Recording: Jeff Roberts and co.

Artist: Jeff Roberts/ Sarah Peebles/Shahriyar Jamshidi + Jeff Roberts/Branko Džinovic/Heidi Chan

Songs: [excerpts from two improvisations]

Recorded at Array Space (Somewhere There Presents), March 6, 2016.

Jeff Roberts/ Sarah Peebles/Shahriyar Jamshidi - [excerpt from first piece]

Jeff Roberts/Branko Džinovic/Heidi Chan - [edited excerpt]

Following on an event at the CMC showcasing Jeff Roberts' work as a composer, this Somewhere There-hosted night focused on improvisation. His work with guqin follows both traditional and modern paths — the latter deploying a motion-sensing MIDI controller to trigger samples that extend the instrument's sound. Besides examining that sonic range in a solo set that mixed traditional tunes with improvisations, the night also began with two rather-different trios. The first, joined by Sarah Peebles' shō and Shahriyar Jamshidi's kamanche was mostly quiet and still, like nature's ancient ambient music found beside a stream. The second, with Branko Džinovic's extended-technique accordion and Heidi Chan's effect-chain xiao, moved things into the digital age, but still remained rooted in thumping, clacking, plucking tactility.

Recording: Jeff Roberts + Chelsea Shanoff

Artist: Jeff Roberts + Chelsea Shanoff

Song: Twelve Landscape Views III [composer: Jeff Roberts]

Recorded at the Canadian Music Centre, March 4, 2016.

Jeff Roberts + Chelsea Shanoff - Twelve Landscape Views III

In a couple shows over a weekend in Toronto, Edmonton-based player/composer Jeff Roberts showed a deep interest in musical mixings: in extending the sounds of the ancient guqin (his current instrument of choice as a player) with motion-sensitive MIDI controllers, as well as in mixing its distinct tonalities with western instruments. This piece, performed with saxophonist Chelsea Shanoff, sees some of both as it creates a bridge between Song Dynasty painter Xia Gui's titular painting with Henry David Thoreau's ecological transcendentalism. This show at the CMC would also encompass solo guqin works (both traditional and technologically-enhanced) as well as a new piece for Shanoff and cellist Nadia Klein (a.k.a. CelloPhone) incorporating Roberts' interest in Korean shamanistic ritual music.