I have set up this site as a sort of interim site for OPEYE while
they establish their own web presence. Below are press releases
which accompany(ied) concerts of theirs at Beanbender's.
I suppose this could be considered an unofficial fan site.
I welcome any comments or additions!
-- Dan Plonsey
dan@plonsey.com
Participants include HENRY KUNTZ: tenor saxophone, musette, wood flutes, toy violins, gamelans; DAN PLONSEY: oboe, clarinet, tenor & baritone saxophones; MICHAEL ZELNER: clarinet, alto saxophone, flutes and pennywhistle; ESTEN LINDGREN trombone, trumpet, drums, and percussion; JOE SABELLA: tuba; RON HEGLIN: tuba, trombone; SUKI O'KANE: xylophone, balafon, (maybe marimba);BRETT LARNER: koto, zheng; HIRAM: ukulele, clarinet, alto saxophone, harmonica; JOHN KUNTZ: ukuleles, guitar, mandolin, gamelans, percussion; BRIAN GODCHAUX: violin, viola, percussion; BOB MARSH: cello etc; JEFF HOBBS: violin; NANCY CLARKE: violin; DAMON SMITH: bass; JEFF PURMORT: gamelan instruments; MARK SALVATORE: gamelan instruments.
The OPEYE ORCHESTRA is an experimental offering, extending the collective, world-based aesthetic of the group, OPEYE, to a larger ensemble. That aesthetic is steeped in the traditions of jazz, but players draw on their total life experience to incorporate cultural elements of various traditions, including extra-musical elements such as the use of masks, costumes, painting, and textiles. Henry Kuntz notes: "OPEYE's music is founded upon a new world creative aesthetic: one's own experiences and background are central, but the fetters of provincial cultures are thrown off -- we have all become heir to every tradition: Shared Humanity in all its richness and diversity -- and the future is likewise embraced." In this respect, OPEYE has moved to expand the ways players relate to each other musically in the improvisational context. Kuntz explains: "We would like each player to remain as much as possible autonomous while at the same time being indispensable to the creation of the whole music." In OPEYE, the shamanic implications of free improvisation have likewise been directly acknowledged and drawn upon. Kuntz points out, "The inherently creative and explorative aspect of free improvisation suggests an underlying shamanic dimension, one in which through the manipulation of sounds and symbols, aspects of cultural 'healing' may be facilitated and take place through music." The suggested donation for this event is $10.00.
For additional information, contact Henry Kuntz at 510 526 9679, or by email: Henry.Kuntz@ceb.ucop.edu.
The free-improvising quintet OPEYE, who include masks, costuming, and unusual visual elements as partners in their spontaneously created music, will perform on Wednesday evening June 12 at 8:30 PM at The Berkeley Store Gallery Annex, 2295 Shattuck Avenue (at Bancroft) in Berkeley. They will share the billing with multi-dimensional improvising guitarist Henry Kaiser and his group Zen Disaster.
The performance by OPEYE is their third at the Gallery in the currrent Wednesday evening Beanbender's New Music Series. OPEYE was the first group to appear in the series which began March 1, 1995.
OPEYE features original TRIO OPEYE members HENRY KUNTZ (tenor saxophone, musette, wood flutes, toy violins, gamelans, and percussion), JOHN KUNTZ (ukeleles, guitar, mandolin, gamelans, and percussion), and BRIAN GODCHAUX (violins and percussion) along with ESTEN LINDGREN (trombone, trumpet, banjo, and percussion) and BEN LINDGREN (double bass and percussion).
The quintet creates an elusive, globally-based, free-improvised music it refers to as Avant-Shamanic Trance Jazz. Says Henry Kuntz: ``The alertness demanded by the free improvising process moves one into a non-ordinary state of BE-ing not unlike that described in various accounts of trance, dream, or shamanic reality. In the inherently exporative nature of the music, it has to do as well -- like most shamanic forms -- with affecting cultural healing, but we refer to this music as avant shamanic because it is not to become at one with the culture but to find and experience one's own Self in the midst of a culture that is in many ways lacking in wholeness.''
Already, the Global Village is a reality.
The most ancient cultural traditions coexist and interact with each other as well as with the latest modern techno-forms.
We have All become heir to Every Tradition: Shared Humanity in all its richness and diversity.
The music of OPEYE reflects this process: a natural evolution of Sensibility without cultural restriction. We have not attempted, however, to recreate anyone else s music or tradition, only to appreciate other experiences of the world and to draw on them, as we would from any common resource.
So we are always playing our own music, our own world music, our own folk music, with reference to no one and, at the same time, to everyone -- with occasionally humorous results!
OPEYE s music is freely improvised. This is not, however, simply the reverse of a compositional approach where - making use of compositional devices - we play from scratch to determine an equally (compositionally coherent) satisfying outcome. We like the outcome or final impression to be satisfying; but, fundamentally, to play as a free improvisor is to be a player always in process (and always in relation in this manner both to oneself and to the other players), and it places one in a state of mind not unlike that described in various accounts of trance, dream or shamanic reality, demanding an extremely fine-tuned alertness, response, flexibility, and on-going creativity from each of the players at all times.
