Straylight: improvised ambient music

Straylight is an ambient, avant world trio featuring Jason Finkelman (berimbau, percussion), Geoff Gersh (guitar) and Charles Cohen (Buchla Music Easel). Dedicated to the art of improvised music, Straylight's members have been performing concerts and theater works since 1993. Their Knitting Factory concert series Straylight Dialogues explored the languages of improvised music with many artists across the genre including Pauline Oliveros, Steve Gorn, Joe McPhee, Brian Ritchie, J.D. Parran, Burton Greene, DJ Olive, and Bradford Reed. They received a New York Dance and Performance Award, a Bessie, for composing the music for Cynthia Oliver's SheMad (2000). Their debut release, Straylight, on the Deep Listening label features a live concert recorded at the Knitting Factory.

Philadelphia-born Jason Finkelman is a percussionist who specializes in the Afro-Brazilian bow instrument berimbau. His extended instrumentation includes African and Brazilian percussion, congas, riti (African fiddle), found metal, bird calls, and ocarinas. His compositional credits for theater and dance include Cynthia Oliver's works from 1995 to 2002, Carl Hancock Rux's No Black Male Show (2000), and Shakespeare's Henry V (2001) produced by the theater department of the University of Illinois. He recently founded the Nu Orbit Ensemble while seeking unusual instrumentation for improvised music in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois where he currently resides.

Based in Philadelphia, Charles Cohen, has been composing and performing electronic music since 1971. He specializes in collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects with theatre, dance, music, and media artists, and is especially interested in live performance and improvisation. His instrument is the Buchla Music Easel. It is an extremely rare integrated analog performance instrument made by synth pioneer Don Buchla. In regards to his work, he states, "Mood, atmosphere, and landscape are what my sounds are about. Collaboration and exploration are what my process is about. The intent is sharing our favorite pastime with others."

Guitarist/Composer Geoff Gersh performs in various ensembles of improvised and composed music in NYC, as well as composes for dance and film. He is currently a band member for the Off-Broadway production of Blue Man Group: Tubes, where he plays the electric zither. In the spring of 1999 he began his studies on the shamisen with Kiharu Nakamura, who teaches in the Nagauta style. He has received a Special Opportunity Stipend from the New York Foundation for the Arts and Meet the Composer Awards on multiple occasions.



Straylight is dedicated to the art of improvised ambient avant world music

The Biographies of Straylight

	Straylight is an ambient, avant world trio featuring Jason Finkelman (berimbau, percussion), Geoff Gersh (guitar) and Charles Cohen (Buchla Music Easel). Dedicated to the art of improvised music, Straylight's members have been performing concerts and theater works since 1993. Their Knitting Factory concert series Straylight Dialogues explored the languages of improvised music with many artists across the genre including Pauline Oliveros, Steve Gorn, Joe McPhee, Brian Ritchie, J.D. Parran, Burton Greene, DJ Olive, and Bradford Reed. They received a New York Dance and Performance Award, a Bessie, for composing the music for Cynthia Oliver's SheMad (2000). Their debut release, Straylight, on the Deep Listening label features a live concert recorded at the Knitting Factory. Philadelphia-born Jason Finkelman is a percussionist who specializes in the Afro-Brazilian bow instrument berimbau. His extended instrumentation includes African and Brazilian percussion, congas, riti (African fiddle), found metal, bird calls, and ocarinas. His compositional credits for theater and dance include Cynthia Oliver's works from 1995 to 2002, Carl Hancock Rux's No Black Male Show (2000), and Shakespeare's Henry V (2001) produced by the theater department of the University of Illinois. He recently founded the Nu Orbit Ensemble while seeking unusual instrumentation for improvised music in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois where he currently resides. Based in Philadelphia, Charles Cohen, has been composing and performing electronic music since 1971. He specializes in collaborative, cross-disciplinary projects with theatre, dance, music, and media artists, and is especially interested in live performance and improvisation. His instrument is the Buchla Music Easel. It is an extremely rare integrated analog performance instrument made by synth pioneer Don Buchla. In regards to his work, he states, "Mood, atmosphere, and landscape are what my sounds are about. Collaboration and exploration are what my process is about. The intent is sharing our favorite pastime with others." Guitarist/Composer Geoff Gersh performs in various ensembles of improvised and composed music in NYC, as well as composes for dance and film. He is currently a band member for the Off-Broadway production of Blue Man Group: Tubes, where he plays the electric zither. In the spring of 1999 he began his studies on the shamisen with Kiharu Nakamura, who teaches in the Nagauta style. He has received a Special Opportunity Stipend from the New York Foundation for the Arts and Meet the Composer Awards on multiple occasions.