Événement

The Dead Lecturers

Elysium Furnace Works is proud to present as part of our reinvigorated 2021 season in Beacon, NY the cross-disciplinary ensemble The Dead Lecturers, featuring tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, poet/spoken word artist Thomas Sayers Ellis and viola player Melanie Dyer. This performance is co-sponsored by Binnacle Books, Beacon, NY's premier independent bookseller.

Founded in 2012 by James Brandon Lewis and Thomas Sayers Ellis, three years before their larger ensemble Heroes Are Gang Leaders, The Dead Lecturers is an improvisational exchange between units of sound and units of language with the goal of stimulating, within the listener, new ideas of action and non-passive living. Ellis and Lewis have a unique chemistry of agreeing and disagreeing with one another while delivering potent, creative messages that extend the Black Literary Oral Tradition. Joined by viola player and HAGL member Melanie Dyer, their classroom of sound has been extended to include the musical signifying of a soulful syllabi, mature ruckus and experimental refereeing.

Elysium Furnace Works' 2021 roster embraces a fiercely independent, eclectic diversity, featuring exceptional artists from a wide array of musics. Other concerts EFW will present in 2020 include:

September 22: Christoph Irniger Trio + Loren Stillman In a rare local appearance, Swiss tenor saxophonist Irniger's international trio featuring bassist Raffaele Bossard and drummer Ziv Ravitz is joined by past resident of the Hudson Valley, alto saxophonist Stillman returning to the Howland for the first time in eight years;

October 16: Joe Morris/Mat Maneri Two of the most accomplished and exceptionally talented figures on their respective instruments, guitarist Morris and violist Maneri continue their decades-long collaboration, improvising melodic exchanges of startling complexity, nuance and fire;

November 20: Ras Moshe Burnett/Dafna Naphtali Fresh off their debut recording Fuse Box, longtime associates mutli-instrumentalist Burnett (also returning to the Howland for the first time in eight years) and electronic artist Naphtali conjure liberated sonic textures both otherworldly and deeply rooted;

December 11: Shelley Hirsch The celebrated, fearless Downtown vocalist and composer closes out EFW's 2021 season in her Beacon debut.