Paul Dutton
Encyclopedia
Paul Dutton is a Canadian poet
, novelist, essayist, and oral sound artist.
, and the late bpNichol
, Dutton married his soundsinging oralities and harmonica-playing to John Oswald
’s alto sax and Michael Snow
’s piano and synthesizer in the free-improvisation band CCMC (1989 to the present). He has recently appeared in poetry festivals in Germany, France, and Venezuela, and at music festivals in Canada, Holland, and Argentina. An accomplished writer, in addition to his published books, he has written dozens of published essays on music and writing.
Dutton also often collaborates with fellow vocal sound artists Jaap Blonk
, Koichi Makigami, Phil Minton
, and David Moss
in the group Five Men Singing. Other collaborators have included such musicians as John Butcher
, Bob Ostertag
, Dominic Duval
, Phil Durrant, John Russell
, Lee Ranaldo
, Christian Marclay
, Günter Christmann, Jere Lehtinen
and Alexander Frangenheim. His soundsinging has been called "fascinating, inventive, grippingly obsessive" (The Wire).
"(Five Men Singing) exposes every note, tone, timbre and texture that can be vibrated by the uvula, dredged from the throat and buzzed from the cheeks and lips."
More recently, he formed Quintet à Bras in company with two French poets and two French instrumentalists, and in 2009, Mr. Dutton performed at The Scream In High Park
, which is an annual literary festival in Toronto.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, novelist, essayist, and oral sound artist.
Early life and career
A member of the legendary Four Horsemen sound poetry quartet (1970–1988), along with Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Steve McCafferySteve McCaffery
Steven McCaffery is a Canadian poet and scholar who was a professor at York University. He currently holds the Gray Chair at SUNY Buffalo . McCaffery was born in Sheffield, England and lived in the UK for most of his youth attending University of Hull. He moved to Toronto in 1968...
, and the late bpNichol
BpNichol
Barrie Phillip Nichol , who often went by his lower-case initials and last name, with no spaces , was a Canadian poet. He became widely known for his concrete poetry while living there in the 1960s...
, Dutton married his soundsinging oralities and harmonica-playing to John Oswald
John Oswald (composer)
John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings .-Philosophy:Oswald coined the term "plunderphonics" to describe his craft in a paper called which he...
’s alto sax and Michael Snow
Michael Snow
Michael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
’s piano and synthesizer in the free-improvisation band CCMC (1989 to the present). He has recently appeared in poetry festivals in Germany, France, and Venezuela, and at music festivals in Canada, Holland, and Argentina. An accomplished writer, in addition to his published books, he has written dozens of published essays on music and writing.
Dutton also often collaborates with fellow vocal sound artists Jaap Blonk
Jaap Blonk
Jaap Blonk is a Dutch avant-garde composer and performance artist.Blonk is primarily self-taught both as a sound artist and as a visual/stage performer. He studied physics, mathematics, and musicology for a time, but did not complete his studies...
, Koichi Makigami, Phil Minton
Phil Minton
Phil Minton is a jazz/free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter.Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's group, Daniil Kharms and Joseph Brodsky with Simon Nabatov, and extracts from James Joyce's...
, and David Moss
David Moss (musician)
David Moss is an American composer, percussionist and self-taught vocalist, founder of the David Moss Dense Band; co-founder and artistic director of the Institute for Living Voice, Antwerp...
in the group Five Men Singing. Other collaborators have included such musicians as John Butcher
John Butcher (musician)
John Butcher is an English tenor and soprano saxophone player who has lived in London since the late 1970s. He began playing at the University of Surrey where he was studying physics...
, Bob Ostertag
Bob Ostertag
Robert "Bob" Ostertag is an experimental sound artist based in San Francisco.- Early career :...
, Dominic Duval
Dominic Duval
Dominic Duval is an American free jazz bassist.Since the 1990s, Duval has been active principally on the New York City jazz scene. He did not begin recording regularly until the 1990s, but since then has appeared on a very large number of albums, particularly on the labels CIMP, Cadence Jazz, and...
, Phil Durrant, John Russell
John Russell (musician)
John Russell is an acoustic guitarist who has worked exclusively in the field of free improvisation since the 1970s. He has been active consistently during that time as a promoter of concerts of freely improvised music in London, providing hundreds of playing opportunities for both local and...
, Lee Ranaldo
Lee Ranaldo
Lee M. Ranaldo is an American singer, guitarist, writer, record producer, and visual artist, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth...
, Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay
Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual artist and composer.Marclay's work explores connections between sound, noise, photography, video, and film...
, Günter Christmann, Jere Lehtinen
Jere Lehtinen
Jere Kalervo Lehtinen is a former Finnish professional ice hockey forward. He played as a right wing. He was drafted 88th overall in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars. Lehtinen handles defensive aspects of the game as well as offensive, hence he is a two-way forward for which...
and Alexander Frangenheim. His soundsinging has been called "fascinating, inventive, grippingly obsessive" (The Wire).
"(Five Men Singing) exposes every note, tone, timbre and texture that can be vibrated by the uvula, dredged from the throat and buzzed from the cheeks and lips."
More recently, he formed Quintet à Bras in company with two French poets and two French instrumentalists, and in 2009, Mr. Dutton performed at The Scream In High Park
High Park
High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans , and is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One third of the park remains in a natural state, with a rare oak savannah ecology...
, which is an annual literary festival in Toronto.
Criticism
- "The hybridity of Dutton’s æsthetic accomplishments is readily apparent on this CD’s (Mouth Pieces) opening track, Reverberations. Framing the words "gong" and "going" with the use of vowel-generated overtones, Dutton crystallizes form and content in a perfectly balanced musical and literary mantra."
- "Whether reading or gurgling, solo Dutton remains compelling."
Awards
- bpNichol Chapbook Award, 1989.
- Villa Waldberta Scholarship, Cultural Department, City of Munich, 1998
- Dora Mavor MooreDora Mavor MooreDora Mavor Moore, OC was a Canadian actor, teacher and director who was a pioneer of Canadian theater.- Life :...
Award, Toronto Association of Performing Arts, 2007
Anthologies
- Best Canadian Essays 1990. (Fifth House Publishers, 1990).
- Hard Times: A New Fiction Anthology. (Mercury Press, 1990).
- Carnival. (Insomniac PressInsomniac PressInsomniac Press is a Canadian independent book publisher.Founded in 1992 and based in London, Ontario, Insomniac began as a publisher of poetry chapbooks. The company has since evolved into a publisher of a wide variety of fiction, poetry and non-fiction work by emerging Canadian writers...
, 1996). - The Echoing Years: Contemporary Canadian & Irish Verse (School of Humanities Publications, Waterford Institute of Technology, 2007)
- In Fine Form: The Canadian Book of Form Poetry (Polestar, 2005)
- Fümms bö wö tää zää Uu: Stimmen und Klänge der Lautpoesie (Book-CD), (Scholzverlag, 2002)
Books
- The Book of Numbers (Porcupine's Quill, 1979).
- Right Hemisphere, Left Ear (Coach House Press, 1979).
- Visionary Portraits (Mercury Press, 1991) ISBN 978-0-92054-480-8
- Aurealities (Coach House BooksCoach House BooksCoach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. Coach House publishes innovative and experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundaries of convention.-History:The company was...
, 1991) ISBN 0-88910414-X - The Plastic Typewriter (Underwhich Editions, 1993) ISBN 0-88658-087-0
- Partial Additives (Writers Forum, c/o Underwhich Editions, 1994) ISBN 0-86162-551-X
- Several Women Dancing (Mercury Press, 2002) ISBN 978-1-55128-096-7
With The Four Horsemen
- Horse D'Oeuvres (General Publishing, 1975)
- The Prose Tattoo (Membrane Press, 1983)
Recordings
- Blues, Roots, Legends, Shouts & Hollers (Starborne Productions LP, STB-0180, 1980)
- Mouth Pieces (OHM Éditions, 2000) ISBN: AVTR 021
- Oralizations (Ambiances MagnétiquesAmbiances MagnétiquesAmbiances Magnétiques is a non-profit, Canadian musical collective, which was formed in 1982 by a group of independent musicians and producers from Montreal. The entity was formed out of necessity: the avant-garde tastes of the members — which include jazz, classical, folk, and rock —...
, 2005) ISBN: AM 130
External links
- Five Men Singing http://www.jazzword.com/reviews/104100
- so'nets http://www.thing.net/~grist/l&d/dutton/ldutton1.htm
- Coach House Press http://www.chbooks.com/biographies/paul_dutton
- poets.ca http://www.poets.ca/linktext/direct/dutton.htm
- The Mercury Press http://www.themercurypress.ca/?q=authors/paul_dutton