5.16 Mruta Mertsi, Andre Pappathomas conducting There just arent enough avant choirs, and although the Finnish screaming choir Mieskuoro Huutajat huutagat.org blows them out of the water, big ups for trying. 20 people on stage, about half as many ideas. Fred Frith/Joan Jeanrenaud/Miya Masaoka/Larry Ochs All-star line-up. Promising, or scary. Most interested to see ex-Kronos cellist Jeanrenaud in her new improv role. Parts were good, but sometimes she seemed to be looking for something to do. Had an interesting conversation with a coupla z-listers over dinner one night about disappointing use of unusual instruments. I love koto, and Im not sure what Masaoka is doing much of the time, but I wish she was playing koto. Frith of course is the master. He served as back-up band for the three soloists. Ochs understands what many improvisers miss: that taking long breaks while the others play will just make you parts shine more. Jerry Granelli/Jeff Reilly Iron Sky Granellis a blast, and it was a lot of fun to watch him circle the room and play several very large metal sculptures, made by Nova Scotian John Little. The sculptures and Granellis charisma dominated, however. It would be better to see the duo with just trap drums. That, or itd be worse. _________________________________________________________________ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com