"Outpost Artists Resources is home to a number of treasures. One of the most intriguing to me has been the 88-key Fender Rhodes electric piano that was gifted by Steve Reich to our very own David Weinstein for work David did for the composer in the 80s. The instrument came out of storage in 2018 and a few months later, Fire Over Heaven programmer Che Chen put the Rhodes into a Just Intonation tuning he describes as “a mathematical found object, closer to the language of gongs than keyboards,” full of heady consonances and intense beating dissonances that are enhanced by the unruliness of the instrument.

For the January 22nd FOH concert, I’ve invited Ka Baird and Henry Birdsey to present music for our microtonal Rhodes. They’ve been coming to the Outpost to spend time listening and exploring its possibilities, and I’m very excited by what I’ve overheard.

In 2020, Ka played the Rhodes in a small ensemble that Che and David put together to record for a WFMU fundraiser CD, and I quite liked Ka's approach to the instrument. Ka's recent music has focused on electronics and extended microphone techniques (their Mobile Microphone work is particularly revelatory), so it will be a rare treat to hear them play the keyboard.

Henry’s wonderfully melancholic album “Laments for Rhodes Piano in Just Intonation” is what got me thinking of putting this evening together in the first place, and his patient approach to coaxing unusual but beautiful sounds from the many instruments he plays is always great to listen to. Our Rhodes is in a different tuning than the one he used on the album, so attendees of the concert will get to hear music created just for this occasion.

Breaking with the otherwise solo keyboard format of the evening, Che will lead a trio with himself on the Rhodes and long-time collaborators Talice Lee on violin and Barry Weisblaton electronics. Together they’ll take the instrument outside of the “idealized (and frequently fetishized) space of just intonation, into a messy reality of simultaneously intuited trajectories." I will begin the concert with a brief exploration of the lowest notes on this piano, which seem to oscillate according to their own agenda."

- Ian Douglas-Moore

Ka Baird is a performer, musician, sound artist and composer based in New York City. Using extended voice and microphone techniques along with electronics, field recordings and traditional instrumentation, they explore the outer dimensions of sound through performance. Baird's performances seek new hybrids of expression that expand notions of hearing, feeling and being present. They have collaborated with many other artists, both in structured compositions and in their dedicated practice of improvisation.

Henry Birdsey is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and recording engineer from Vermont, primarily working with bagpipes, harmonicas, pedal steel, and lap steel. His music is often drone-based, slow-forming, and usually involves altered and expanded tunings.