mysterium: Bio's
Eric John Eigner - Improviser
•Eric Eigner – Extended Drumset, Sound Effects, Clarinet
Eric Eigner is a drummer who does not need to rely upon the use of sticks and drums to get his point across, though he certainly loves to incorporate them into the fold of what he does. He prefers the use of fireworks and chains, 50cent horns and elephant calls. He has learned from the best and desires to be none of them.
Eric John Eigner is an international musician residing in New York City. He plays what he calls Extended Drumset, Table-top Percussion, Soprano and Bass Clarinets.
Eigner has released two CD's from his band Mysterium on Eavesdrop Records, a label he set up as a platform for contemporary work. Mysterium is a project designed to function as a worldwide bridge-way to isolated improvising artists, of multiple mediums, cultures, disciplines, genders and generations, to come together and engage in new work. Daniel Carter, Steve Swell, Nate Wooley, Jeremy Danneman, Terence Murren, Morgan Craft, Gil Selinger, Jeremiah Landess and Christian Pincock have all been involved members in the project.
Eigner is a member of the Walter Thompson Orchestra and is a member of the international Soundpainting community. He works in a number of diverse Soundpainting projects. Soundpainting is the universal live composing sign language created by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, dancers, actors, poets, and visual artists working in the medium of structured improvisation.
Eigner is a member of Kenny Wollesens' marching band, Himalayas. He is involved in a duet project with composer/guitarist Bruce Holmberg. They are currently working to release their first recording, due out by mid year.
Eigner has played with Butch Morris' NuBlu Orchestra, Reuben Radding, the CAVEnsemble, Shinichi MOMO Koga, Matt Lavelle, Sabir Mateen, has played around in a number of rock bands in the city, from Steve Albini produced Pillow Theory, The Trophy Wives, an eclectic Balkan thrash band and Earthdriver, a band made up of a wide variety of international talent to name but a few.
Eigner played with Greg Tate's Burnt Sugar and can be found on their first recording, Blood on the Leaf, on True Groid Records.
In addition to music, Eigner is also a working Painter and Photographer that exhibits in New York.
Gil Selinger - Improviser
•Gil Selinger - Cellist, Composer, SoundPainting Conductor.
As a cellist, Gil's background is in Classical, Jazz, and Free Improvisation. All of which he has merged into a style called Classical Improvisation. Gil has appeared in every major music space in New York City including Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, and downtown at Tonic, the Knitting Factory and others. Gil has also appeared on tour throughout Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand.
Gil has several working groups that he is involved in right now. A duo with Pianist Evan Mazunik, the SP4Tet a soundpainting string quartet, Mysterium an improvisational quintet with Eric Eigner, Daniel Carter, Steve Swell, and Terence Murren. And a trio with Jessica Pavone and Terence Murren. He also performs with the Walter Thompson Orchestra, and performs and conducts with the NY SoundPainting Orchestra. All of these groups have recordings in various stages of production. Additionally, he often performs with many other players in a variety of settings.
Cellist Gil Selinger was educated at Mannes College of Music (prep), Ithaca College, the Moscow Conservatory (USSR), and has had and continues to have a varitey of private teachers and/or coachings as he strives for perfection in his art. Currently he is working with Pedro De Alcantara learning Alexander Technique as it is applied to cello playing, music making, and musical prosody.
Morgan Michael Craft - Improviser
•Morgan Craft – Stunt Guitar
Morgan Craft does Stunt Guitar™ - Found objects, real time sampling, melody, harmony, rhythm & rhyme, amp hiss, mistakes, devices, short-wave, and a willingness to try something new.
An improviser not tied to a system, just true freedom. Born and raised in New Brighton, Minnesota on a steady diet of everything, he moved to New York in 1994.
Artists Morgan has played with include: Butch Morris, Christian Marclay, Burnt Sugar, Marc Ribot, Nona Hendryx, Greg Osby, Beans, Talib Kweli, Simon H. Fell, Pete Cosey, Rhodri Davies, Anton Fig, Graham Haynes, Vernon Reid, Carl Hancock Rux, Elliott Sharp, Melvin Gibbs, Me'Shell N'degeocello, etc.
