Quintan Ana Wikswo interviews James Ilgenfritz

Multimedia artist Quintan Ana Wikswo meets with James Ilgenfritz to discuss his opera The Ticket That Exploded, based on William Burroughs’ 1962 novel. Quintan and James talk about James’ visit to William Burroughs’ home in Lawrence, Kansas, the relationship between gender and narrative, and the opera’s October 29 premiere.

The Ticket That Exploded will be given its second performance on March 13 at Hunter College’s Lang Recital Hall, as part of the exhibit Notations: The Cage Effect.

Contribute to James’ Kickstarter campaign and help fund the October 29 premiere of his opera The Ticket That Exploded: An Ongoing Opera, based on William Burroughs’ 1962 dystopian novel, and featuring a stellar cast of vocalists, instrumentalists, and live video manipulations!

Photo© 2010 Reuben Radding

James Ilgenfritz approaches the double bass as an archeologist, examining rarified aspects of the instrument’s sonic palette to confound the status quo. His work has been praised in Time Out New York, Signal To Noise, All About Jazz –New York, and Downbeat Magazine. A tireless musical traveler, James has taken part in recent performances including work with Anthony Braxton, Pauline Oliveros, George Lewis, Elliott Sharp, John Zorn, Lukas Ligeti, Gary Lucas, Steve Swell, and Denman Maroney. He is a member of Billy Fox’s Blackbirds and Bullets, Eric Eigner’s Mysterium Project, Gordon Beeferman’s Imaginary Band, Chris Botta/Joe Branciforte’s The Cellar And Point, and Ted Hearne’s The Delusion Story.

Collaborative projects include Trio Caveat (improvisational salon jazz featuring Jonathan Moritz and Chris Welcome), Hypercolor (spastic jazz-inflicted art- rock noise fest with Lukas Ligeti and Eyal Maoz). Spoiler Alert (jazz quintet with Josh Sinton, Justin Wood, Jonathan Moritz, and Vinnie Sperazza), and Urbana (cinematic jazz nostalgia and imaginings for quintet, with Evan Mazunik, John O’Brien, Frantz Loriot, and Bryan Pardo).

James’ own projects include Ensemble NSFW (contemporary chamber works dealing with the integration of traditional and graphic notation, indeterminacy, and improvisation), the  Anagram Sextet (extended chamber works for 2 woodwinds, 2 guitars, and bass and percussion), and his solo developments of original music and that of various contemporary composers (including an upcoming recording of the music of Anthony Braxton).

James performs around New York at a wide variety of venues, focusing primarily on improvised music hubs Issue Project Room, Roulette, The Stone, Zebulon, Cornelia St Café, Barbes, I-Beam, and Douglass St Music Collective, but James has also performed music by Giacinto Scelsi and Ted Hearne at The Kitchen, music by John Cage at The World Financial Center Winter Garden, premiered new music for solo double bass at Symphony Space, and collaborated with beatboxer Adam Matta at the New Museum in SoHo.

Outside New York, James has performed at The Kennedy Center (Washington DC), The Empty Bottle, and Elastic Arts (Chicago, IL), the Museum of Making Music (San Diego, CA), 119 Gallery (Lowell, MA), The Windup Space (Baltimore, MD), and at festivals for improvised music including the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the 14th Annual Edgefest (Ann Arbor, MI), the New Atlantis Festival (Washington, DC), and the Spring Reverb Festival (San Diego, CA).

James is 2011 is Artist In Residence at Issue Project Room, and will present a variety of new chamber works, small ensemble projects, and premieres of solo works composed for him. James was a fellow at Music OMI international Musicians Residency in 2009. In 2007 James received a Subito grant from the American Composers Forum for a cross-country tour, performing newly commissioned works for contrabass by composers Jeffrey Treviño, Stephen Rush, and Gordon Beeferman, culminating in a performance at Roulette in New York. James also hosts the Ten Thousand Hours Podcast, which features conversations and duo improvisations with such artists as Robert Dick, Matana Roberts, Aaron Siegel, Andrew D’Angelo, and Pauline Oliveros.

Improvisation is central to James’s work, and he has written and lectured on the art of improvisation and its metaphorical relationship to the practical complexity of daily life. James has given lectures on improvisation at CalArts, Towson University, and the University of Michigan. James received a Bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan and a Master’s degree University of California San Diego, and is currently on faculty at Brooklyn College Preparatory Center and at Brooklyn Conservatory.

150 word:
Brooklyn composer, bassist, and educator James Ilgenfritz has been active in creative music since the late 90s. His work has been praised in Time Out New York, All About Jazz, and Downbeat Magazine. Recent performances include work with Lukas Ligeti, Pauline Oliveros, John Zorn, and Anthony Braxton. James has received grants and residencies from Issue Project Room, the American Composers Forum, and OMI Arts Center. Notable performance venues include Roulette, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, The World Financial Center Winter Garden, Symphony Space, and the New Museum in SoHo. James hosts the Ten Thousand Hours Podcast, featuring conversations and duets with such musical innovators as Robert Dick and Pauline Oliveros. In 2011 James is Artist-In-Residence at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn. He holds degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of California San Diego. James is on Faculty at the Preparatory Center of Brooklyn College and at Brooklyn Conservatory.