As many regular readers of this site may know, I was a huge fan of the online mixtape site Muxtape.com. It was a simple, sleek way to share what you’re listening to, and relied on your own uploads, rather than publicly available mp3s, as sites like Mixtwit and blip.fm do. Well, as with all good things music+technology related, the RIAA has, for the time being, shut the site down. In the meantime, some totally fresh dudes have put together a downloadable open-source version of virtually the same software, called “Opentape.” For the hell of it, I’ve installed it here on the wildly overqualified servers at kovenjsmith.com for your listening pleasure. If this works out, and if I finally add some real styling to it to make it fit in better with the rest of kovenjsmith.com, I’ll put up some kind of permanent link to it. For the time being, you can get to the most current playlist/mixtape here. I totally put Boz Scaggs on there. Because as I’ve told many of you, “Lowdown” is the new “Easy Lover.” Cheers, everyone!
Update: I totally didn’t realize that Opentape has an “embed” feature. So don’t worry about clicking over to the mixtape, b’cause here it is right here:
Image via WikipediaI’ve of late become a regular reader of “Music Matters“, an excellent blog on music cognition written by Henkjan Honing, an Associate Professor in Music Cognition at the University of Amsterdam (that’s him on the right in the picture). The blog is utterly fascinating, as it focuses on the search for answers that most musicians (myself included) have only begun to ask about why do we, as humans, process music the way we do. You should go there yourself and check it out, but there’s also an excellent introduction to the study of music cognition and Honing’s approach to it in the form of a 10-minute episode of the University of Amsterdam’s series The Fascination (De Fascinatie). Really, really interesting stuff. Enjoy!
Okay, kids–the time is now. “Dance For a Small Room,” a new work that is the result of almost eight months of collaboration between Ellen Cornfield and myself, premieres this weekend at the Abrons Arts Center. The work features the full company of Cornfield Dance in addition to two guest artists from the Jose Limon Company. Full details may be found on the “Events” page.
In addition to the electronic score, the work features the talents of several wonderful musicians who accompany the performance onstage throughout the work. I’ve been working with these folks (Ben Syversen-trumpet, Michael Eaton-tenor saxophone, Don Undeen and Morgan Price-bass clarinet, John Lindaman and Jeff Litman-guitar, and Madelyn Burgess-electric bass) all week in rehearsal, and their efforts continue to astound me. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
First off, thanks for those of you who came to the Latin Hustle show a few weeks back–the response was overwhelming and beautiful. There are some nice pitchers that various friends took of the show, which hopefully I’ll be able to post soon.
Aaaaanyway, I’ve pretty much been writing music almost nonstop since then, in preparation for the upcoming performances of “Dance for a Small Room” with Cornfield Dance (see the Events page for more information on that). So here, with little fanfare, is some very new music that you will be hearing as part of the new piece. It’s super-new (less than 24 hours old!), so please forgive the fact that it cuts off, seemingly right in the middle. That will be fixed later. Enjoy!
Kids, come on out and see me play with John Lindaman’s Latin Hustle tomorrow night at Spike Hill in Brooklyn. It’s going to be a great time. We’ll be playing some of John’s True Love Always tunes, several lovely João Gilberto songs, and at least one Mariah Carey tune. John puts it best; here is an excerpt from the Latin Hustle blog:
Newly added to the Latin Hustle Fantasy Bossa Nova League Dream Team are the redoubtable Koven J. Smith on drums, the indefatigable Madelyn Burgess on bass and vocals, the insoluble Gideon Crevoshay at the piano and with vocals, and the indescribable Sean Imboden as “The Flute Player”. Individually, they are formidable. Together, we are unstoppable. This summer, all the pieces fit.
Koven J. Smith is the Musical Director of cornfield dance, as well as a producer of interactive technologies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and an adjunct professor of Information Technology for the Visual Arts at New York University. With a background in electroacoustic music, formal composition, and new media design, Koven's work explores the intersection of multiple art forms and technology.
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