What A Ride

On Monday, I was at The Burdock for an early show of experimental music. First up was a collaboration between jazz pianist Yunjin Claire and singer/guitarist Mingjia. Their set was fun and quite enjoyable thanks to a great combination of both the familiar and the strange. The former was due to well-known compositions such as Vocalise (Messiaen), Desperate Ones (Nina Simone) and Losing My Mind (Sondheim), the latter thanks to their avant-garde arrangements of those numbers as well as original music including a Zelda-inspired song and an ode to a bear.

Because of their geographical distances, the members of Star Triptych don't often play live. Their set was also psychedelic and fun. Elisa Thorn kept things grounded with her harp while David Riddel layered on atmospheric effects with his guitar. Floating over everything was the delicate vocals of Laura Swankey. Even the lyrics often veered from standard pop phrasing and rhyme. It was musical experimentation that played with conventions without being too alienating.