André Vida (born 1974) is an American-born German saxophonist, lyricist, avant-garde musician, and experimental composer.[1] Vida has been on the forefront of several major developments in experimental music, including his membership in Anthony Braxton’s original Ghost Trance Ensemble, as founding member of New York collective the CTIA, performances with The Tower Recordings and subsequent ‘freak folk’ groups. He is based in Berlin.[2]

André Vida
Also known asVidatone
Born1974 (age 49–50)
OriginUnited States
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Instrumentalist, lyricist, composer
Instrument(s)Saxophone
Websitewww.vidatone.com

Early life and education edit

André Vida was born in 1974 in the United States.[3][4] His father was Julius A. Vida (1928–2018), a Hungarian refugee to the U.S. during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956;[5] and a prominent chemist and pharmaceutical businessperson in Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S..[5] His sister is visual artist, Katie Vida.[5]

Throughout the 1990s, Vida played in bands with Anthony Braxton, a professor of music at Wesleyan University.[6] In 1995, Vida moved to New York City and co-founded the Creative Trans-Informational Alliance Presents (CTIA) with Brandon Evans and Dominique Eade.[7] Vida graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997.[8] He received a M.F.A. degree in experimental sound practices in 2005 from the school of music at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).[9][10]

Career edit

In 2001, Vida moved to Berlin and soon after launched the Kreuzberg suite, a once a week concert series with Vida and a frequently changing musical guest creating improvisational music around the subject of "Fish And Green".[2]

His musical language is informed by an awareness of the human body and its limits. Vida worked in a collaboration with Anri Sala for the exhibition "3-2-1" at The Serpentine Gallery in London. Vida was scheduled to perform over 400 improvisational saxophone concerts over the course of 51 days (from October 1 to November 20, 2011).[11][12]

Vida was an Eyebeam Honorary Fellow in 2013.[13][14] In 2013, as part of the Global Art Forum 7, Vida performed "Score" at the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, challenging the question what if we spoke music instead of words?[15]

2015 Sculpture Park, Frieze Art Fair London presented a live performance by Anri Sala in collaboration with André Vida. The piece is called To Each His Own (in Bridges), it is based on 74 pieces of music, combining fragments of jazz, folk, and pop songs played on the saxophone, clarinet and trombone.[16]

In 2016, Vida participated in the art exhibition, "Anri Sala: Answer Me,” at the New Museum in New York City.[17] Vida live improvises sound with his saxophone next to a video of Jemeel Moondoc’s performance, shot on the balcony of a building in Berlin.[17]

Vida has collaborated with artists such as; Elton John, MV & EE, Anaïs Croze, Kevin Blechdom, Oni Ayhun, Tim Exile, Anri Sala, James Tenney, David Rosenboom, Sonny Simmons, Cecil Taylor, Lee Ranaldo, Heatsick, Jim O'Rourke, Dean Roberts, Tony Buck, Hildur Gudnadottir, Jimmy Edgar, Chilly Gonzales, Mocky, Tyshawn Sorey, Susie Ibarra, Guillermo E. Brown, and many others.[18]