A performance, therefore, becomes something more akin to the creation of an as-yet-unnamed ritualized space. The musicians, of necessity, move into another state of BE-ing , another time-space frame where ordinary time is in fact suspended and only each moment is the most important moment , and not the final outcome; although it follows that in a compositional sense the final outcome may be quite satisfying, depending upon how organic the process itself has been. But being in the process is what is most important.
We refer to this music as Avant Shamanic because, like most
shamanic forms, it has to do (in its inherently explorative nature) with
affecting cultural healing, but the difference is that in this case it is
not to become at one with the culture but to find and experience ones own
SELF (Our Own Selves) in the midst of a culture that is in many ways lacking
in wholeness.
While most people associate "trance" and "trance music" with something
repetitive, hypnotic or spacey, this is only the lowest common denominator
of trance. Trance is a state in which one gains access to regions of the
mind not normally available in one s "ordinary" (survival) mode of being.
Repetition, hypnotic suggestion, and calming, ambient sound are fine
focusing techniques for one to gain entry to these generally untapped
portions of the brain and mind. People associate these methodologies with
trance itself; but they are only narrow well-directed corridors into that
state.
The trance state is one we all share some familiarity with. It is not
unlike the dreaming state. Yet the difference is that while in the dreaming
state, one is not ordinarily conscious of being the dreamer. In the trance
state one is aware of oneself dreaming that which is being dreamed or
intuited. This is more like what we call "day" dreaming; yet there is an
acute awareness through which one may also purposefully manipulate the
symbols in one s dreams.
At the point this manipulation takes place, one is not only aware of
the dreaming in a passive sense but becomes a full participant. One may then
enter the reality of what we refer to with some mystique as "shamanism". The
shaman is one who has cultivated, through experience and practice, the
ability to manipulate people, animals, objects or symbols of same in this
"non-ordinary " state of being. One who has these abilities and who can put
them to use working with others may then cultivate healing powers in that
the manipulation of reality on a deeply sub-conscious level may restore
another who is out of psychological or cultural balance to harmony with
themselves or with their culture.
In free improvised music -- i.e. music which is entered into and played
without any compositional signposts -- we ve found from experience that one
enters a state of BE-ing not unlike the trance state. While there are no
particular "triggers" at work to propel the musician into this circumstance
-- no built-in repetitions or hypnotic suggestions -- the focus and
attention to detail demanded by free improvisation itself seems to launch
one into this non-ordinary state of reality. Although (contrary to popular
opinion) the ability to improvise and to improvise creatively is built on a
great deal of practice, one finds oneself manipulating sound -- and, in our
case, frequently "symbols " as well -- in ways that one had not previously
"thought" to do or even "knew" that one could do. This inherently creative
and explorative aspect of improvisation suggests then a shamanic dimension;
it suggests that through manipulation of sound, culturl " healing" may take
place through music.
Sound itself exists in both its "pure" state (as simple-to-complex
modulated tone, center of its own vibratory universe, with no attendant
"musical" implications) and in the context of a cultural perception of same
as well (some tones being given more cultural"value" than others). A
conscious awareness of these aspects allows for the purposeful manipulation
of sound in a musical context which might promote cultural healing.
In our case, we refer to this manipulation of sound as "avant" shamanic
because it is not meant to restore any pre-existing (out of cultural
harmony) cultural arrangement, but to explore the making of a new cultural
arrangement altogether. For despite the particular strengths of every
culture -- and of our own as well -- there are many obvious ways in which
world cultures as a whole are fundamentally lacking in wholeness. One may
then re-find one s own self in the midst of these cultural disharmonies; in
the process, new cultural arrangements may follow.
For us, the language of jazz is the shared semantic starting point for
these explorations. While we are not actually playing jazz in any formal
sense, jazz has suggested -- from its New Orleans beginnings -- a
collective, open-ended approach to the creation of music, an approach basic
to free improvisation. Such an approach may also mirror ways in which we
might all find our collective way with each other in the "real" world.
In these ways, music may help contribute to human awakening..
-- Henry Kuntz
The free improvising group OPEYE, who include masks, costumes, and
multi-cultural visual elements as partners in their spontaneously created
music, will present a special Day of the Dead performance-ritual-celebration
on Sunday November 1 at 8:15 PM at BEANBENDER+s, 2295 Shattuck Ave in
Berkeley.
OPEYE features HENRY KUNTZ (tenor saxophone, musette, wood flutes,
toy violins, gamelans, and percussion), BEN LINDGREN (doublebass, piano, and
percussion), BRIAN GODCHAUX (violin, viola, mandolin, and percussion), .JOHN
KUNTZ (ukeleles, guitar, mandolin, gamelans, and percussion), and ESTEN
LINDGREN (trombone, trumpet, drums, and percussion).
