Resources and recommendations for travel to the Hill in Cornudas, Texas
Travel to the Hill in Cornudas, Texas, a list of resources & recommendations
More: http://namelesssound.org/events/butchermcphee_thehill.html
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Resources and recommendations to help make the trip easy (and fun!):
We’ve set up an online forum for communication about ride-sharing to El Paso, or to The Hill (from El Paso).
http://namelesssound.org/blog/?page_id=174
A group rate has been arranged for us at The Doubletree Hotel in El Paso. Rooms are $89 per night. Call Melissa Correa at the Doubletree and mention “The Cornudas Mountain Foundation”. 915-532-8733
Some Favorite Spots for Eating and Drinking:
“Ardovino’s Pizza”– “Top 100 Independent Pizzerias in the Country” – Pizza Today Magazine www.ardovinospizza.com
“Ardovino’s Desert Crossing” – In Sunland Park, Mew Mexico. Innovative cuisine in lovely environment.
“Crave” – Hip/Trendy Spot with Great Breakfast. http://cravekitchenandbar.com/
“2900” – Upscale and recommended. http://goto2900.com/
“L & J Café” – Legendary El Paso Mexican food known as “The Old Place by the Graveyard” and “Coldest Beer and Great Mexican Food”. www.landjcafe.com
“H&H Carwash” – That’s right, a Car Wash! An El Paso institution since 1957, you can gas up, get your shoes shined, and get a car wash, all in one stop! 701 East Yandell Dr. – No Website (of Course), but read about it here: http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=3911
“El Jacalito” – Recommended by Jim Magee (which means you can count on it to be great, authentic, down-home, and unpretentious). Located 2130 Myrtle Ave. across from Mercado Mayapan (see below); They have no website, but read about it here http://www.eskimo.com/~sockeye/ep/eljacalitoep.html
“The Dome Bar” at the Hotel Camino Real – This circular bar is underneath a beautiful Tiffany glass dome ceiling. It’s in the former lobby of the historic Hotel Paso del Norte. It’s a beautiful spot for a drink. On some nights, live Latin bands play and it’s quite a scene! (And very convenient when you’re staying upstairs at Camino Real – recommended). Pictures of the Dome Bar:
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/19/7e/b9/tiffany-dome.jpg
http://images.travelpod.com/users/barnerin/1.1232342640.dome-bar-camino-real-hotelx-el-paso.jpg
Things to do:
“Mercado Mayapan” – Authentic Mexican market (and cultural center), organized by “La Mujer Obrera” as an economic and cultural initiative. www.mercadomayapan.org
“Dave’s Pawn Shop” – Almost indescribable – it’s cross between a (real) pawnshop and an accidental folk art museum. A very strange place (in downtown). I don’t think they have a website, but check these links out:
http://boingboing.net/2007/02/20/daves-pawn-shop-and-.html
http://elchucotejas.blogspot.com/2006/10/daves-pawn-shop-216-south-el-paso.html
“Wyler Aerial Tramway” – at Franklin Mountains State Park. Rising to around 4000 ft in around 4 minutes, it takes you to the top of Ranger Peak, a little more than a mile high. You can get scenic views of Mexico and East and West El Paso. www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/wyler_aerial_tram/
“No Idea Edition 2: Marfa” – If you want to make it a weekend of creative music, Nameless Sound strongly recommends “No Idea, Edition 2” (featuring Bhob Rainey, Bonnie Jones, and Chris Cogburn) on April 16 (night before) in Marfa, Texas. Information is here: http://www.noideafestival.com
Fall recap, from our Education Coordinator
Nameless Sound classes are back in session for Spring 2010. We’ve just finished the first week of classes at all of our 7 sites. The students are refreshed from their holiday break and are enthused to get back to playing some music and connecting with each other.
There are a lot of new faces at the homeless shelters this season. Sunny Side Apartments, where we work with a large population of Burmese refugees, just received an astounding 30 new students. Most of these children are new to our country and speak very little English, if any at all. It’s always surprising to see how quickly language barriers are crushed through the process of our musical exercises and games. The first few sessions are always eye opening and fun. During our first class, kids were literally falling out of their chairs with laughter as we began using animal sounds to accompany the music. I remember a few new kids saying, “Are we going to get to PLAY those!” It’s always nice to see new students’ faces brighten up as they see our instructors walk in the room for the first time with a range of musical instruments.
We are all looking forward to lots of progress this year, new sounds, and plenty of good music!
Education Coordinator, Jason Jackson and NS Staff
Creative Music Classes for Young People- Spring Session starts Jan 12th
Creative Music Classes for Young People
Spring Session begins on Tuesday, January 12th
Nameless Sound Youth Ensemble – for adolescents and young adults
Creative Kids Ensemble – for grades K through 8
Classes for People with Special Needs- for the Basic Skills Community and the High Functioning Community
There is a flat $30 registration fee required by our host MECA. This can be done by arriving early on the first day or contacting Lizeth Gonzalez at MECA at 713-802-9370. All classes are held at MECA, 1900 Kane Street.
