The Hammer Museum

Good Sunday to you. I had a great time yesterday going to the Hammer Museum to check out the artwork, as well as some musical happenings. Musical curator Chris Kallmyer provided a joyful atmosphere by encouraging each visitor to wear a bell around his or her neck, the instructions being simply "consider your surroundings". I felt that this lightened the mood of what can sometimes be an awkwardly quiet museum atmosphere in the galleries, and simply made me relax and smile walking the grounds.

The main attraction, as far as my wife and I were concerned, was a solo performance by Colin Woodford on a single cymbal. The cymbal was close-miced from below, allowing overtones/undertones and other intricacies of sound to emerge that a listener would never (or barely) hear otherwise. These intricacies could be highlighted or dampened with a volume pedal. Although Colin improvised the material for a cool 45 minutes, it was apparent that this was not an experiment taking place; the exploration was musical, not physical, and the performance was permeated by sensitivity and intent. Tones were treated with care, themes were stated and developed, and each phase of the performance seemed a comfortable length. All this, coupled with the sound of bells and the surrounding environment of people, made for a sublime experience that crossed intense musical listening with a light-hearted enjoyment of just being.

Keep an eye out for further installations at the Hammer, and I will definitely post about any further Colin Woodford solo excursions. I've got a gig with a new assemblage of musicians a week from tonight, so look for more details tomorrow or Tuesday in the form of a post......it will be FREE (the gig, not the post. Well, the post too).