FIGEATER PRESS

"Led by clarinetist Beth Fleenor, Figeater make improvised music that ranges from insistently propulsive and buoyant—Fleenor can channel the spirit of Raymond Scott with aplomb—to aloof atmospheres, thugged-up backbeats, and loony, melismatic rants."

The Multifarious Spawn of Monktail Creative Music Concern
- Chris Delaurenti

LIVING ROOM PARTY 10

SKETCH_COMMENTARY

OWCHARUK 5

The Owcharuk 5 - a Ukrainian afro-punk jazz quintet - is headed into the studio 12/6/09 to do a live room recording of a collection of compositions/arrangements by Michael Owcharuk and a tune by trumpeter Jim Knodle.

Owcharuk 5 features Cody Rahn (drums), Nate Omdal (bass), Michael Owcharuk (accordion/composition), Jim Knodle (trumpet/composition), Beth Fleenor (clarinet)

Excerpts from rehearsal...

WACO - RIVER OF WHISKEY

On 10/27/09 I got to perform Wayne Horvitz's concerto for clarinet - River of Whiskey - with the Washington Composer Orchestra (WACO) as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival.

I still don't have audio from the performance but photo is by Daniel Sheehan and the video is from a Robin Holcomb composition during a WACO rehearsal.

FOR YOU 2

this is actually very small - fits in your hand.

LIVING ROOM PARTY 9

SKETCH_FIRECRACKER

(shot with vado on music stand)

LIVING ROOM PARTY 8

SKETCH_SIBERIAN DELIRIUM

(shot with vado on music stand)

FOR YOU 1

I consider making presents/cards/gifts a further manifestation of my artistic self and continuation of my discipline.

I bought a ukulele on a trip to Hawaii in 2001 when a dental injury left half of my face numb and I couldn't play clarinet for a while. Now, 8 years later, I can play two songs on the ukulele: Little Grass Shack (which I learned on that trip) and Free Bird....all that and NOT ONE LESSON! ahem.

This little gem was made for my KS friends, in an attempt to give them a little southern comfort whilst they traveled through Europe...

(shot with vado on bookshelf)

LIVING ROOM PARTY 7

SKETCH_AND I CRY

(my first compost-ition written on piano...I can't play piano....but this video, shot from atop the piano, once again of my head, does give you a nice view of my nostrils)

(I hope to work this one out with FIGEATER performing unit: Special Fig)

PLAYING THE GAME

As of Monday 11/30/09 I will be on day 66 of "Playing the Game" - a performative installation where I play nice and interact with the world as Communications Associate for Cornish College of the Arts, in an effort learn more about institutional dynamics and collect bio-survival tickets. In this role I handle event publicity, marketing, advertising, and box office management in addition to working on various publications for the school. I've actually been doing this piece since 06/07, but I didn't start counting the days of the performance until 08/03/09. "Playing the Game" will end 01/29/10.

LIVING ROOM PARTY 6

CLARINET IMPROVISATION

(shot with vado on music stand....must find new location, these videos of just my head are hilarious)

KULTUR SHOCK

I can't think about the monastery in Kazan without thinking of all the other out of body experiences I had touring with Kultur Shock this past summer. I have never been the same, which ultimately is a great thing, but sometimes change and/or an increase in information is hard to digest. once your reality tunnel has expanded in any direction, it is stretched and won't return to a previous state.

I will forever be changed by what I saw/experienced on that journey.

(thanks for all the beauty; there are no words. everyday is holy day.)

LIVING ROOM PARTY 5

SKETCH_INVOCATION

the kitchen version....I guess that makes it a kitchen party instead of a living room party....so, a little back story with this song: it had been swimming around in shards in my head for weeks, and then, on a visit to a monastery in Kazan, Russia, staring up at a bell tower, the full melody came through in full force to the sound of the bells. Other parts have been added to it and I'm still working to try to build it out, but making cornbread this morning I realized the cast iron skillet reminded me of the bells and I had a little tangent....

