Join Wooden Cities to celebrate the release of their second album, PLAY, on Infrasonic Press.

Available for download here: https://woodencities.bandcamp.com/album/play

On the program, works by:
Mauricio Kagel
Will Redman
Anthony Braxton
Poetry from Kurt Schwitters and Gertrude Stein arranged by Ethan Hayden

“Wooden Cities deftly traverses every area of the musical map with the second release of their planned triptych. They continue to make challenging music accessible to all, and their sense of adventure is deeply rooted by superior musicianship and innate sensitivity.” -Aaron Staebell, composer and percussionist

Evan Courtin, violin and voice
Brendan Fitzgerald, percussion and voice
Ethan Hayden, trombone and voice
Megan Kyle, oboe and English horn
Michael McNeill, piano
Zane Merritt, guitar
Katie Weissman, ‘cello and voice

Coming four years after the release of their debut album, WORK, Buffalo based new music collective Wooden Cities returns with their second release, PLAY. Embracing lighter, more whimsical subject matter than its predecessor, the album leans into the playful—and occasionally volatile— absurdity that regional audiences will know from the ensemble's live performances. The album is structured around four realizations from Baltimore composer Will Redman's graphic score magnum opus, Book. In these spirited interpretations, the septet surveys a range of textures from dense, sinewy counterpoint to threadbare pianissimos, while always taking advantage of the piece's deeply-rooted expressive freedom. The remainder of the album explores three lively sound poetry pieces, beginning with a riotous four-voice arrangement of Berlin Dadaist Kurt Schwitters' Ribble Bobble Pimlico. The band ludicrously alternates between reassuring whispers and clamorous chants while articulating the titular nonsensical words in ever-sillier combinations. This vein of exploration continues on two pieces by members of the ensemble: trombonist Ethan Hayden's setting of an excerpt of Gertrude Stein's poem "In", and violinist Evan Courtin's setting of Marina Blitshteyn's "Good Form," the latter a darkly comic rendering of a discomfiting interior monologue.

Formed in 2011 as a structured improv orchestra, Wooden Cities has since garnered a reputation for their dynamic performances of both improvised and notated works of new and experimental music from a wide variety of composers. PLAY is the second in a trilogy of albums (WORK/PLAY/REST), with the third coming in 2024.