http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ2PT1fje6Y
I've been working on a 30 minute video art dvd with a double bass player named Thomas Helton for the last nine months. The dvd will finally be released in September, but here is a preview of the footage that was premiered at an event called "Music for Silent Films". I made an 8 minute cut of the film and electronic musician Chris Becker improvised using Ableton Live alongside Thomas playing the double bass to whatever they saw on the screen. This was the first time either of them had played together and I think they did a great job.
We sent the dvd off to Thomas's idol from New York named Mark Dresser and he gave us this review of the flick:
"The stunning DVD, I, is a thirty minute sonic and visual meditation by bassist/improviser Thomas Helton and videographer Jonathan Jindra. Helton transforms the most fundamental aspects of sound starting with low longtone double stops and patiently morphs through various techniques- beating tones, glissandos, tremolos, multiphonics, playing with two bows, simultaneous arco pizzicato. They are juxtaposed with shifting images of industrial city-scapes, subterranean vistas, refuse, states of light and insect evolutions inter-cut with wonderful footage of Helton performing. It is not so much about sound complexity and virtuosity though it exists, but rather a personal expression that projects the beauty of what is normally discarded." - Mark Dresser
'Thomas Helton - I' - my video art project
Moderator: Aesthetics
