by Mike Telin
“When I was growing up in rural Mississippi my mother was very good about taking me to Jackson or New Orleans to see whatever the new, big art exhibition was,” composer and keyboardist Buck McDaniel said during a recent telephone interview from his home in New York. “It must have been in 2008 or 2009 that there was a retrospective of Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy. There were some of his paintings, and his textiles.”
On Friday, February 11 at 8:00 pm, McDaniel returns to the Bop Stop with his long-time collaborator, electronic producer Jacob Kirkwood. The evening celebrates the release of the Duo’s latest CD, Patterns on Dufy, featuring saxophonist Noa Even. The recording will be made available on all streaming platforms that same day. Click here for tickets to the in-person performance. The event will also be livestreamed on the venue’s Facebook page.
McDaniel noted that Dufy’s textiles are full of bright-colored patterns. “As an adult with a more advanced relationship with patterns, I saw how musical his textiles are. And how these small beautiful cells can, through repetition, become a beautiful dress.” [Read more…]
For Matthew Jones, the best part about performing is doing it with your longtime friends. Luckily, the vocalist was recently able to do just that when he recorded a concert in person with hornist Van Parker, percussionist Mell Csicsila, and composer/pianist Buck McDaniel. The four are frequent collaborators who know each other well both on- and off-stage.
After taking a year off, the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (CUSP) is gearing up for its return with Re:Sound 2021, an innovative, online music festival that will premiere on June 3. Faced with an influx of pandemic-fueled virtual concerts, “we decided to take a season to reconnect and think about what we wanted to do,” artistic director Sophie Benn said in a recent interview. She added that finally putting on an event again “feels amazing.”
A varied, compelling, and concise program came to life through excellent performances when percussionists Andrew Pongracz and Mell Csicsila of Duo Anime visited Survival Kit on January 14. The live-streamed concert was presented as part of the Local 4 Music Fund’s Tuning In series.
“This next one will have all the homosexuals in the room grabbing a vodka cranberry,” composer Buck McDaniel said winkingly to a packed crowd at Mahall’s last Friday night, March 29. “Including me,” he added. It was perfect commentary for the energetic kickoff event of the Cleveland Chamber Symphony’s 6th NEOSonicFest, an evening that celebrated both cocktails and contemporary music.
Cleveland Chamber Symphony launches its sixth NEOSonicFest on Friday, March 29 at 9:00 pm at Mahall’s in Lakewood with a concert in partnership with Fresh Perspectives. Uno Lady (Christa Ebert), a one-woman choir, will create electronic loops, harpist Stephan Haluska will present his own electro-acoustical compositions, and Buck McDaniel and Jacob Kirkwood will present a concert version of their live electro-acoustic score written for Cleveland Public Theatre’s 
When a festival runs for long enough, it becomes interesting to look back and remember that it wasn’t always a staple of the local culture. At one time, it was entirely new.