Closed Beginnings
Winner of the 2021 APRA AMCOS/AMC Art Music Award for electroacoustic/sound art work of the year
Nominated for an ARIA (Best Jazz Album) in 2021
“Mavondo delivers her narratives with theatrical verve, whispering here, emoting there, her words cherry-picked for effect, her ideas unfurling within – and responding to – the psycho-electrocacoustic soundscapes fashioned by Lewis and Knight. Golden trumpet tones and delicate percussive flourishes are treated by laptops and played into a Revox machine (à la Eno and Fripp); delays and reverbs are layered into sound collages. Strings add sweetness, heighten longing. Space and time are dissonant, inverted, aiding Mavondo's naming of the push-me-pull-you nature of these times and reigniting the impetus to stay in the present. A bold, affecting work. ★★★★”
“…the brilliant improvisational ability of both musicians is a key element… I found (Mavondo’s spoken words) beautiful to hear, and often highly moving. ★★★★”
"... a series of minimalist and ambient sound-worlds that psychically, rather than rhythmically, mirror Mavondo's words ... an intriguing - and in this case successful - experiment."
- Des Cowley, Rhythms Magazine
“The tasteful trumpet parts of Lewis and Knight play key plans in Firefly Jars and even more in the brilliant and oneiric Creases of Gods , which can evoke associations with Jon Hassell's "Fourth World" . The album is crowned with the shortest piece of Sweet Sticky Revolution with drifting and choked electronics, spiced up with psychedelic noises, sounds of objects and Mavondo's mantric voice.”
Closed Beginnings is the debut collaborative project of Tariro Mavondo, Reuben Lewis and Peter Knight; three prolific artists at the forefront of Australian contemporary art music, bound together by a deep-rooted connectedness in response to the zeitgeist.
Closed Beginnings takes the listener into an immersive and evocative electroacoustic world, utilising the power of the spoken word to evoke themes of revolution, isolation, unshackling from stagnant modes and paying heed to the exigencies of the moment.
Born in Zimbabwe and raised in Narrm/Melbourne, Tariro channels the outdatedness of dogma during a time when the schisms of society are becoming clearer and more prevalent. Her words are silhouetted and sympathetically resonated further by the evocative sound-worlds created by Reuben, Peter and string trio. The result invites audiences to share in a slow blossoming of ideas and connectedness across three deeply rooted musical relationships, tapping into the subconscious, propelled by the uniqueness of the human voice.
“My interest is to find the uniqueness of expression," says Tariro, "to find the nuance, whilst bringing in the underbelly of deep emotions and shining a spotlight into our deepest psyches.”
This is exemplified in the feature track of their debut studio album, which arose in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and severe lockdowns experienced in Melbourne through 2020. "Tariro reflects viscerally upon those moments," says Reuben, "giving voice to the counterintuitive sensation of experiencing isolation and fear, whilst at the same time feeling cradled and supported within our own homes. It's a poetic articulation of the juxtaposing abyss and claustrophobia offered by the unknown.”
“Closed Beginnings will take the listener deep into the belly of the beast.” Says Peter Knight. “It is our intention that the sound worlds we create will hold a safe space for the audience to be drawn close to the material that Tariro is articulating and offering within her poetry.”
CREATIVE TEAM
Tariro Mavondo – spoken word
Reuben Lewis – trumpet/pedals/synthesisers/electronics
Peter Knight – trumpet/electronics/revox B77 tape machine
Closed Beginnings - Livestream
We had originally planned the Closed Beginnings premiere performance as part of our series at MPavillion in collaboration with Monash University Museum of Art.
Then the COVID-19 crisis hit.
So we shifted our plan to turn the concert into live stream from WeFo Studios in West Footscray.
On the morning of that performance Premier Andrews asked that no one leaves their homes unless they are involved in ‘essential services’. Even though our work is not proscribed, we felt that it was inappropriate even to have three musicians at a time playing together. So we shifted plans again and turned the concert into a kind of an ‘Exquisite Corpse’ event.
This idea traces back to a poetry game which involves collaborative writing and involves one writer beginning a poem then others responding sequentially, adding verses in response. For Closed Beginnings we live streamed Reuben improvising a solo from WeFo. Then Tariro performed her part over Reuben’s solo which she was hearing for the first time in headphones. This was also live streamed. Finally, Peter improvised his part over their parts combined (Peter’s contribution was not live streamed).
Leo Dale and Jem Savage then combined the video and audio respectively into one 24 min work and this is the work we are now offering our audience. This is us responding to these fast changing and uncertain times: staying creative, making music, and also paying heed to the exigencies of the moment.
Presented by the Australian Art Orchestra in partnership with Monash University Museum of Art as a part of MUMA’s Sound Spaces series.
