Lost Civilizations, from left to right: Leah
Gage,
Mike Sebastian, Patrick Whitehead, and Ted Zook
I hope that listeners will pardon my loud “Oi! Oi!” at the beginning of the first set, but I borrowed that riff from the Sleaford Mods song, “Middlemen”, in order to quieten our garrulous audience at the Black Squirrel, November 15, 2015. A fabulous renewal of the Lost Civilizations + Duo Exchange collaboration ensued. For each gathering, Rod Smith and I provide the words (the “Duo Exchange”) amidst the music, and we always label the most recent outing “the best”, this one without hesitation. Connoisseurs of our collaboration may recall that we script nothing in advance. The music as well as the poems find their own order as the event flows forward.
For a free listen of the first set (39 minutes) click [HERE]
For a free listen of the second set (33 minutes) click
[HERE]
Ted Zook (basscello) and Mike Sebastian (saxophones) form
the core of the Lost Civilizations Experimental Music Project, to which they invite
guest musicians. On this night, Leah Gage sat-in on drums, and Patrick
Whitehead joined on trumpet and flugelhorn, making us a six-member outfit. Rod
and I attempt to build a city—many voices and humors—every time Duo Exchange
sets out, and yet, no matter how much we may anticipate the evening’s
trajectory, the music inspires us not only for its abiding quality, but also
for the many surprising ways in which the musicians might push, embolden, and
shape our performance.
At times, we might’ve noted the manipulation of silence and
the occupation of part-spaces. At other times, we might’ve caught the discordant
caucusing in advance of one instrument prevailing. The Big Sound might’ve staggered
us, the declarations of agreement that fronted and trailed synthesis. Did Lost
Civilizations swing? Oh yeah, I think so. The musicians answered questions—with
brassy, reedy, thumping, sawing language—in need of responses, only we had no knowledge
of these questions before the performance began. We broke the surface of the
evening, vastly replenished.
Rod Smith (left) and the blogger as Duo Exchange
Lost Civilizations reminds us, aptly, that counter-culture hasn’t
yet suffered permanent misplacement, and that art, if untethered, represents our
best avenue for salvation. Two writers had to fit together, and four musicians
had to fit together, and six people had to fit together, in music and verse,
and we did, fit. If you attended the show, if you listened to one or both sets,
if you read this little review, thanks, and on behalf of Lost Civilizations and
Duo Exchange, in the spirit of Duke Ellington, we love you M-a-a-a-dly!