Daniel Carter - Improviser
•Daniel Carter – Alto, Tenor, Clarinet, Trumpet, Flute
Over the past three decades Daniel has worked with:
Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Billy Bang, William Parker, Roy Campbell, Sabir Mateen, Sonic Youth, Matthew Shipp, Madeski, Martin, & Wood, Vernon Reid, Wilber Morris, Tom Abbs, Denis Charles, Yo La Tengo, Federico Ughi, Raphe Malik, Sam Rivers, Sunny Murray, Hamiet Bluiett, Bob Moses, Jaco Pastorius, David S. Ware, Steve Swell, Gunter Hampel, David Grubbs, Alan Silva, Susie Ibarra, Butch Morris,
D.J. Logic, among many others.
Terence Murren - Improviser
•Terence Murren - Contrabass, Electric Bass
Terence Murren attended Vassar College, where he studied Classical Bass with Sue Powell, Jazz with Michael Gold and Composition with Annae Lockwood.
Since moving to New York City in 1997, Murren has continued his studies with bassists Tim Fergeson, Steve Neil and Drew Gress and pianist Myra Melford.
Murren co-leads a group, The Eternal Now with singer Samita Sinha which features Lawrence Clark on tenor saxophone and Tomas Fujiwara on drumset.
Murren’s performance credits also include The Stephen Gauci Trio, The Billy Bang/Bob Hollman Quartet, The Neil Podgurski Trio, The Jump Festival Orchestra under the direction of Butch Morris, Tom Abbs’ Bass Ensemble, the Bruce Eisenbeil Quartet, Assif Tsahar’s New York Underground Symphony and Mat Kane’s Trophy Wives. He is also a member of the Cajun alt. country band The Doc
Steve Swell - Improviser
•Steve Swell - Trombonist, Composer
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Steve Swell has been living, working and performing in New York City for most of his adult life. In an effort to find his own voice on his instrument and to learn to write and arrange in a style of his own, he has sought out, performed and recorded with many of the finest composers and improvisors in the city. He has recorded and toured with such diverse jazz personalities as mainstreamers Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich, to so-called outsiders like Anthony Braxton and Jemeel Moondoc. Swell has 18 recordings as a leader or co-leader and is a featured artist on more than seventy other releases.
Swell first came to public attention performing with Makanda Ken McIntyre in the multi-instrumentalist's concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1985 of which Herb Boyd of The Amsterdam News wrote, "Swell possesses a foreceful, but mature sound...with a vibrant syncopation..." Later, Swell came to international attention while touring in Europe and recording with alto saxophonist Tim Berne and his group "Caos Totale." There are two studio recordings of this band on the JMT label. During this time Steve also toured and recorded with Joey Baron's "Barondown" which has three releases; one for JMT, one on New World and the most recent for the Avant label.
Even though he is strongly identified with the "downtown scene", Swell has been developing his style in the more so-called "traditional avant-garde" arena. Co-leading such projects as "Space, Time, Swing" with Perry Robinson, being a sideman in William Parker's "Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra" and working with other similar people has kept him on this circuit. Dave McElfresh of Jazz Now wrote in a review of drummer Lou Grassi's CD, PoGressions, "Swell's powerful trombone zooms in and out of the music like a plane diving at a target. Players like himself - and music like this - are to be thanked for the revival of interest in the instrument."
Swell's newest CD, "Slammin' the Infinite" with Sabir Mateen, Matt Heyner and Klaus Kugel was released in November of 2004 on Cadence. CIMP also released a co-lead group with Gebhard Ullman called Desert Songs which has Barry Altschul and Hill Greene. Drimala Records will be releasing a duo recording with Dominic Duval. "Unified Theory Of Sound, This Now!" featuring Jemeel Moondoc, Wilber Morris, Cooper-Moore, Kevin Norton and Matt LaVelle was released on Cadence in 2003. Swell was also a featured soloist with Anthony Braxton in his opera, "Shala Fears For The Poor" performed at John Jay College in New York and recently taught a master class at New England Conservatory in Boston and is an artist/mentor in the NYC public school system.