Electric Improv Lab

EIL jam session May 21

2010-05-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

All are invited to a free improv jam this Friday May 21 at 2:00 pm in Studio A (basement of Lambton Tower, University of Windsor). Click on the poster for more details.

EIL at the Windsor Fringe Festival with Mo(ve)ment

2009-07-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

The EIL will perform with visual artists Tali Farchi (The Netherlands) and Royce Deans (USA) as part of the 2009 Windsor Fringe Festival. Shows are at the Capitol Theatre on July 25 (11:30 a.m.) and July 26 (9:30 p.m.). The work is entitled mo(ve)ment and combines improvised painting, projection, and sound. I'll post audio and photos after the events.

Photos from Synaesthesia event

2009-06-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Just received a few photos from visual artist Laura Shintani of our performance on April 2 (see below for the audio clip):

Archival material from Session 35 (June 20, 2006)

2009-06-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Not much happening with the Improv Lab for the coming weeks, so I thought I would try to edit and post some of the archival material from past jam sessions. Here is an audio file and photo from the jam recordings made in Lambton G-140 in the summer of 2006. Brent Lee on sax, Steve Ward on trombone, Jay Merrow on guitar and Greg Samek on percussion. - BL

EIL session 35d (complete)

EIL @ Phog May 22

2009-05-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

This week-end's event at Phog was amusing as always, with Jessica Pistor (vocals), Brent Lee (sax), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Max Marshall (bass), Nick Papador (percussion) and John Wiebe (Ableton mix). No recording of this event, but here is a photo.

EIL at Phog Lounge May 22

2009-04-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you know that the Electric Improv Lab will perform at Phog on Friday, May 22, starting around 11 pm. This performance will be an after-event for the Media City International Festival of Experimental Film and Video Art, happening next door at the Capitol Theatre. See you there! - BL

Synaesthestic Synapses

2009-04-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

The last event of the season for the EIL took place April 2, 2009 in Studio A, and featured the group collaborating with visual artist Laura Shintani on a multimedia work entitled Synaesthetic Synapses from Childhood. The music was inspired by Schumann's Kinderszenen and featured Brent Lee (piano), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Nick Papador (percussion), Trevor Pittman (clarinet), Jessica Pistor (voice and toy piano), and John Wiebe (Ableton mix).

Here is an audio clip; I'm hoping to get some video from Laura soon.

Synaesthetic Synapses clip

@ Somewhere There in Toronto March 27

2009-04-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

It was an Electric Improv Lab reunion with some of the original participants from circa 2003-06: Anna Atkinson (viola), Steve Ward (trombone), Jay Merrow (guitar) and Brent Lee (sax). It was fun to play with the old crew and to hear the AIM Toronto Orchestra on the same bill. Thanks to Steve for organizing this as part of his month-long curation of the Leftover Daylight series.

EIL jam session March 26, 2009

2009-03-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Another jam session in Studio A on March 26 with Jessica Pistor (voice), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Brent Lee (piano), John Wiebe (laptop), and Sundar Subramanian (guitar). We even had an audience for this session, or at least what you might call a small group of curious onlookers. Below are a few audio clips.

EIL session 41a (complete)

EIL session 41b (excerpt)

EIL session 41d (excerpt)

EIL jam session March 12, 2009

2009-03-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

EIl jam session in Studio A on March 12. I found an old sound effects LP at Recordland in Calgary a couple of weeks ago and used samples of machine sounds from this recording for the laptop parts. Here are the 3 improvs, all complete: jessica Pistor (voice), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Brent Lee (laptop).

EIL session 40a

EIL session 40b

EIL session 40c

EIL jam session January 22, 2009

2009-01-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

First jam session of 2009 in Studio A with Brent Lee (saxophone, guitar), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Jessica Pistor (voice), and John Wiebe (laptop). The last improv is a familiar country song with the guitar all messed up and the vocal line grain delayed beyond recognition. Here are the clips, all complete:

EIL session 39a

EIL session 39b

EIL session 39c

EIL jam session November 13, 2008

2008-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

A slow start for the Improv Lab this year, due to circumstances well beyond the control of a humble free improvisation ensemble. Our first jam session of 2008-09 features Nick Papador (drums and percussion), Brenden Fraser (guitar), Patrick Nickleson (guitar), Jessica Pistor (voice) and Brent Lee (sax and laptop). Here are a few bits:

EIL session 38a (excerpt)

EIL session 38b (complete)

EIL session 38c (excerpt)