For more information or to register, call 713-928-5653 or email david.dove@namelesssound.org
Class Descriptions:
Nameless Sound Youth Ensemble
For Adolescents and Young Adults
Tuesdays, 6-8 pm
The Ensemble plays creative music through the process of musical improvisation. Participants may come from any musical background. The process accepts the input of any musical tradition (as well as music that is from no tradition at all). Students of any skill level may participate. The ability to read music is not a prerequisite. Visual artists, poets, actors, and practitioners of other artistic disciplines may participate if they have an interest in performance. Participants will have an opportunity to compose for the group or lead the group. The 6-week session will culminate in a public performance.
Creative Kids Ensemble
Ages 5-13, Wednesdays, 6-7 pm
The Creative Kids Ensemble will explore the joy of music making in a fun, positive, and affirming environment. Sound, rhythm, singing, drumming, and musical story-telling will be used to explore coordination, listening, leadership, creativity, group-awareness, and self-awareness. Instruments are provided. Children are encouraged to bring their own instruments as well.
Classes for People with Special Needs
By appointment
Nameless Sound explores music making for the special needs community. In an encouraging and structured environment, participants will engage in musical exercises that emphasize listening, coordination, peer support, self-expression, self-empowerment, and non-verbal communication. Instruments are provided. Participants are encouraged to bring their own instruments, too.
We offer two types of Special Needs Classes:
Creative Music for Basic Skills Community
Creative Music for High Functioning Community
Circulasione Totale Orchestra Live
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa31ziNwgxQ]
Coming up:
Nameless Sound presents
Circulasione Totale Orchestra
Sun., 1.31.09, 8pm
Barnevelder Movement/ Arts Complex
2201 Preston St [map]
New York Times Review of Matana Roberts’ Coin Coin
Upcoming: Nameless Sound Presents Matana Roberts in an educational residency March 7 – 13, 2010 and a concert on Saturday, March 13, 2010, 8pm at Barnvelder Movement and Art Complex. Below is a New York Times review of her Coin Coin project, originally published by Nate Chinen, 12.7.06.
Photo: Erin Baiano, NY Times
“There are some things I just can’t tell you about, honey,” Matana Roberts whispered at one point during “Mississippi Moonchile,” the audacious composition she presented at Tonic on Tuesday night. She also rasped the line, recited it and wrapped it in a songlike testifying tone. Resonating as a ghostly echo throughout the piece, it suggested a voice retrieved from distant memory, or maybe conjured out of dust and air.
Ms. Roberts, an alto saxophonist as well as a conceptualist, was sifting through many layers of implication: autobiography, genealogy and the deep mysteries of folklore. As she explained in an introduction, “Mississippi Moonchile” draws inspiration from the life of the Rev. John Roberts, a Southern ancestor on her paternal side. It’s the second chapter of an evolving opus called “Coin Coin,” after Marie-Thérèse Coincoin, a legendary matriarch and plantation owner born into slavery in southern Louisiana.
This background would not have been strictly necessary to appreciate the efforts of Ms. Roberts and the six-piece ensemble she led through her sprawling work. A trumpeter, Jason Palmer, countered her saxophone outpourings with clean, geometric patterns. The bassist Hill Green and the drummer Tomas Fujiwara simmered in a way that was both volatile and watchful; they picked up on each of Ms. Roberts’s cryptic cues. Shoko Nagai, at the piano, rumbled chords and raked her fingers across the strings. The soprano Beatrice Anderson sang occasional scraps of spirituals and hymns.
It was strong collective interplay, impressive on its own merits. But Ms. Roberts, through the tone of her spoken-word commentary, made it clear that the music was not to be removed from its context. “Those white folks weren’t bothering us,” she said near the end of the piece, and the ironic poignancy of the statement had a lot to do with the turbulent narrative that had preceded it.
The music told a similar story. Throughout “Mississippi Moonchile,” the band shifted gears and grooves, moving through a host of stylistic regions. There was revival-tent gospel and quick-reflex bebop, along with the sacramental yowl of Albert Ayler. Ms. Roberts, with her bold and declarative saxophone sound, seemed to be striving not toward virtuosity, but a kind of vocalization.
With her face artfully painted and her dreadlocks festooned with rosebuds, she also demonstrated a grasp of aesthetics that live beyond the scope of music. On matanaroberts.com Ms. Roberts describes “Coin Coin” as a “patchwork sound quilt,” and the analogy feels just about right: if there is a nonmusical corollary to her creation, it can be found in the “story quilts” of Faith Ringgold, the acclaimed Harlem visual artist.