LIVING ROOM PARTY 4

SKETCH_INVOCATION

LIVING ROOM PARTY 3

SKETCH_THE BUDDHAS & THE BITCHES

(shot with vado on music stand)

MUSIC OF JHEREK BISCHOFF

I have recently had the great fortune to perform the music of multi-instrumentalist/composer Jherek Bischoff. I have loved Jherek's bass playing, improvising and compositions for orchestra and small ensemble for years, so getting to perform his music is a huge honor and a great pleasure for me.

Upcoming performances:
12/10 Vermillion
3/13 City Hall

Here are two videos with segments from past performances:

Deerborn House 11/13 performance




30th Birthday Orchestra rehearsal

NOT AFRAID

(shot with vado in bathroom at The Mix)

FIGEATER will play The Mix as part of the Monktail Holiday Throwdown: Dangerous Petting Zoo on December 11, 2009.

we are certainly not - afraid of figs...

LIVING ROOM PARTY 2

SKETCH_PRAYER IN 7 DIRECTIONS

(shot with vado on music stand)

DEAR DRIVERS

Dear Drivers: A Conversational Reader Board Display (Cornish College of the Arts)

This is a Performative Marketing piece utilizing the 186 character reader board located outside of the Raisbeck Performance Hall in downtown Seattle.

As Communications Associate at Cornish College of the Arts I handle event publicity, advertising, marketing, and box office management, among other general communications. For Dear Drivers I take committee selected suggestions of jokes, comments & quotes from the faculty/staff of the college, along with my personal comments (limited to Benjamin Franklin quotes and personally directed statements as performance parameters), and interject them amongst the institutional messages on the board. The statements instigate communication with the drivers and bring greater awareness to the events promoted.

BOOK OF MARK

This segment is entitled Tree of Life and it is taken from the Book of Mark (Ostrowski).

(Figeater recently had a gig in a classroom at the University Heights Community Center as part of the UDistrict Jazz Walk. The drawing came with the classroom. Commentary by Mark Ostrowski and John Seman, score by Stephen Parris)

LIVING ROOM PARTY 1

I believe what you do alone in your living room is who you really are....my artistic process these days is entirely focused on the discipline of performing/collaborating from the same place I work from when alone, unwatched, & uninhibited in my studio.

I improvise A LOT. voice, clarinets, wind-up toys, shoes on the floor, kitchen utensils, a resonant leather chair...doesn't matter, I love to fuck with sound and live with an almost constant track of sound design playing in my mind/body which sometimes manifests audibly to other people....

*this here video is the first recording I've ever made of myself beth-boxing* from the safety of your own computing device you can now observe this explosively passionate creature in its natural habitat....

BRIDGING WOUNDS

Bridging Wounds, a multimedia project led by close friend, cohort, and frank agency artist, Paris Hurley, premiered at the Northwest Film Forum September 17-19, 2009.

This is the opening "bubbles" story with animation by Amanda Moore and music by Paris Hurley (and amazing mix by Paurl Walsh), captured during the dress rehearsal on the vado. (I am clarineting)

RAW FIG BUFFET

FIGEATER_RAW FIG BUFFET
snipits of unedited recordings from the upcoming Sweet Figeater Suprise performative box set. jack straw session december 2008.





CRAZY LADY_Special Fig

THIS ONE_Super Special Fig

ICHIJUKU_Super Special Fig

SUMMON DEFENDER FORCES segue SEDUCTION_Special Fig


myspace
frank
facebook

PERFORMATIVE MARKETING

Performative Marketing is an attempt to combine elements of the performing arts and interactive media in an engaging vehicle for promotion and publicity.

Oftentimes the marketing and promotion of events, projects and artists, feels a bit soulless...and more often than not, despite hours of labor and immense measures of good intention, audiences are still not tapped into, directly communicated with, or in many cases, reached at all.

Performative Marketing draws on elements of surprise and drama to amplify the artistic mission of collaborators, in an effort to shake things up and get the attention of potential audience members.


