MICHAEL DESSEN :: composer and trombonist

This trio plays a unique mix of adventurous improvisation, intricate compositions, abstract soundscapes, and polyrhythmic flow. I compose the music and perform on trombone and live electronics, joined by a bassist and drummer.

My second trio album, Forget The Pixel, was recently released by Clean Feed Records, with Christopher Tordini on bass and Dan Weiss on drums.

listen: Excerpts from Forget the Pixel:

More info and music samples...

Since 2006, I've been involved with many telematic (distance/networked) performances, collaborating with a variety of artists including Mark Dresser, Myra Melford, Victoria Petrovich, John Crawford, Chris Chafe, Shahrokh Yadegari, Jason Robinson and many others. For some of these projects, I have also designed algorithmic, networked "scorestreams" - compositions that are displayed dynamically on computer screens for improvisers to interpret.

The newest large-scale telematic project is Inspiraling 2011: Telematic Jazz Explorations, which is taking place on Nov. 2, 2011 between UC San Diego and New York University, with a fantastic group of 10 musicians across both sites.

More on telematics...

video: Telemotions: A Networked Intermedia Concert

Digibone is an animistic world of live electronics in which the viscoelastic nature of the slide trombone invokes shifting digital sprites and topographies. Technically, digibone is a performance environment for live processing and sampling of structured improvisations on the trombone, sometimes alongside algorithmically generated compositions.

listen: Googlar 1, live digibone track, unreleased (all rights reserved)

More info and music samples...

Active until 2011, Cosmologic was a collective quartet founded in Southern California by Jason Robinson (sax), Michael Dessen (tbn), Scott Walton (bass), and Nathan Hubbard (percussion). We worked together for 12 years, releasing four critically acclaimed albums and performing throughout the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Belgium, and the Netherlands. For more info, please visit www.cosmologic.org

listen: Sample track from Eyes In The Back Of My Head