Jazz at Atlas presents Sun of Goldfinger

Posted 4/17/19

Returning to the Hudson Valley after their memorable closing set for the 2015 Beacon Jazz Festival, alto saxophonist Tim Berne, electric guitarist David Torn and drummer Ches Smith flatten any …

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Jazz at Atlas presents Sun of Goldfinger

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Returning to the Hudson Valley after their memorable closing set for the 2015 Beacon Jazz Festival, alto saxophonist Tim Berne, electric guitarist David Torn and drummer Ches Smith flatten any concept of musical boundaries in this forward-looking ensemble’s bracing embrace of the future unleashed within the present moment. Sun of Goldfinger will be touring in support of their debut recording for ECM Records.

Sun of Goldfinger explores the edges of the genre, infusing it with perspectives ranging from the minimalist to the cinematic to the metallic. The improvisation-based group effortlessly, seamlessly shifts from atmospheres into shattering mayhem to thrilling effect. All three musicians are renowned bandleaders in their own right, with current solo recordings on the prestigious ECM label. Berne has forged a singular path across dozens of expansive, diverse albums featuring intricately-detailed, harmony-driven works. Torn’s influence as a guitarist, composer and music technologist is epic. With sounds ranging from the searing and soaring to liquid loops to full-on shredding, he’s reinvented conventional definitions of guitar. Smith has established himself as one of the world’s premier percussionists, combining acoustic invention with electronics to both propel and extend his myriad musical surroundings. Together, these leaders and friends combine as a democratic unit, determined to take audiences on a singular journey through provocative sonic territory known and unknown.

Tim Berne has been declared “a saxophonist and composer of granite conviction” by The New York Times. Since learning at the elbow of St. Louis master Julius Hemphill in the ’70s, the Syracuse, New York-born Berne has built an expansive discography as a leader. Improviser, film composer and soundscape artist David Torn approaches the far sonic edges of what one man and a guitar can create with only sky, a solo recording of almost orchestral atmosphere. This album followed Torn’s 2007’s acclaimed prezens, a full-band project for ECM (featuring Tim Berne, Craig Taborn & Tom Rainey) that Jazzwise described as “a vibrating collage full of shimmering sonic shapes, a dark, urban electronic soundscape – a potent mix of jazz, free-form rock and technology that is both demanding and rewarding.” Many of those same descriptors apply to only sky, with its hovering ambient shadows and vaulting flashes of light, its channelling of deep country/blues memories and Burroughsian dreams of North Africa. Nearly 30 years before the release of only sky came Torn’s ECM album Cloud About Mercury, with trumpeter Mark Isham and the latter-day King Crimson rhythm section of Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. Torn’s initial tenure with ECM also included Best Laid Plans, his 1984 release with drummer Geoffrey Gordon; and the guitarist featured on Jan Garbarek’s album It’s OK to Listen to the Gray Voice. More recently, Torn produced and mixed saxophonist Tim Berne’s ECM albums Shadow Man (2013) and You’ve Been Watching Me (2015). Torn, a native of New York state, has worked across jazz (with the Bad Plus and others), film music (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carter Burwell) and pop (David Bowie, Jeff Beck, David Sylvian and more).

Born in San Diego, CA and raised in Sacramento, Ches Smith came up in a scene of punks and metal musicians who were listening to and experimenting with jazz and free improvisation. He currently performs and records with Xiu Xiu, and Secret Chiefs 3. He has also performed with Ben Goldberg, Annie Gosfield, Wadada Leo Smith, John Tchicai, Fred Frith, Trevor Dunn and in Sun of Goldfinger with Tim Berne and David Torn. In addition to Ceramic Dog, he also leads his two of his own projects, Congs for Brums and These Arches. He currently spends his time between Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brooklyn.

Sun of Goldfinger will perform on Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m.. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door -- advance tickets are available at sunofgoldfinger.brownpapertickets.com

The concert will be held in the gallery at Atlas Studios, located at 11 Spring St. in Newburgh. Ample onsite parking is available.