Current Performative Marketing projects include:

> Bunnies on Parade (BOP!)
> Dear Drivers: A Conversational Reader Board Display (Cornish College of the Arts)

THE FRANK AGENCY

INTERSECT. INTERACT. INTEGRATE.
frank - adjective: direct and unreserved in speech; straightforward; sincere; without inhibition or subterfuge; direct...

visit frank's web station

IN THE BEGINNING
The Frank Agency officially opened its doors in 2004. I had been working on the business/administrative/production side of music since 1999 wearing a handful of different hats for a handful of different people/organizations, but it wasn't until somewhere around November 04 that the name selected me and I accepted the invitation to dive down the rabbit hole...What has happened since has been truly unbelievable, in so many inexplicable ways.

Frank assists artists in the clarification, articulation and amplification of their vision, while seeking to simultaneously connect audiences to work that moves them.

This manifests tangibly through things like concert production, grant writing, promotion/publicity, strategic planning, and booking, along with a whole slew of nitty gritty metaphysical and psychological odd jobs all done in the name of propagating the work of generative artists and the human experience.

Since it's inception, Frank has produced over 150 concerts and raised more than $350K for individual artists and organizations. In support of its mission, Frank has collaborated on successful applications with organizations and foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts, Aaron Copland Fun for Music, Earshot Jazz, 4Culture, Washington State Arts Commission, MidAtlantic Touring/USArtists International, Cornish College of the Arts, the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Allied Arts Foundation, the Jack Straw Artist Support Program, and Artist Trust, among others.

TODAY
Frank currently consists of myself and whatever interns are crazy enough to get involved in my process and this totally wacked business. I stopped accepting new clients in 2006 and have only been working with artists on the roster and special projects already in motion at that time. This spring, for the first time in 3 years, Frank will open its doors and starting working with new artists again! and there are many creative opportunities on the horizon, which I am explosively excited about. We are bigger, badder, and smarter than ever before, and this shit is going to rock.

BOP! 2

video: home again, work is tough
(shot with vado by Rebecca Williams)

BUNNIES ON PARADE (BOP!)

Bunnies on Parade (BOP!)
A new Performative Marketing work presented by The Frank Agency,
each parade/performance is geared at promoting the activities of featured artists, bringing fun, humor and dynamic engagement to the promotional process.

BOP!

MOTHER MAY I

MOTHER MAY I
Multidisciplinary project with my mom who is cross-stitching soundwaves of improvisational recordings. once complete the cross-stitched pieces will be used as scores to reinterpret the wave into live ensemble improvisations.

FIGEATER

Figeater is a time-based, performance process emphasized ensemble vehicle where audience and environment are recognized members of the configuration performing. It is through the combination of these components that the performance takes place.

Disjunctive, raucous, soaring, and powerful - Figeater is a textural, tribal exploration of organic movement, instigated by BF as clarinetist/vocal percussionist/composer.

Improvisations are punctuated, buttoned and launched by original compositions and songlike psychedelic episodes, with an emphasis on environmental participation. I like to call it sonic spelunking or an all improvised fun time.

visit the fig on frank

"Daringly, {Figeater} was down right pretty, not a term often associated with free improv...while later it was visceral, convulsive and more than a bit creepy..." - Seattle Weekly

"Clarinetist/composer Beth Fleenor bases her cargo-cult band on the arrival of unhinged, uncorked, unkempt provocations from a small, raucous band of collaborators. Expect some wailin', some keening, and some siren-singing too." - Earshot Jazz

"Led by clarinetist Beth Fleenor, Figeater make improvised music that ranges from insistently propulsive and buoyant—Fleenor can channel the spirit of Raymond Scott with aplomb—to aloof atmospheres, thugged-up backbeats, and loony, melismatic rants." - The Stranger

CONFESSION

I am an intensely passionate person. There are moments when I may come across as cool and collected - seemingly even keel - but those are fleeting snapshots of a ferociously moving inner explosion, that inevitably makes its way outer. Outer looks a lot of different ways, depending on which way you are viewing it...

This is a place for some of the explosions to live together as one piece, instead of always being stuck into some individual silo of expression. The over-arching theme for BF is always: I AM HAVING AN EXPERIENCE - RIGHT NOW! and HEY, LOOK - YOU ARE TOO! That's it - we humans are fabulous.

So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls - this is my reality, and please let me introduce you to my best friend and constant companion, my reality tunnel...

WAKE UP GRIFFIN