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The one thing you shouldn't expect at a Bang On A Can All-Stars gig is people banging on cans. The name was a kind of joke dreamed up by Bang On A Can Festival co-founder and composer David Lang more than a decade ago, to justify a fledgling New York marathon concert of "other" musics. ‘Bang’ fills a niche
By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinThe name stuck. So did the festival. Now it's an annual showpiece of musician and composership. And some of the featured musicians have banded together -- literally -- as the touring festival "All-Stars." And even after 12 years, neatly classifying the music is still like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.
"You know when you go into a record store, and there are sections for jazz, and rock, and world, and dance, and whatever?" said Lang from New York. "Well, we're in the cracks between the categories. We might, for example, have the structure of classical music, but the energy of rock and the free-flowing improvisation of jazz. Not an easy fit!"
The current line-up of the All-Stars includes Maya Beiser on cello, Robert Black on stand-up bass, Lisa Moore on piano, Steven Schick on percussion, Mark Stewart on electric guitar and Evan Ziporyn on clarinet and saxophone. Think of them as an impossibly hip chamber ensemble.Their Honolulu gig is pretty swank. The University of Hawaii Outreach College presents the group at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Leeward Community College Theatre, but there's also an "All-Stars Caravan" package that includes a 5 p.m. dinner at Brew Moon, and then a bus ride to and from the concert, annotated by Can fan Alan Bunin.
The "Caravan" package is $70; concert admission alone is $24, or $19 for students.
Annotation might be a good idea. While big-time music reviewers at major metropolitan dailies fall all over themselves whenever the group plays -- "A fiercely aggressive group, combining the power and punch of a rock band with the precision and clarity of a chamber ensemble!" reported the New York Times -- it's difficult to get a handle on their groove. Audiences, however, tend to come away converts.
"It's really difficult to explain it," mused Lang. "What makes it interesting is NOT explaining it, hey? The folks who attend the concerts say they've never heard anything like it before. We're creating our own niche."
An example: Brian Eno's "Music for Airports" was a seminal "ambient music" recording when it was released in the 1970s, and Eno created it by looping tapes at various speeds, creating a kind of aural collage. The effect was unsettling and oddly beautiful, like hearing ocean waves crash in reverse. The work was never intended to be anything other than a recording project.
But the All-Stars transcribed the music and notated it, re-recording the piece with instruments, bringing out the glistening sheen of Eno's music. The piece became a staple of the group and a best-selling CD, and when Eno heard the recording, he burst into tears.
You'll have to search in record stores for them, because sometimes, they're in Classical, sometimes in New Age, sometimes in Experimental. Lang's favorite record store in New York is called -- naturally -- Other Music. "We have our own bin there," said Lang.
On stage
What: Bang On A Can All-Stars
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