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The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble and Holland Hopson/James Keepnews to perform at Backstage Productions in Kingston, NY on Friday, June 3 at 7:30 pm.

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An exciting night of creative electro-acoustic improvised music will be unleashed in Kingston, NY when The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble and the duo Holland Hopson/James Keepnews take the stage at Backstage Productions (BSP) on Friday June 3rd at 7:30 PM. Admission will be $15 at the door and $10 for students and seniors with valid ID.

The Woodstock Quantum Ensemble is the brainchild of guitarist Johnny Asia. This freewheeling, improvisation based ensemble utilizes electric and acoustic instruments to channel “sounds of the universe" through thematic composition, sonic landscapes and global rhythms. This incarnation features Gus Mancini (reeds) Damon Banks (electric bass) and Joakim Lartey (percussion) This group will be making its debut recording in the fall of 2011.

Holland Hopson/James Keepnews is a duo that has been involved in electro-acoustic improvisation for the past 15 years, beginning when they met in the electronics arts graduate program (iEAR) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. While at iEAR, Hopson and Keepnews collaborated with noted trombonist/computer-interactive pioneer/MacArthur “genius grant" fellow George Lewis, developing an early computer-based video sampler for use in performance. HH/JK's CD Hunting and Gathering, “improvised-to-ADAT," was celebrated for its cutting edge explorations of instrumental and electronic improvised music. Their BSP performance in Jun will be their first appearance as a duo in over five years.

Praise for Johnny Asia:

“Johnny Asia hails from Woodstock, N.Y., so the cosmic energy may just be in the water. Whatever the source, Asia's transcendent, genre-spanning guitar journeys chart new musical cartographies, juxtaposing Django Reinhardt-like hard swing with dangling fusion harmonics and the space-age chord structures of John McLaughlin." —Editors' Picks at Download.com Music

“Johnny's music is universal in the truest sense of the term. It embraces the musics of this world and anticipates those yet to be discovered in the future. In a concert at Pauline Oliveros Foundation's Gallery at Deep Listening Space, Johnny's riveting performance transported the audience across time to places MTV can only dream about." —multi-instrumentalist/composer/Hudson Valley legend Joe McPhee

Praise for HH/JK:

..."(one) of the more successful marriages of jazz and electronics in recent times.. an undeniable abundance of tracks here that feature truly stellar interplay, as well as inspired improvisation..full of distant, creepy sounds and scattered moments of close, guitar-sax discourse, (HH/JK) is an enjoyable mash of breath and circuitry" —Peter Aaron, Your Flesh

“The music is intricate and continually engaging. The electronic extension of instrumental performance is expressive and enjoyable." —cdemusic.org

“(F)ine improvised duet ... an out duo which sound as if they have been at it for a while, since although it is improvised they play many intricate patterns/structures as one... Neither of these two sound much like anyone else, which means they have strived to get their own sound... Overall, this is a mostly fascinating excursion" —Bruce Galanter, Downtown Music Gallery

“(HH/JK) prove their mettle as consummate musical high-wire artists...This is how it's done, children. Take heed and explore." —J. Eric Smith, Metroland Magazine

BIOGRAPHIES

“Musical Shaman" Johnny Asia was born and raised in Chicago, where he taught himself to play guitar by listening to records of Chicago blues men, Ravi Shankar and flamenco, rock and jazz guitarists. Rooted in the rich Chicago electric blues scene, Johnny got his first break playing in the band of blues pianist Big Moose Walker, who encouraged Johnny to, “keep on playin' man, you've got a lot to say." Johnny moved to New York City in 1970, where he broadened his musical horizons. He worked with microtonalist composer and clarinetist Harold Seletsky and numerous jazz musicians, including Phoebe Legere and avant-garde guitarist Dom Minasi. Johnny moved to Woodstock, New York in 1992, where he continues his quest for music and mysticism, following his heart and living his dream.

