David Virelles: IDEOGRAMAS

IDEOGRAMAS from David Virelles on Vimeo.Coming off of recent dates with frequent collaborators Henry Threadgill and Ravi Coltrane this fall, pianist-composer David Virelles will return to The Jazz Gallery this Friday and Saturday with a different offering than the one he presented this past August with Brandon Ross .Growing from the seeds of the Continuum project with Cuban artist Alberto Lescay, Virelles will be presenting a multi-media musical exploration that expands on the short film IDEOGRAMAS that he made with animator Romulo Sans and producer Alexander Overington. Virelles' drawings are inspired by a Cubanfolkloric graphic system “Nsibidi” and drummer Damion Reid will be joining on drums. You can watch the short at the top of the page. David had offered the following words himself about the project:

IDEOGRAMAS is a live music multimedia experience that unfolds in an imaginary parallel world with its own idiosyncrasies and laws, envisioned and realized through the music and visual art of pianist and composer David Virelles.This music is performed live alongside real-time visual projections of original animated symbols and drawings, conveying ideas that originate from different sources, including the rich traditions of Cuban "folklore." The drums are central to this work, which will pursue the sonic possibilities of a revealing setting: a duo of keyboards and drumset augmented by live electronics.Virelles sought to expand his musical creative practice through visual art, drawing upon aspects of Afro-Cuban folkloric mysticism to generate a somewhat mystical system of his own. These ideogramas contain patterns that suggest flora and fauna, fertility, polarity, landscapes, satellites, planets, musical instruments, and the unseen; the designs operate by the rules of a parallel, imagined world where most things can be perceived and felt as one single experience, including past, present and future; the complete cycle of life and afterlife; and music and silence.

David Virelles' "Ideogramas" comes to The Jazz Gallery on Friday, October 23rd and Saturday, October 24th, 2015.The group features Mr. Virelles on piano and Damion Reid on drums with live visuals by Virelles, Romulo Sans, and Harrison Wood. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. $22 general admission ($12 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.