Encounters returns for a new season of creative music hosted by Philly trombonist Dan Blackberg every 3rd Sunday at Studio 34.
For our February 2024 edition, Dan trios with Alex Smith and Leah Basarab from local AfroQueer spacepunk band Rainbow Crimes.
Percussion soundscaper Ravish Momin returns from tour with his solo project Sunken Cages to play his first Philly set of the year.
Come early as always to see the art on our walls and enjoy some fresh baked treats with a cuppa tea!
BIOS-
Alex Smith is a speculative fiction writer, collage artist, and vocalist, keyboardist, and lyricist in avant-garde bands Spectral Forces and Solarized. He draws from influences like science fiction, Dadaism, and comic art, bending their conventions to frame the creativity, survival, and hopefulness of queer and Black people. He curates two recurring series: a queer sci-fi reading series titled Laser Life, which he also founded, and what Smith describes as a “retro-futurist electro mash-up art-jam,” Chrome City. “I want space to create worlds,” Smith notes, “within the minds of people searching for reflection of themselves, and in the practical world as well; active spaces embodied, emboldened and empowered by a cyberpunk retelling of our past, stitched together with whatever resources are available to grant us—queer Black people—access to the future.” Smith has lectured and held workshops on the practical application of Afrofuturism and sci-fi and fantasy tropes in art at Moogfest, Moore College of Art & Design, the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University, Vox Populi, and Swarthmore College.
Ravish Momin is an Indian-born drummer, electronic music producer and educator residing in New York City. A Structural/Civil Engineer by training, Momin also privately studied with Jazz master-drummer Andrew Cyrille for years while he worked as an engineer in New York City in the late 1990s. He quit his engineering practice in 2003 to become a professional musician. His unique approach quickly led him to work as a sideman with a diverse cast of musicians ranging from to legendary avant-saxophonist Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (of the AACM) to pop-star Shakira. Momin is the recipient of grants/commissions from New Music USA, Meet The Composer, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, US Artists International and NYSCA (New York State Council on the Arts.)