September 07, 2008|By Tim Smith | Tim Smith,tim.smith@baltsun.com
Last January, a nondescript room on a floor above the Contemporary Museum in the Mount Vernon district suddenly got real "descript" as a new organization gave Baltimore's cultural life an unexpected shot in the arm, a shot with a welcome sting. It came in a musical form, with the performance of works by such provocative composers as Frederic Rzewski and Louis Andriessen, not to mention Vinko Globokar, represented by a piece that called for a young man to pound his fists on his bare chest and head while emitting all manner of guttural noises (you had to be there).
Welcome to Mobtown Modern.
"I looked at the music scene and the composers I wasn't seeing on programs, all the music not being performed that should be heard here," says saxophonist Brian Sacawa. He decided to do something about that, with the help of composer Erik Spangler.
Sacawa and Spangler were already performing together as a duo called the Hybrid Groove Project. Spangler is especially known for incorporating turntables into his music, a la hip-hop DJs.
The two men began their musical collaboration in 2004, when Sacawa, working on his doctorate at the University of Michigan, sought out composers to write pieces for him to play as part of a dissertation. A friend suggested Spangler, who had just received a doctorate in composition from Harvard University.
By that point, Spangler was already far from being an academic composer. "I didn't learn about turntables from any teachers at Harvard," he says. "A friend introduced me to underground hip-hop DJs. I started getting interested in sampling and re-mixing material. Part of my mission is having the turntable recognized as an instrument."
Spangler responded to Sacawa's request with the work pastlife laptops and attic instruments for alto sax, turntables and electronics. "For a nerdy saxophonist at a university, that was really neat," Sacawa says. "It is, hands down, my favorite of anything written for me."
The sax player, an upstate New York native and former Peabody Conservatory student, decided to settle in Baltimore in 2006. "I love everything about this city," he says. Sacawa, who got married last year, is a member of the U.S. Army Field Band (several of his colleagues in the band participate in Mobtown Modern concerts).
Iowa-born Spangler, who was living and teaching a few years ago in southwest Florida ("where the only live music came from Jimmy Buffett cover bands"), decided to move with his wife and young daughter to Baltimore, too. "This is a city where you have an opportunity to do something new," he says. He taught last year in a Baltimore charter school; this year he's an adjunct faculty member at MICA.
The tight musical rapport between the two men led easily to their collaboration on Mobtown Modern, which opens its second season on Tuesday at the Contemporary Museum.
Spangler came up with the idea of putting together "Mobtown," a nickname Baltimore acquired in the 19th century thanks to several mobs of rampaging citizens, and "Modern."
"I didn't want it to sound like an academic music series," he says. "And I liked the alliteration."
The first time Contemporary Museum executive director Irene Hofmann heard about Mobtown Modern, she was intrigued. "Brian made the case that there was a need and a desire and an audience for this kind of music," she says. "I loved the idea of bringing his programs into our museum. It has created such excitement among our board members and [museum] members."
That excitement has spread. "I have just learned that the Baltimore Community Foundation has given us some funding to support [Mobtown Modern]," Hofmann says. "I couldn't be more pleased."
There will be six concerts at the museum this season (up from two last season), featuring multiple performers playing some of the edgier repertoire from the 20th century and beginning of the 21st.
Long-established giants of contemporary music will turn up on the programs - from Milton Babbitt, Luciano Berio and Elliott Carter to Edgar Varese, Iannis Xenakis and Frank Zappa. A dynamic assortment of the current generation includes David Lang, John Luther Adams, Julia Wolfe and Ken Ueno.
It's the kind of lineup associated with the loft scene of Lower Manhattan, but it's not aimed at terminally trendy insiders.
"A lot of people are scared of new music, says Sacawa, 30. "We'd like to develop an audience for it, and we're trying to create a more inviting experience. This is something you can have fun with."
The space where most of Mobtown's performances take place invites informality. "We've got a lounge-type of environment," says Spangler, 32. "I think about the lighting at concerts, having a visual element that goes with the music. And having alcohol available."
The two men laugh. "Classical music could use a drink now and then, too," Sacawa says.
