September 23, October 1 and October 7, 2016 at 9 PM

MELA Foundation Dream House

275 Church Street, New York

As part of Choi’s Ahata Anahata, Manifest Unmanifest X exhibition at the MELA Dream House, three live performances of Tonecycle for Blues Base 30 Hz, 2:3:7 Ensemble Version with 4:3 and 7:6 will be performed by The Sundara All-Star Band. The three legendary vocalists—La Monte Young, Marian Zazeela, and Jung Hee Choi—and two virtuoso just intonation fretless guitar and bass—Jon Catler and Brad Catler—will improvise harmonically related frequency ratios over Choi’s new work, Tonecycle for Blues accompanied by widely acclaimed tabla master, Naren Budhkar. While traversing the common ground of improvisational phrases rooted in Indian raga, American blues techniques, Korean traditional folk ballads and musical Minimalism, this work creates a highly original sound that is based on just intervals.

Over the seventy-seven continuously revolving sine-wave frequencies, six channels of vocal overlays will be set in ratios based on the harmonics 2, 3, and 7. The relationship of the improvisations to the continuous drone elaborates the musical meaning of the pitch, creating a harmonious construct and inviting the listener into a deeply contemplative world.

The Sundara All Star Band

La Monte Young · voice

Marian Zazeela · voice

Jung Hee Choi · voice

Jon Catler · fretless guitar

Hansford Rowe · fretless bass

Naren Budhkar · tabla

Jung Hee Choi Tonecycle Base 30 Hz, 2:3:7 Vocal Version

The full PDF press release for both the performance series and exhibition is available here.