Artists Studio: Dawn of Midi

ABOUT THE ARTISTS STUDIO “…it was a block of music that made you think, as the room does: Take note.

Listen deeply. The rest of the world is not like this.”

– The New York Times

With its exquisite melding of styles and mediums evident in the creative collaboration of Louis C. Tiffany and Associated Artists in the new Aesthetic Movement style, the Veterans Room represents the exuberance and innovation of exceptional young artisans approaching the decorative arts with a new vision.

This season, the series adds a new voice to the eclectic styles found in the space, with performances by a diverse mix of musicians, composers, and artists that infuse their own work with a multitude of various references and source material, from Japan, India, and West Africa to the American South and Harlem. Curated by jazz pianist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Jason Moran, these interventions explore the culture of sound that can be visibly seen in the newly reopened space, while allowing these creative thinkers to actively explore bold new directions of global influence in contemporary music.

UPCOMING EVENTS: RYUICHI SAKAMOTO April 25-26

LAWRENCE BROWNLEE with MYRA HUANG and JASON MORAN August 7 & 9

RASHAAD NEWSOME November 7

JO LAWRY & KAVITA SHAH November 21

2017 ARTISTS STUDIO

IN THE NEWLY RESTORED VETERANS ROOM

Saturday, February 18 at 7:00pm & 9:00pm Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory

DAWN OF MIDI Aakaash Israni, Bass Amino Belyamani, Piano Qasim Naqvi, Drums Sascha von Oertzen, Sound Designer

SEASON SPONSORS

SERIES SPONSORS

The Artists Studio is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Support for Park Avenue Armory’s artistic season has been generously provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Altman Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation, the Marc Haas Foundation, The Kaplen Brothers Fund, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Leon Levy Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, and the Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS Listenable and insane. That’s the sound Dawn of Midi spent years shaping, culminating in their critically acclaimed album Dysnomia.

In many ways, it’s the first record that truly reflects the trio’s critically acclaimed live show, a test of endurance and trust that involves bassist Aakaash Israni, pianist Amino Belyamani, and drummer Qasim Naqvi performing their hand looped acoustic minimalism note-for-note, just as the composition was recorded. If anything, Dawn of Midi’s sets are as red-blooded and rhythmic as a seamlessly mixed DJ set, casting spells on crowds in the same way the group’s favorite experimental and electronic acts have for decades.

Having met at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles in 2006, the group found their original rapport through late night tennis matches on the campus court. The chemistry they founded there eventually led them back indoors to improvise together; something they did in total darkness to deprive themselves of all their senses except the crucial one — their hearing.

On Dysnomia, Dawn of Midi abandon improvisation in favor of composition, utilizing sophisticated rhythmic structures from West and North African folk music traditions to weave a sonic tapestry of trance-inducing grooves. Up close one may see only dots, but stand back and the undulating image is revealed.

For Dysnomia: Composition by Amino Belyamani and Aakaash Israni Recorded live to 2-inch tape by Henry Hirsch at Waterfront Studios Assistant Engineer: Rachel Alina Mixed by Rusty Santos Mastered by Simon Davey at The Exchange Album cover photo by Fabian Oefner Album design by Bernd Kuchenbeiser

ABOUT THE VETERANS ROOM “...the Armory, a once-crumbling landmark, has transformed itself into one of the world’s most sought-after venues for performance, music, and supersized art projects. And in a sense, the Veterans Room, of all the Armory’s opulent reception rooms, has the deepest spiritual kinship with a work of contemporary art, the feel of an installation by a young collective whose members were reacting to one another and making it all up as they went along.”

– The New York Times The Veterans Room is among the most significant surviving interiors of the American Aesthetic Movement, and the most significant remaining intact interior in the world by Louis C. Tiffany and Co., Associated Artists. This newly formed collective led by Tiffany included some of the most significant American designers of the 19th century at early stages of their very distinguished careers: Stanford White, Samuel Colman, and Candace Wheeler among them. The design of the room by these artisans was exotic, eclectic, and full of experimentation, as noted by Decorator and Furnisher in 1885 that “the prepondering styles appear to be the Greek, Moresque and Celtic, with a dash of Egyptian, the Persian and the Japanese in the appropriate places.”

A monument of late 19th-century decorative arts, the Veterans Room is the fourth period room at the Armory completed (out of 18). The revitalization of the room responds to the original exuberant vision for the room’s design, bringing into dialogue some of the most talented designers of the 19th and 21st centuries – Associated Artists with Herzog & de Meuron, Platt Byard Dovell White Architects, and a team of world-renowned artisans and experts in Tiffany glass, fine woodworking, and decorative arts.

The revitalization of the Veterans Room follows Herzog & de Meuron’s design approach for the Armory building, which seeks to highlight the distinct qualities and existing character of each individual room while interweaving contemporary elements to improve its function. Even more so than in other rooms at the Armory, Herzog & de Meuron’s approach to the Veterans Room is to amplify the beauty of the room’s original vision through adding contemporary reconstructions of lost historic material and subtle additions with the same ethos and creative passion as the original artisans to infuse a modern energy into a harmonious, holistic design.

The room’s restoration is part of an ongoing $210-million transformation, which is guided by the understanding that the Armory’s rich history and the patina of time are essential to its character, with a design process for the period rooms that emphasizes close collaboration between architect and artisan.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________ The restoration and renovation of the Veterans Room was made possible by The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc., Susan and Elihu Rose, Charina Endowment Fund, Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz, Almudena and Pablo Legorreta, Assemblymember Dan Quart and the New York State Assembly, Liz and Emanuel Stern, Olivia and Adam Flatto, Kenneth S. Kuchin, R. Mark and Wendy Adams, American Express, Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief, Amy and Jeffrey Silverman, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Anonymous (2).

Cover photo: James Ewing