I paid a visit to Wil Smith's fun and casual Music at First new music series on Friday, housed at the First Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights where he serves as organist.
The double bill kicked off with Mellissa Hughes singing music by Ted Hearne, Eric Shanfield and selections from Gabe Kahane's Craigslistlieder, all accompanied by Timo Andres on piano. But, the real headturner was Jacob Cooper's "Silver Threads," with it's cool, downbeat electronics. Corey Dargel's "Last Words from Texas" also offered electronics, set to the final musings of Texas death row inmates. Matt Marks and the Brooklyn Brass Quartet (BBQ for short) served up a trio of funny, mildly filthy songs in I[XX].
After intermission, we all trucked upstairs to see Lorna Krier - billed here as "Dune" - perform in the dark on a battery of synths and pedals in the organ loft, seemingly thumbing her nose at the massive pipe organ looming above. Lit only by a series of abstract projections on the ceiling (courtesy of Jon Williams), the music was like a cross between Noveller and High Places: elegant and primal, meandering and soaring - and defintely not church-worthy.
More pics on Flickr.