Gus Mancini is a rare blend of classically trained musician, composing scores and classical works, and a master of improvisational jazz He has produced and performed on many albums including Samadhi and Sunrise with didgeridoo master Phil Jones on Intuitive Sound productions with both c.d.'s reaching the top 10 on the Indie charts. He established the Brooklyn Conservatory Jazz Program and has lectured on the directions of world music at Oxford University and the Royal Conservatory in England. He is currently co-producing the Woodstock Roundtable radio show broadcast live on WDST radio in Woodstock, NY, and webcast over WDST.com and AOL. He performs with some of the top poets, writers and musicians in the nation such as poet laureate Robert Bly and author Robert Thurman.

Joakim Lartey was born in Ghana, West Africa. He was the lead vocalist and percussionist of trailblazing Woodstock-based Afro-funk band, Futu Futu. He has played with Jack DeJohnette, Baba Olatunji, Natalie Merchant, John Hall, Phoebe Legere, Kali Fasteu, Sumi Tonooka among many others. He has worked with innovative and original theater groups like Hudson River Playback Theater and Arm Of The Sea Theater.

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Damon Banks has performed with and / or recorded with some of the entertainment industry's brightest stars, creative artists and innovative musicians. Most of these artists defy category and genre. These artists include: George Benson, Peter Gabriel, Caetano Veloso, Angelique Kidjo, Hassan Hakmoun, Chico Hamilton, Hubert Laws, Arto Lindsay, The Neville Brothers, Eileen Ivers, Majek Fashek, Wadada Leo Smith, Marc Ribot, Corin Curschellas, Nat Adderley, Diedre Murray, Jamshied Sharifi, George Howard, Loose Ends, Bobby Womack, Miki Howard, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, KRS-ONE, Sekou Sundiata, DJ. SPOOKY, Ntozake Shange, Saul Williams, Karsh Kale, Francesca Harper, Morley, Roxane Butterfly, Eric Gadd, Akim Funk Buddha, Yungchen Llamo and Mamak Khadem. As an educator and clinician, Damon has taught and conducted workshops at a variety of highly acclaimed institutions including: Cal Arts, Bard College, Interlochen School of the Arts, Medger Evers College, The University of Maryland, St. Anns School, Poughkeepsie Day School (current faculty member) and Harlem School of the Arts. In 2005, Damon received the Haldane Foundation grant for his Global Music program. In 2009, he received the DCAC (Dutchess County Arts Council) grant for his multimedia theater piece entitled “Resistance: a Maroon story."

Holland Hopson is a composer, improviser, and electronic artist. As an instrumentalist he performs on soprano saxophone, clawhammer banjo and electronics. He has held residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida; STEIM, Amsterdam; Experimental Music Studios, Krakow and Katowice, Poland; Sonic Arts Research Studio, Vancouver, Canada; LEMURPlex, Brooklyn; and Harvestworks Digital Media Arts, New York where he developed a sound installation based on Marcel Duchamp's sculpture, With Hidden Noise. An avid phonographer, Holland has recorded sounds on five continents and in over a dozen countries. Holland's latest recording is With Hidden Noises released on Grab Rare Arts (www.grabrarearts.com). His next solo recording, Post and Beam, is slated for release any day now.

James Keepnews is a musician, writer, multimedia developer and performance artist. He received a B.A. in English from Hamilton College and an M.F.A. in Electronic Art from Rensselaer Polytechnic institute. In addition to Holland, as a musician and composer he has performed and/or recorded with such artists as George Lewis, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Kidd Jordan, Roy Campbell, Tony Malaby, Hamid Drake, Jason Kao Hwang's Spontaneous River, Ras Moshe, Matt Lavelle, The New York Chapter of Crafty Guitarists, Chapter Two, The New York Guitar Project, Brown Cuts Neighbors, Blown Woofer and Lick the President. His current musical ensembles include the trio Stalker, the all-acoustic Chemistry Set, the ARK Trio with guitarists Cristian Amigo and Dave Ross, along with various additional sideman and solo projects. His writing has appeared in the New Haven Advocate, Bass Guitar, Fairfield Weekly, Metroland, The Squid's Ear and Reign of Toads. He lives in Cold Spring, NY.

Backstage Productions (BSP) is an arts and entertainment complex located in the center of uptown Kingston, New York, at 323 Wall Street. Built as a Vaudeville Theater in the late 1800s, it spans the entire block from Wall Street to Crown Street, and has a rich and colorful history of its own. BSP has quickly become a venue for top quality, ever-evolving activities.

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