel Records entitled Selected Occasions of Handsome Deceit. The group's only performance as nmperign since Rainey's move was at the 2010 Neon Marshmallow Festival in Chicago, as a trio with Jason Lescalleet. Further concerts with Lescalleet are planned for 2011.

Current members

Bhob Rainey - soprano saxophone

Soprano saxophone

The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...

(1998-)

Greg Kelley - trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

(1998-)

Adjunct members

Jason Lescalleet - tape loops, electronics (1999-)

Jake Meginsky - percussion
(2008-)

Le Quan Ninh

Lê Quan Ninh

- percussion (2002-)

Yukiko Nakamura - dance (2002-)

Festival appearances

Autumn Uprising Festival, Cambridge Massachusetts 1999

East Bay Creative Music Festival, Oakland California 1999

Festival Densités, Verdun France 2001

Superfici Sonore, Florence Italy 2001

Improvised and Otherwise Festival, Brooklyn New York 2002

Fruits De Mhere, Mhere France 2002

Festival des Musiques Innovatrices, St. Etienne France 2002

Musique Action, Nancy France 2002, 2004

AMPLIFY New York New York 2003

The De Stijl/Freedom From Festival, Minneapolis Minnesota 2003

No Fun Fest, New York New York 2004

Erstquake 2, New York New York 2005

Music Lovers' Field Companion, Gateshead England 2005

The End Times Festival, Minneapolis Minnesota 2006

Instal, Glasgow Scotland 2006

Courtisane Festival, Ghent Belgium 2007

Brainwaves 2008, Arlington Massachusetts 2008

Neon Marshmallow Festival, Chicago Illinois 2010

Discography

44′38″/5 CD (Twisted Village, US) 1998

Recycled cassette (RRRecords

RRRecords

RRRecords is a used and new record shop. RRRecords is distinguished as being the first American record label to specifically publish underground noise music in the early 1980s, and published the first American vinyl by Merzbow, Masonna, The Hanatarash, Violent Onsen Geisha, and many more artists...

, US) 1999

This Is Nmperign’s Second CD CD (Twisted Village, US) 1999

In Which The Silent Partner-Director Can No Longer Make His Point To
The Industrial Dreamer CD w/ Jason Lescalleet (Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings

, US) 1999

Bhob Rainey/Greg Kelley: nmperign CD (Selektion, Germany) 2001

Nmperign + Dörner, Beins LP (Twisted Village, US) 2002

More Gloom, More Light CD w/ Gunter Müller

Günter Müller

(Rossbin, Italy) 2003

Salt Peanuts CDr (American Tapes, US) 2003

We Devote Every Effort To Offer You The Best That You Deserve To Have For Your Enjoyment
2LP (Siwa, US) 2004

Thanks, Cash CD w/ Axel Dörner & Andrea Neumann (Sedimental, US) 2004

Love Me Two Times 2CD w/ Jason Lescalleet (Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings

, US) 2006

Marvin/Live 1978 Split 7″ w/ Skeletons Out (Absurd, Greece) 2009

Ommatidia CD (Intransitive Recordings

Intransitive Recordings

, US) 2009

Selected Occasions of Handsome Deceit 1-sided LP w/ Jake Meginsky (Rel Records, US) 2010

with The BSC

Good CD (Grob, Germany) 2003

23% Bicycle and/or Ribbons of the Natural Order download-only 2010

with Damon & Naomi

The Earth is Blue CD, LP (20|20|20)

Within These Walls CD (20|20|20)

Sources

Todd S. Jenkins: Free Jazz and Free Improvisation, Vol. 1, 2; Greenwood Press, 2004; ISBN 978-0313333132, ISBN 978-0313333149
Aden Evens: Sound Ideas: Music, Machines, and Experience (Theory Out Of Bounds); Univ Of Minnesota Press, 2005; ISBN 978-0816645367
Brian Marley, Mark Wastell: Blocks of Consciousness and the Unbroken Continuum; Sound 323, 2005; ISBN 978-0955154102
Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Ninth Edition; Penguin (Non-Classics), 2008; ISBN 978-0141034010

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.