Gawell/Hopkins/Ellman-Bell–performed by Rachel Gawell-cello; AH-bass; Nathan Ellman-Bell-drums, October 2009 as part of the Out of Your Head Collective
Out of Your Head is both a collective of improvising musicians in Baltimore as well as a weekly performance event at the Windup Space. Bassist Adam Hopkins and guitarist Matt Frazao (both of Quartet Offensive) founded OOYH in January 2009 to help expand the creative music scene in Baltimore. OOYH is currently 50+ musicians strong, including Baltimore-based and internationally-renowned improvisors: Dave Ballou, John Dierker, Will Redman, Susan Alcorn, Michael Formanek and others.
Every Tuesday night, Hopkins and Frazao select a group of musicians from the collective (usually two to six people) to perform two sets of improvised music—forming groups that have never rehearsed nor played together. Each performance is an improvised exploration, and varies greatly because of the unique pairings of musicians, but the results are always original and interesting.
One long-term goal of OOYH is to bring musicians to Baltimore from out-of-town to perform with collective ensembles. In our first year we welcomed improvisers from Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Montreal For our One-Year Anniversary show on March 2, 2009 we featured tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin from New York, and our Two-Year Anniversary featured alto saxophonist Andrew D’Angelo. We are currently seeking funding to allow for more frequent collaborations with musicians from outside Baltimore who are at the forefront of the international improvised music community. Out of Your Head was recently recognized as “Best Band” in Baltimore City Paper’s “Best of Baltimore” issue for 2010.
