In some ways, the Acadia Cafe seems much too quaint a place to host the deliriously challenging and mind-bending artistic individuality heard on Tuesday nights.
Since early 2003, this friendly little drink and eatery has played host to a fascinating series of improvised and experimental music in its small conjoined theater. What you can witness performed there on a typical Tuesday is difficult to explain, because there is no typical Tuesday. Even within a particular set of music, the extreme polarity in sounds can be arresting: A capella, noise-drone loop manipulations, percussive ensembles, solo modified guitar sounds, music concrete, ambient soundscapes, or just about any other alternative approach to music making.
I recently spoke with Bryce Beverlin II, an avant-garde improvisational composer/performer who books for the series, as to how he determines what music is right, since there are degrees to which music can be improvised and/or experimental.
"It's performance by way of the most modern composition one can create – it is being composed while it is being performed. This particular form is called free improvisation," Beverlin said. "Many musical genres incorporate improvisation, but free improvisation is intended to be completely improvised, rather than an element within an existing style."
Beverlin went on to explain how music is qualified as experimental.
"Many times an audience member is able to quite easily determine if the performer is pushing into experimental territory. I want each performer to challenge themselves in some way; if one takes the definition of experimental literally, there's very little music truly experimental in nature. It's a label most often assigned to music outside the boundaries of many genres, but with regards to Tuesday nights, it refers to performers pushing themselves into uncharted territories by exploring freely improvised sounds."
One of the ways performers approach the task of pushing into new territory is using damaged, altered or invented instruments and devices to develop new sounds.
Duluth native Tim Kaiser's recent performance felt almost like a show and tell, with several tables covered in invented musical instruments, effects and gear. After his performance, he let the audience come up on stage to take a peek at his handiwork.
After a recent improvised instrumental performance on his duct-taped plank of a vintage Telecaster guitar, local experimental rock musician Michael Yonkers spoke about the value of improvised and experimental music.
"I see improvisation as being the stuff of life," Yonkers said. "Almost everything having to do with life comes from, or is the result of, trial and error – improvisation. I see improvisation as absolutely necessary for human development."
Yonkers describes the Acadia series as "an opportunity to test and develop in a friendly situation." While the crowd may not always be all that large, it has been, from my experiences, consistently attentive to and respectful of the performers.
Dan Luedtke, Acadia employee and Gay Beast's singer/keyboardist, added: "Even in this small microcosm, I notice the effect of experimental music breaking down certain notions of performer or audience and their inherent relationship to each other. The person in the audience the week before becomes the performer the next week."
Indeed, most of the audience tends to be made up of artists of some sort or another, and they're all positive and motivated. It's not uncommon to hear fantastically technical musical banter in the audience, yet none of it has a trace of haughty snarkiness.
Beverlin attributes this to "the theater environment," which also keeps the audience respectfully quiet, even if food and drink is served in the theater area. While the physical layout of the theater room may play a role, along with Acadia's location, staff and general interior ambience, the music demands attentive appreciation. Anyone willing to dance on a limb is worthy of watching.
In an area as rich with musical talent as our fair minne-metropolis, it's surprising there aren't more venues for this kind of music. Many experimental shows end up taking place in residences, basements and other underground word of mouth venues. The Turf Club used to host a weekly improv series in the Clown Lounge. The Artist's Quarter and Olympia Arts Ensemble Theater have had series in the past. To my knowledge, there is no current series in the Twin Cities area as free and progressive as Tuesday nights at the Acadia Cafe.
Ranging from gentle ambience to bloodcurdling noise, and traversing a myriad of formal reference points, the sheer variety of music encompassed by Acadia Cafe provides an opportunity to explore and study the far limits of music and art.
www.acadiacafe.com |