“Mississippi Moonchile” is merely one of four existing chapters, and Ms. Roberts clearly has yet more territory to explore. But she knew what she was saying when she thanked the audience for bearing witness. There are some things that just can’t be told about, after all; they can only be experienced.
A great summer, from our Education Coordinator
We’ve just wrapped up our busiest summer yet here at Nameless Sound, having taught fifteen weekly classes at six different sites, and we couldn’t be more pleased with how everything has worked out. The music our kids played was top notch, and with the addition of our two new teacher’s assistants, Ms. Sonia and Mr. Lucas, we were able to take our classes in new directions and to greater heights of success.
Developing deeper relationships with our sites and partners, we had the opportunity this summer to work with our students much more consistently than ever before. In a few special cases our classroom environments were improved very much with upgraded facilities and helpful volunteers.
An exceptional End-of-Summer performance with students from the Southside Summer Camp had parents and peers all dancing in their seats. Everyone was pleased to see the kids play a challenging and fun piece of music consisting of call and response, traditional African rhythms, a great deal of improvisation, and a swinging New Orleans 2nd line march with a special guest appearance from Mr. David and Mr. Jason on trombone and saxophone. It was a great time indeed!
Another significant addition to our programs this summer has been the inclusion of our good friend Mr. Ryan. Mr. Ryan, a graduate of the Nameless Sound Youth Ensemble, is a gifted recording engineer who has been an invaluable resource to Nameless Sound for some time now, making professional audio recordings for our concerts, residencies, and local improvising musicians. This summer he followed us to many of our sites to record our students’ music, giving us the opportunity to finally realize what has been a longtime desire for us: to provide our students with their very own music CDs.
On one special occasion we were even able to bring our kids on a field trip to the professional recording studio that Mr. Ryan works at for an audio recording workshop and recording session for the students. It was a very unique learning experience, and a special peak into the mysterious world of music that many of our children might never have gotten the chance to explore. We definitely hope to do this more often if we can.
We had such a terrific summer this year! After a much-needed break, we’re excited for more “serious fun” this Fall.
Best wishes, and keep on listening!
Education Coordinator, Jason Jackson and NS Staff
Nameless Sound recommends: They, Who Sound 8/16
“They, Who Sound”
is Houston’s weekly series for experimental sound, improvised music, free jazz, underground noise, electro-acoustic performance, and “musique brut”.
every sunday
at Avant Garden
411 Westheimer
doors open at 7pm
music starts at 7:45pm
two different sets each week
$5 cover goes to the musicians
sunday, august 16 will feature:
Guitar/ Dance Duos . . .
Sandy Ewen/ ms. YET
and
Lucas Gorham/ Erin Joyce
Sandy Ewen – guitar
ms. YET – dance
Lucas Gorham – guitar
Erin Joyce – dance
For more information:
They, Who Sound
www.myspace.com/theywhosound
Avant Garden
www.avantgardenhouston.com
Nodar Artist Residency Program, Portugal
Deadline: 30 September 2009
International Open Call for Art Projects, Nodar Artist Residency Program, Portugal
Residency – Binauralmedia and Nodar Artist Residency Center
Selection of 12 art projects to be developed during several 2-week residency modules to take place between February and October 2010.Art disciplines: Phonography; sound installation; vocal performance; sound poetry; acoustic, electroacoustic or electronic improvisation / composition.
The Nodar Artist Residency Program for 2010 will have a single aggregating subject: the Paiva River. Throughout the year, from winter to autumn, several multidisciplinary art projects (having sound as a central element) will be developed in a context-specific perspective, interacting with the river’s different geographical areas, from its spring to its mouth.
More Information
http://www.binauralmedia.org/news/artist-residency/open-call-for-2010
Nodar Artist Residency Center
A co-production between Binauralmedia
and Associação Cultural de Nodar
Nodar – Caixa Postal N∨dm; 106
3660-324 S. Martinho das Moitas
Portugal
Email: info@binauralmedia.org
Tel. +351 91 895 18 57
Nameless Sound seeks a volunteer web design guru!
Nameless Sound seeks a volunteer web design guru/ unpaid intern. This individual will bring a bold, contemporary vision and revamp the website to better reflect the organization’s programs. Responsibilities include: define, architect and implement website enhancements to existing content, and incorporate new interactive elements including video and sound; and develop page layouts, creation, development, scalability and functionality of the web site. The anticipated project completion is September 1. If you have a contemporary and out-of-the-box design aesthetic, email a resume and links of past web design to: ayanna@namelesssound.org.
Recording session with Creative Kids Ensemble
Recording session with Creative Kids Ensemble
Nameless Sound’s Creative Kids Ensemble recently headed to the recording studio to apply their Creative Music skills, recently learned in Spring classes. This was the first that all had been in a recording session, but they quickly found their groove. More pics here…