Saturday, May 10
Alan Licht
Dr. Pete Larson
Doors 7:30 pm
$10-$20 general admission | sliding scale at entry
Known as an experimental composer, avant-rock guitarist, writer and journalist, Alan Licht performs exploratory guitar-based compositions from his recent double-LP release Havens (Black Editions, 2024). “Licht is masterful and relentless in his negotiation of the often-unknowable intersections that exist between juxtaposing strands of sound. His work is marked by contrast and contradiction: maximalism versus minimalism; rockist inclinations versus avant, expanded-field expression; loose improvisation versus considered performance. What these dichotomies shouldn’t obscure, however, is the simple pleasure that transpires in his refracting of idiom, conjuring expansive pieces that collapse, stratify & convolve competing schools of music to wholly singular ends.”
Since the 80s, Licht has worked with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jim O’Rourke, Jandek, Run On, Lee Rinaldo and the Dust and others. His book Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories (Rizzoli, 2007) is a pivotol and elucidating work. In 2021 his book Common Tones: Selected Interviews with Artists and Musicians 1995-2020 was published by Blank Forms Edition.
Opening the show is Michigan polygot experimentalist, Dr. Pete Larson.
Sundays, April 27, May 4, May 11
Detroit Maqam Workshop
6-8 pm | Free admission
First iteration of the Maqam workshop [classes in Arabic music] open to all ages and skill levels. Come hangout and learn some beautiful melodies and make some new friends. Bring your own instrument if you’d like.
Tuesday, May 13
TAKAAT (of Mdou Moctar)
Zekkereya El-magharbel
Doors 7: 30 pm | $15 in advance or $18 at entry
TAKAAT (of Mdou Moctar)
Zekkereya El-magharbel
Doors 7: 30 pm | $15 in advance or $18 at entry
TAKAAT (pronounced tuh-cot), meaning “noise” in the Tuareg language Tamashek, is the trio of Ahmoudou Madassane, Mikey Coltun, and Souleymane Ibrahim, also known as the rhythm section of Mdou Moctar. TAKAAT is sonic chaos, improvisation, freedom of exploration, and the punk styles of bands such as Fugazi and Unwound, all mixed together with the guitar music from the Sahel.
TAKAAT started during soundchecks while on the road with Mdou Moctar when the trio indulged their shared love for amps cranked to 11 and the sound of blown out speakers. Towards the end of 2023, the three started writing music together, inspired by their shared experiences with the sounds and energy of Hausa bar bands, gritty soukous, and 2000s post-punk. The music of TAKAAT is intense, dark, and energetic. Deeply inspired by the DIY ethos of punk, Ahmoudou, Mikey, and Souleymane capture that thrill of the new and the ecstasy of togetherness in these heavy rockers. TAKAAT follows in the spirit of the independent music culture that birthed hardcore basement shows, bedroom tape labels, and generator-powered pick-up wedding bands.
Is Noise Vol. 1 (10”) EP was recorded on a cold winter day in Washington, D.C by engineer, bass player, and producer Mikey Coltun direct to ½” tape. The band set up, took a short tea break, and banged out the four tunes in one take. Very little editing was done. The record is as raw as the way the EP was recorded. All songs written by Alhassane Gajil and Ahmoudou Madassane except Ishumar written by Hasso Akotey. All songs arranged by TAKAAT.
Zekkereya is a trombonist, visual artist, educator, and theorist from Los Angeles, CA. They've been a member of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra for over a decade and have worked with such luminaries as Angel Bat Dawid, Jaimie Branch, Moor Mother, Kierra Sheard, Wendell Harrison, Amir El Saffar, Tyshawn Sorey, Wendy Eisenberg, and many others. Their current work is about researching traditions from across Northern Africa and drawing parallels with Great Black Music homegrown stateside.
Photo credit Amghy Chacon and Cem Misirlioglu.
Zekkereya is a trombonist, visual artist, educator, and theorist from Los Angeles, CA. They've been a member of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra for over a decade and have worked with such luminaries as Angel Bat Dawid, Jaimie Branch, Moor Mother, Kierra Sheard, Wendell Harrison, Amir El Saffar, Tyshawn Sorey, Wendy Eisenberg, and many others. Their current work is about researching traditions from across Northern Africa and drawing parallels with Great Black Music homegrown stateside.
Photo credit Amghy Chacon and Cem Misirlioglu.
Wednesday, May 14 at 7 p.m.
Poetry Reading by Norman Fischer, Chris Tysh and Nazifa Islam
Free admission
Norman Fischer is a prolific poet, essayist, and Zen Buddhist priest. His latest titles are Men in Suits (2023), There Was a Clattering As (2021), and Through a Window (2024). Chax Press brought out his Selected Poems 1980-2013 in 2022. And the essay collection, Experience: Thinking. Writing, Language, and Religion, appeared in the University of Alabama’s Poetics Series in 2015. He lives on the northern California coast with his wife Kathie, also a Zen Buddhist priest, and is the founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation.
Poet and playwright Chris Tysh is the author of twelve books, the latest of which is 26 Tears, co-authored by George Tysh and published by BlazeVOX in 2022. She holds fellowships from The National Endowment of the Arts and the Kresge Foundation. She teaches at Wayne State University.
Based in Novi, Michigan, poet Nazifa Islam is the author of Forlorn Light: Virginia Woolf Found Poems (Shearsman Books, 2021) and Searching for a Pulse (Whitepoint Press, 2013). Her work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Smartish Pace, The Believer, The Southern Review, and Beloit Poetry Journal among other publications and has been selected for inclusion in The Best American Poetry anthology series. She earned her MFA at Oregon State University.
Saturday, May 17
Over the Pavement II: The New Detroit Chamber Music
Doors 6 pm, Concert starts at 6:30 pm
Over the Pavement II: The New Detroit Chamber Music
Doors 6 pm, Concert starts at 6:30 pm
A one-day festival focusing on contemporary chamber music compositions by a range of Detroit-area composers. Featuring Michael Malis, King Sophia, Benjamin Miller's Sensorium Chamber Orchestra, Jane Rogers, Joel Peterson, Fusha.
CURRENTLY ON VIEW
CURRENTLY ON VIEW
El De Smith: Take My Name Off the Order List Don’t Want Anything
April 18 through May 25, 2025
El De Smith lived in a carriage house in Detroit’s Cultural Center in the early 1970s and was known as a humorous and unconventional artist who made paintings on plywood and cardboard, frequently gifting them to other artists in the community, including Jim Chatelain, Gordon Newton, John Egner, Robert Sestok, Douglas James and Steve Foust, to name a few. This show is comprised of works entirely from private collections and represents the first known public showcase of Smith’s art, writings, and related ephemera in Detroit, his hometown. The exhibition has been curated in collaboration with Jim Chatelain with support from Steve Foust and Dylan Spaysky.
Trinosophes Projects is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the state of Michigan that supports live programming, exhibitions, research and publishing. We are an independent, artist-operated entity located in the city of Detroit. Contributed and earned income goes directly into the hands of the artists we work with, so if you appreciate our efforts, consider making a donation to support our ongoing mission. Click here for a Paypal link.
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