General Information

Admission Prices | Schedule of Events and Performances | Press Release

Price of Admission:

Tickets on sale at Normals Books and Records (425 E. 31st Street, open 11-6 daily) or at the door. Festival passes will also be sold on the first night at The Lodge.

Schedule of Events and Performances

Friday, September 24, 1999, 9 pm.
The Lodge; 244 S. Highland Avenue

    1. Scott Moore (oil drum, etc) solo and in trio with Todd Whitman (saw) and Michael Johnson (saw)
    2. Bhob Rainey (soprano saxophone), Charles Cohen (synthesizer), Will Redman (percussion), Sean Meehan (percussion)
    3. Evan Rapport (reeds), Greg Kelley (trumpet), John Shiurba (guitar), Tom Boram (guitar, piano)
    4. Paul Dunmall (saxophone, bagpipes), Vattel Cherry (bass), Toshi Makihara (percussion)

Saturday, September 25, 1999, 3 pm.
Charles Theater; 1711 N. Charles Street

  1. Michael Zerang (Neil Feather's nondo) solo and in trio with Neil Feather (self-built) and Eric Leonardson (self-built)
  2. Michael Benedetti (various), Evan Rapport (reeds), Sean Meehan (percussion)
  3. Catherine Pancake, Sean Meehan, Bob Wagner, Michael Zerang (percussion) with Jack Wright (saxophone)

Saturday, September 25, 1999, 9 pm.
14K Cabaret at Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga Street

  1. Paul Dunmall (saxophone, bagpipes), John Berndt (electronics)
  2. Jerry Lim (guitar), Todd Margasak (trumpet), Will Redman (drums), Blaise Siwula (saxophone), Greg Kelley (trumpet), Greg Pierce (saxophone, guitar), Vattel Cherry (bass), John Berndt (electronics, saxophone)
  3. Toshi Makihara (drums), Michael Johnson (electronics), Dan Conrad (light organ)
  4. Paul Dunmall (saxophone), Vattel Cherry (bass), Catherine Pancake (drums), John Dierker (saxophone), Bob Wagner (drums)

Sunday, September 26, 1999, 9 pm.
14K Cabaret at Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga Street

  1. David Forlano (guitar, etc.), Todd Whitman (reeds), Scott Moore (tuba, etc.)
  2. Neil Feather (self built), Blaise Siwula (saxophone), Greg Pierce (guitar, drums), John Shiurba (guitar)
  3. Eric Leonardson (self built), Bhob Rainey (soprano saxophone), Tom Boram (guitar), John Dierker (reeds)
  4. Jack Wright (saxophone), Bob Wagner (percussion)

For Immediate Release
Strange Sounds at High Zero Festival
Red Room to Bring "Experimental" Music to Baltimore on a Grand Scale

The Concert
As if reacting to an invisible cue, Jack Wright emits the a huge animal sound from his tenor saxophone, the sound of an enraged elephant. Sean Meehan kneels intently before his drum kit, coaxing a haunting, almost vocal sound from a drum by stroking wooden rods that have been treated with violin rosin. Somehow synchronized with both their sounds, Charles Cohen manipulates the knobs and switches on a steel blue easel in front of him, producing buzzing, rhythmical, throbbing tone that somehow ties the music together. Suddenly, the music changes, all three players shifting intuitively in a totally different direction…

Experimental Music
 Over the past four years, a new form of music has captivating Baltimore, radicalizing the musical underground and charming unwary audiences with unforgettable performances at spaces like The Red Room, The 14 Karat Cabaret, The Lodge, and others. Experimental Music--music that jumps both feet into the unknown and previously unheard, with truly strange sounds, instruments and approaches, has existed in Baltimore for many years---but recently has had an unprecedented explosion. A wide variety of local performers like instrument builder Neil Feather, Saxophonist John Dierker, and sound experimenter John Berndt have played along side some of the most famous national and international figures in this unorthodox music for enthusiastic audiences.

The Red Room
At the center of this activity is a small, volunteer run venue at a bookstore in Waverly called the Red Room, a space which has focused since 1996 entirely on the far reaches of experimental music, film, and performance. This critically acclaimed venue has brought a huge number of the most challenging musicians from around the globe to Baltimore, and simultaneously cultivated an incredible scene for this unorthodox music in Baltimore. Though focused primarily on freely improvised, experimental music, the space has also presented slightly more defined genres of free jazz and electronic music as well. Last year the Red Room was the site of a major zoning controversy, which was resolved in favor of the venue.

HIGH ZERO
Surprised by their ability to find a large audience for this challenging music, the group of people behind the Red Room decided to produce a festival in Baltimore on September 24th-26th, bringing together some of their favorite players from around the world and around the city in a three day fest of strange sounds, odd music and inspired noise. "It seemed like the right time to do something like this," says Red Room regular John Berndt, "because our success with The Red Room has provided us with a large audience and great contacts with some really interesting musicians around the country. Also, for the first time, Baltimore has a bunch of different venues presenting out-of-bounds music." High Zero will present multi-set performances at The Lodge, The 14 Karat Cabaret at Maryland Art Place, and the newly renovated Charles Theater. Twenty-eight extremely different musicians will perform in four multi-set concerts, in different combinations ranging from solos to big-bands with everything in between. This is a major cultural event not only for Baltimore, but also for this entire area of the East Coast, and if the performances at the Red Room in the last year can be used as a measure, it promises to be beyond belief!

For more information contact John Berndt or Evan Rapport at (410) 889 5854.