Trigger
Albany, 2022
8/10
A project that brings together artists and their response to gun violence and its many forms, Trigger uses poetry to address the psychology, repercussions and religious ties of one of the biggest problems facing the country right now.
John Lane and Allen Otte come together with the eerie and atypical tinkering sounds that populate the spoken word fueled “Consumer Market”, and “Bring Many Names”, by Bonnie Whiting, follows with the atypical use of brass and winds, in a very iconoclastic version of jazz.
Further along, Nick Lantz’s “15 Acres” recruits Lane’s voice for the eloquent and very literate insight into today’s gun problem, while “Fury”, by Amanda Schoofs, is a very unusual mashing of percussion, field recordings, and vocals, all from Lane.
Nearing the end, “Coping” consists of 5 movements in the Lane fueled percussion and vocals that can sound like a child’s toy just as it can booming cymbals in the Danny Clay piece, and Otte’s “Three Contrafacta” is prepared piano, electronics and voice in the musically warm and lyrically devastating finish.
Both Lane and Otte have extensive resumes playing all over the world, and are both currently educators. Their combined talents and vision, as well as the critical wordplay present, all makes for an artistic and much needed commentary of just how dire the situation is with guns in America.
Travels well with: Eric Schorr- New York Pretending To Be Paris; Don Walker- Some Women’s Voices