“My ‘regular’ trio is making our debut at Red Star Bar here in Baton Rouge! It’s hard to call it a ‘regular’ band, as the personnel shifts slightly each time we get together, but I like to think that the spirit is the same in all of its various incarnations (think of it as a sort of non-linear reincarnation). We’ll be adding some new tunes to our repertoire, but still exploring similar ideas, taking simple modal and song-form compositions and stretching them to the breaking point. This time the trio will feature two different anchors (one for the first set and one for the second, so yes both will still be actual trios!), with John ‘I Bring the Darkness’ Madere stepping in on bass for the first set and Marcelo Vieira returning for the second. So happy to have them both available! Both sets will feature Marcello Benetti, a wonderful drummer from Bologna, Italy who we’re lucky enough to have nearby in New Orleans. I’m personally thrilled that he’ll be making the trip up, and that Baton Rouge will get to finally hear him!

In between the two sets we have the good fortune to have both Raul Gomez and Marcelo Vieira performing some of their own material, solo and otherwise—I have no idea what to expect, but I’ll be listening! I can’t wait to hear what they bring out.

Here’s a rundown of what’s happening:

(more) Trio Music (!!)
RedStar Bar (222 Laurel St, Baton Rouge, LA)
Tuesday, May 4th, 9:30PM
No Charge

Trio 1 features…
John Madere (bass)
Marcello Benetti (drums)

Then two interludes featuring…
Raul Gomez (violin)
(and then)
Marcelo Vieira (cello and voice)

And finally, Trio 2, with…
Marcelo Vieira
Marcello Benetti

---

Here’s hoping that I see you out there! Come support creative music in Baton Rouge! Yes!!!

”

Friday April 23 at 6pm. LSU School of Music Recital Hall.

Program

Histoire du Soldat – Igor Stravinsky

as well as…

Reflections on the Nature of Water – Jacob Druckman
Penasco Blanco – Peter Garland
Chromatic Foxtrot – George Hamilton Green
North and South, Here and There, Back and Forth, Getting Nowhere – Brett William Dietz

Reception to follow…. check it out!

LSU Philharmonia

with Concerto Competition Winners

Friday, March 19, 2010 at 8 p.m.

LSU School of Music Recital Hall

—

Raul Gomez, conductor

Alex Wise, conductor

Claire Mashburn, flute

Michael Brook, violin

—

Elgar: Serenade for Strings

Ginastera: Variaciones Concertantes

Mozart: Concerto No. 2 for flute

Prokofiev: Concerto No. 2 for violin

—

Folks, it doesn’t get any better than this!
Go get yourself an early dinner and then head on
over to the LSU School of Music.

————————————————————-
“While the sweet, smoky scent of curling incense rises into the air, six musicians create a sound that has never been heard before and will never be heard again…creating cohesive magic.”
- Lindsay Nunez, LSU Reveille
————————————————————-
“unquestioningly genre-free and sublimely mystical.”
- Travis Leeper, Tiger Weekly
————————————————————-
“Jon Hassell meets David Sylvian at the wrong speed, in a good way. In the spirit of Les Baxter. In other words, sounds like Alice Coltrane.”
- Alex V. Cook – Author, Journalist, Critic
————————————————————-
“The Incense Merchants is an improvisational ensemble. Although nothing is predetermined in any detail, there are certain tendencies to the performances that reflect the various backgrounds and interests of the musicians–classical, conceptual, ambient, free jazz, pop, etc.

Although somewhat counterintuitive, this in practice results in a fairly consistent sound: a cinematic fusion of genres and periods that is frequently a melodic minimalism at base, with some self-indulgence free form expressionism on top, something akin to the Lounge Lizards, Kronos Quartet, and John Zorn. ”
- Chip Osborne
————————————————————-
Hear their work at http://incensemerchants.com

The Incense Merchants are a creative musician’s chamber ensemble consisting of:

Raul Gomez, violin – http://rgomezmusic.com
Marcelo Vieira, cello - http://cellomartinez.com/
Brad Walker, saxophone
Chip Osborne, guitar
Eric Shuster, percussion
Bill Kelley, keyboard - http://wdkelley.com

I have updated my Upcoming Shows page. Please check it out and come out to support your local musicians!

Raul.

Here’s a new Incense Merchants video. Watch below or go to the Incense Merchants’ website here. Have a wonderful 2010!

Raul.

Incense Merchants improv the atmosphere

[Comment Below]

By Travis Leeper

“We were getting set up to play in one of the School of Music rooms at LSU, and the janitor was in there, and he just started sweeping the floor all over the place,” recalled Bill Kelley. “We were ready to play, so we just all smiled and looked at him and started going off of the sounds he was making.”

And that’s how the music often starts: with something quiet tickling your ears, waiting for its fellow spirits of music to drift out of the woods and join it. It leaves an arcane scent behind, just like a slowly-burnt stick of bizarre incense.

When you go into something unplanned, it’s either awful or amazing and the Baton Rouge experimental-improv group, Incense Merchants, is fairly knowledgeable about such things.

Formed by Kelley, an LSU recording engineer and audio artist, Incense Merchants consists of six LSU-involved musicians that meet every Tuesday to create whatever floats to the top of the mind. But if you think the result must be chaos, disharmonic noise, and randomness, you’re wrong. That only happens half the time.

“Heck no, we don’t talk about [the music] beforehand,” said Kelley in an interview with Tiger Weekly. “It sounds a little radical about it, but initially there was a lot of talking going on and it was taking up fifteen minutes of a two hour session, so we just don’t do that anymore.”

“I mean, it’s very much like meditating,” Kelley continued. “So we’re all in our own mental space, but at the same time we also share community creation. We’re all very internal, I think, very focused on just our ears.”

Incense Merchants consists of Raul Gomez on violin, Eric Shuster with percussion, Bill Kelley with keyboards, keyboardist and saxophonist Brad Walker, Marcello Vieira on cello, and guitarist William Osborne III. With backgrounds ranging from experimental to classical to pop to jazz, Incense Merchants have a sound that’s as unquestioningly genre-free and sublimely mystical. Cellos and simple synthesizers sometimes flutter beneath a sax solo, guitar harmonics, or even the sounds of a janitor’s sweeping caught on tape.

“Personally, I am 100% about creativity. I really try to encourage people constantly to be creative. Don’t do the same thing the way you did it before. You don’t want to get into a place that’s comfortable. I like to suddenly find myself in a jam and try to figure out how to get out of it.”

With no official collection of music released, the music of the Incense Merchants may be a little hard to track down. Their website, incensemerchants.com, not only showcases the musicians and their biographies, but also hosts a select few songs recorded by Kelley at the LSU studio. Some songs exist on CDs handed out at farmer’s markets, while some have never made it to tape. If you’re interested in experiencing the improvised atmosphere of the Incense Merchants live, check them out December 8 at the Red Star bar downtown.

Originally Published: Issue 825 – December 2, 2009