Discography edit

Year Title Artist(s) Vida's Role Label Notes
1994 Composition No. 8 'Pinnacles & Tentacles Brandon Evans Quintet (Hildegard Kleeb, André Vida, Joe Fonda, Eric Rosenthal, Brandon Evans) Soprano saxophone, Hungarian shepherd's flute (Track 3) Parallactic [19]
1994 Small Ensemble Music (Wesleyan) 1994 Anthony Braxton Baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone (track 1) Splasc(H)
1995 The Sky Has Melted Away Brandon Evans, Andre Vida, and Dominique Eade Soprano, alto, tenor saxophone, Hungarian shepherd flute [7]
1996 Tentet (New York) 1996 Anthony Braxton B♭ soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone Braxton House
1997 Octet (New York) 1995 Anthony Braxton Braxton House
1999 Four Compositions (Washington, D.C.) 1998 Anthony Braxton Braxton House
2001 GTM (Knitting Factory) 1997 Anthony Braxton Braxton House
2001 Folkscene The Tower Recordings Communion [20]
2002 Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 1 Anthony Braxton Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone Leo
2003 Parallactic 54 Anthony Braxton, Sonny Simmons, Brandon Evans, Shanir Blumenkranz, Andre Vida, and Mike Pride Baritone Saxophone Parallactic 2 CD set, recorded May 2003 at Wesleyan University
2003 Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 2 Anthony Braxton Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone Leo
2005 Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 3 Anthony Braxton Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone Leo
2005 Multiply Jamie Lidell Horns Warp Records
2005 Child Real Eyes Andre Vida, Anthony Braxton, Loren Dempster, Tyshawn Sorey As band leader, composer, reeds Vidatone Recordings
2007 Ninetet (Yoshi's) 1997 Vol. 4 Anthony Braxton Leo
2008 I Dont Know Whats Wrong With Me, My Computer Eyes Or My Internet Knees Andre Vida As band leader Insubordinations [21]
2008 1956: Solo Saxophone Andre Vida As band leader [22]
2011 BRUD Volumes I - III: 1995–2011 Andre Vida As band leader Pan [21]
2011 Quartet (Mannheim) 2010 Anthony Braxton Alto saxophone, baritone saxophone New Braxton House Recorded at Enjoy Jazz Festival, Mannheim, Germany.
2012 Quintet (Tristano) 1997 Anthony Braxton New Braxton House

Publications edit

  • Vida, André; Lissoni, Andrea; Wood, Catherine (2017). Tarek Atoui: The Reverse Collection/the Reverse Session. Mousse Publishing. ISBN 9788867492596.

References edit

  1. ^ "Andre Vida". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  2. ^ a b "Kultur, Jazz: Melodien für die Nachbarin". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  3. ^ "Andre Vida". Cafe Oto. 2015.
  4. ^ "André Vida • Augmenting the Now". Yellow Solo. 2020-01-09. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  5. ^ a b c "Julius A. Vida". Greenwich Sentinel. June 14, 2018. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021.
  6. ^ "Days May Be Shorter, But List of Activities Is Plenty Long". Newspapers.com. Hartford Courant. 29 October 1997. p. 78. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  7. ^ a b "Brandon Evans / Andre Vida / Dominique Eade [CTIA-NYC] 1995". Brandon Evans. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  8. ^ "Stanley Maxwell -". Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  9. ^ "Composer Cat Lamb Featured in The Wire". News From California Institute of the Arts. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  10. ^ "Alumni 2005 | Experimental Sound Practices". esp.calarts.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  11. ^ "Anri Sala at Serpentine". Beverley Knowles. 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  12. ^ "Serpentine Gallery Review: '3-2-1' - Andre Vida at Anri Sala exhibition". LondonJazz News. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  13. ^ "André Vida | eyebeam.org". www.eyebeam.org. Archived from the original on 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  14. ^ "Rizomatika: September 2013". rizomatika.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
  15. ^ "Global Art Forum 7: SCORE (Performance by Andre Vida)". YouTube. Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  16. ^ "VernissageTV: Anri Sala (with André Vida): To Each His Own (in Bridges). Live Performance". YouTube. VernissageTV. 2015-11-11. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  17. ^ a b Smith, Roberta (2016-02-04). "'Anri Sala: Answer Me' Offers Symphonic Experience From Floor to Floor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  18. ^ "PAN20 Andre Vida – Brud: Volumes I-III | PAN". p-a-n.org. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  19. ^ "Brandon Evans [Quintet] Wesleyan 1994 Hildegard Kleeb, André Vida, Joe Fonda, Eric Rosenthal". Brandon Evans. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  20. ^ "THE TOWER RECORDINGS - Folkscene". Boomkat. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  21. ^ a b "André Vida* - Brud: Volumes I-III (1995-2011)". Discogs. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  22. ^ "Album 1956, by André Vida". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2016-02-05.

External links edit