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.
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.
For more on the tools and questions we're exploring in these projects, you can read the program notes I've written for concerts, including Jazz Telemotions and Transcontinental Circuits.
Video and audio for selected telematic performances:
Telemotions: A Networked Intermedia Concert (2011). Between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, with Mark Dresser, Myra Melford, Michael Dessen, Victoria Petrovich and John Crawford.
Jazz Telemotions: A Networked Trio Concert (2010). Between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, with Mark Dresser, Myra Melford, Michael Dessen, Victoria Petrovich and John Crawford.
Latent Potentials (2009). Between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, with Christopher Dobrian, Michael Dessen, Shahrokh Yadegari, John Crawford, Mark Dresser, Edwin Harkins, Nathan Hubbard, Dhiren Panikker, Alicia Peterson Baskel, and Rebecca Salzer.
Transcontinental Circuits (2009). Between Stanford University, UC Irvine and Amherst College, with Jason Robinson, Adnan Marquez-Borbon and Michael Dessen.
Multiplicities: An Inter-arts Telematic Performance (2008). Between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, with Mark Dresser, Myra Melford, Billy Mintz, Michael Dessen, Nancy Ostrovsky and Oguri.
For some of these telematic projects, I have designed algorithmic, networked "score streams" - compositions that are displayed dynamically on computer screens for improvisers to interpret. I started working on this idea in 2008, using MAX/MSP software to build and network them. It's an evolving and exciting project, as each performance provides more feedback from the improvisers and chances to try out new techniques. My most recent scorestream was performed on part 3 of the Jazz Telemotions concert in 2010.
Each player has an individual part that displays both conventional and graphic music notations, intended as streams of possibilities and convergences that the improvisers can dip in and out of as they construct the music together. (For example, the screenshot to the right is a graphic morphing two different musical spaces, with a slowly moving timing slider below that guides the pacing.).
Net Works: An evening of telematic music. Composed and performed by Mark Dresser (bass), Myra Melford (piano), and Michael Dessen (trombone), with video by Yotam Mann. Networked performance between UC Berkeley and UC San Diego. April 27, 2011.
Telematic Transform Music. Composed and directed by Sarah Weaver, featuring Gerry Hemingway, Oliver Lake, Mark Dresser, Hadi El-Debek, Dave Taylor, Eldad Tsabary, Stuart Dempster, and Michael Dessen. A networked concert between New York City, Montreal, Seattle, Irvine and San Diego. April 23, 2011.
Telemotions: A Networked Intermedia Concert. Composed and performed by Mark Dresser (bass), Myra Melford (piano), and Michael Dessen (trombone), with scenic designer Victoria Petrovich and intermedia artist John Crawford. Networked performance between UC Irvine and UC San Diego. April 16 and 17, 2011.
Inspiraling: Telematic Jazz Explorations. A networked performance between UC San Diego and New York University, co-presented by Roulette Intermedia. Compositions by Oliver Lake, Gerry Hemingway, Mark Dresser and Sarah Weaver. Performed by Oliver Lake, Gerry Hemingway, Amir ElSaffar and Sarah Weaver (at NYU) and Mark Dresser, Hafez Modirzadeh, Michael Dessen and Alex Cline (at UCSD). June 13, 2010.
Jazz Telemotions: A Networked Trio Concert. Composed and performed by Mark Dresser (bass), Myra Melford (piano), and Michael Dessen (trombone), with scenic designer Victoria Petrovich and intermedia artist John Crawford. Networked performance between UC Irvine and UC San Diego. May 12, 2010.
Faultlines: A Multi-Site Networked Concert. Networked performance between UC Irvine, CA and Buckley Hall, Amherst College, MA. Compositions by Jason Robinson and Michael Dessen, performed by Jason Robinson (saxophone/computer) and Michael Dessen (trombone/computer). April 25, 2010.
Crossing Boundaries: Design Improvisations 2010. Networked performance between UC San Diego and UC Irvine on Bits and Spaces, composed by Michael Dessen and Shahrokh Yadegari, and performed by Michael Dessen (trombone), Shahrokh Yadegari (computer), Alicia Peterson (dance) and Rebecca Salzer (dance). January 12, 2010.
Latent Potentials. Networked performance among UC Irvine and UC San Diego. New compositions by Michael Dessen, Christopher Dobrian and Shahrokh Yadegari with telematic video by John Crawford. Michael Dessen (trombone), Edwin Harkins (trumpet), Mark Dresser(bass), Nathan Hubbard (percussion), Dhiren Panikker (piano) and others. December 13, 2009.
Tele-Jazz. Networked performance among UC San Diego, Banff Center for the Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dave Douglas (trumpet, composition), Pauline Oliveros (accordion, composition), Michael Dessen (trombone, composition) Mark Dresser (bass), Chris Chafe (celleto, composition), Jonas Braasch (sax), Justin Yang (sax), and others. June 4, 2009.
Transcontinental Circuits: A Multi-Site Networked Concert. UC Irvine, Stanford University, and Amherst College. Michael Dessen (trombone/computer/composition), Jason Robinson (saxohpone/computer/composition) and Adnan Marquez-Borbon (saxophone/computer/composition). April 3, 2009.
Multiplicities: An Inter-Arts Telematic Performance. UC San Diego and UC Irvine. Mark Dresser (bass) and Michael Dessen (trombone/computer), co-directors and composers, with Myra Melford (piano, composition), Oguri (dance), Billy Mintz (drums) and Nancy Ostrovsky (painting). October 25, 2008.
Telematic Concert between UC San Diego, Stanford University and UC Berkeley. Mark Dresser (bass, composition), Michael Dessen (trombone, composition), Myra Melford (piano, compositon), Chris Chafe (cello, composition), David Wessel (electronics), Billy Mintz (drums) and Phillip Larson (voice). February 13, 2008.
PQ Sceneofest (Czech Republic). Duo networked performance between Prague and Irvine, CA with Shahrokh Yadegari (computer) and Michael Dessen (trombone). June 18, 2007.