Tradition holds that during the month of October, the Spirits of
Loved Ones and Departed Ancestors return to Earth for a brief time. They
return from whence they came on All Souls Day, November 2. On the eve of
that day, the DAY OF THE DEAD, festivities are held to honor those Ancestors
and to give them a big party before they depart.
OPEYE recently released its first CD, Moss +Comes Silk, on Humming
Bird Records, decribed by Michael Tucker in Jazz Journal International as
-intelligent, dynamically rich free improvisation in an refreshing array of
instrumental colours.-
Henry Kuntz of the free-improvising group Opeye will play solo tenor
saxophone on Sunday evening September 29 at 8:00 PM at The Berkeley Store
Gallery Annex, 2295 Shattuck Avenue (at Bancroft) in Berkeley.
His solo playing precedes an appearance by legendary performer-composer
Pauline Oliveros with the Mills College Contemporary Performance Ensemble
directed by Steed Cowert.
Henry Kuntz is a longtime Bay Area improvisor whose recent solo music
(released in cassette form on his own label, Humming Bird Records) has
utilized multi-tracking to create expanded formal archetypes for free group
improvising. These archetypes cross cultural time and space, combining
instruments and concepts from disparate countries and cultures.
Kuntz's solo saxophone performance is the first he has given in 15
years. His 1979 LP, Cross-Eyed Priest (Humming Bird 1001), which included
his first solo work ever, was critically acclaimed in Coda (No. 176),
Canada's jazz magazine, by British writer and avant-garde afficionado Peter
Riley who included it on his list of 10 favorite records for the year.
The current issue of The Improvisor (No.XI) referred to Henry as one
of the most personalized voices in contemporary improvisation and lauded
the four remarkable pieces on his latest multi-tracked release, The Magic
Of Mystery (Humming Bird Tapes 016) as being unhurried and relaxed, yet
full of vitality.
His solo performance and that of the Mills College Ensemble
is sponsored by Beanbenders.
Henry Kuntz has been intimately involved in free jazz and free
improvisation for more than 20 years. From 1973 to 1979, he published the
internationally known and acclaimed newsletter-review BELLS, a recognized
authority in the field.
He has been creating and performing his own music on numerous
instruments for the last 19 years and first appeared on record (playing
tenor saxophone) on guitarist Henry Kaiser's Ice Death in 1977.
In 1979, he began his own record label, HUMMING BIRD RECORDS, and
he has released 2 LPs and 16 cassette tapes of solo, group, and
multi-tracked free improvisations.
HUMMING BIRDs Earth Series Cassettes presents indigenous music
recorded by Henry in Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Bali (Indonesia). These
musics, along with Native American and other world musics -- Henry has made
additional music and dance explorations to Ecuador, Nepal, Thailand, and
Java and Sumatra (Indonesia) -- have very much affected his overall musical
concept. Drawing from these experiences, Henry plays a number of instruments
from other countries and cultures, adapting them for use in modern musical
settings.
Jazz writer John Litweiler, in his book The Freedom Principle,
singles out Henry as one of a number of independent multi-instrumentalists
who are extending free-form musical concepts begun by musicians of the
Association for the Advancement of Creative Music (AACM) in Chicago in the
1960s and by the many free-wheeling English and European improvisors who
burst on the scene in the 1970s.
Henry's recent multi-tracked recordings explore possibilities for
new improvisational archetypes: radically divergent and open forms realized
with unusual instruments and unheard-of instrumental combinations.
For information about OPEYE, Contact Henry Kuntz at (510) 883-9431,
or send him e-mail:
KUNTZH@ceb.ucop.edu.
IMPROVISATION, TRANCE, SHAMANISM... and ALL That JAZZ
Press Release for Nov 1, 1998 Day of the Dead OPEYE Performance
This is the spirit in which OPEYE will approach this
performance-ritual.
A Mexican-style Ofrenda (offering table) will be set up on which
photos of departed loved ones of ours or of others who have passed and who
have particularly inspired us in our life, work and art will be placed
Offerings will be made in the form of fruits, pastries, and drink,
and the Ofrenda will be decorated with myriads of flowers, mainly gold in
color.
The audience will be invited to share those offerings with the
musicians following the performance.
OPEYE creates an elusive, globally-based, free-improvised music it
refers to as -Avant-Shamanic Trance Jazz-. Says Henry Kuntz: -Jazz reflects
the group+s background, while the alertness demanded by the free improvising
process moves one into a state of BE-ing not unlike that described in
various accounts of trance, dream, or shamanic reality. Like most shamanic
forms, it has to do with affecting cultural healing, but we refer to this
music as -avant shamanic- because it is not to become at one with the
culture but to find and experience one+s own Self in the midst of a culture
that is in many ways lacking in wholeness.-
Henry Kuntz Solo at Beanbender's, September 29, 1996. Press Release.
Henry Kuntz Bio
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