Hi-Fi Sky

Hi-Fi Sky

Slow Six

Slow Six

Slow Six

Slow Six

The Gatherings was back for October. Halloween weekend already, and my gaggle of friends all came to St. Mary's shaking their heads at how very long ago the summer seemed to be. Two musical groups, one from the South and one from the North, converged on Philadelphia to play to a crowd that was regrettably a little smaller than usual. I think the weather certainly took most of the blame: this Saturday night was bitingly cold, with fierce winds crisscrossing the Penn campus, and on the radio the weatherman never stopped ominously intoning the words "heavy showers." And yet, on this night, the music came through for those people who bravely bundled up, sat down in the sanctuary, and opened their ears.

The first group brought the melodies of New Orleans to the church, helping perhaps to do a little something to cleanse everyone's minds of the negative energy now tied to that city's name. Hi-Fi Sky opened up the evening in fine style with the opening track from their debut album, Music For Synchronized Swimming in Space. The gentle lilting melodies of "Ocean Bear" swung and bobbed like falling feathers, while tree branches rustled furiously in the gale outside. Alexandra Scott played her guitar with her eyes fixed, enraptured, on the back wall of the church, where Jeff Towne's lighting danced and spun in time to the music. Tim Sommer, clad in a work shirt and black suspenders, kept his eyes low and bobbed back and forth. For this performance, I was surprised to see that the group had added a third member, Alex Maiolo, who came into orbit around Tim during post-Katrina evacuations. His accompanying guitar parts were fuzzed out almost beyond recognition, adding a slightly psychedelic sheen to the pastoral melodies of the other two. Sadly, Alexandra stayed away from the microphone during "Ocean Bear", leaving it without the vocal accompaniment that really made the album version soar. But the set improved with slow and sweet instrumental pieces and gorgeous vocal interludes from Alexandra, whose voice filled up the church with warmth (had those radiators kicked in yet?).

Hi-Fi Sky's last gig was at a coffeehouse in New Orleans, not long before Katrina came to the Gulf Coast, and this return to the stage was cathartic. A smile rarely left Alexandra's face as she played and sang. She wrapped up with a plea to remember the plight of their home state, and a simple folk song, to commemorate its beauty. "Belle Louisiane, je chante mon coeur pour toi," she sang, tilting her head back and wiping tears from her eyes on the final measure. The applause was enthusiastic, and the joy on the faces of Hi-Fi Sky showed that perhaps some closure had come as the last note melted away.

After intermission, Chuck van Zyl introduced Slow Six, an ensemble from New York City that jumped out of the gate with a burst of radio static. (Or was it those radiators hissing into life?) Christopher Tignor stood illuminated on the altar with a tiny AM radio in hand, tweaking the dial and knitting his brow. The muffled voices on the radio soon became compressed and processed out of existence, replaced by a digital squall. The church seemed to hold its breath in puzzlement. What was coming next? Then bow was put to violin and the music took over. One by one the players came to life - a drummer, an electric guitar, Rhodes piano and violins. In contrast to the growing prevalence of laptop-only bands, Slow Six filled the stage, and the players made the show actually felt like a show. Tignor and company played and swayed, elbows flying and fingers plucking, gesturing to each other with small, urgent movements.

Several long pieces made up Slow Six's hour-long set, each starting out with gently intertwined melodies that opened up into long solos when the guitar and drums came lumbering in. In contrast to the quiet repose of their album pieces, the drummer and the strings played off each other in intensely rhythmic fashion, while improvisations on the Rhodes added depth. I was struck by the overarching unity at work in such abstraction - while at times giving off a bit of a "jamming" sensibility, the music never made me feel lost for a moment. Several heads were bopping enthusiastically, most notably John Diliberto over in the next pew.

The set ended with an untitled "seasonal" piece, dark and mournful, after which Tignor was interviewed by van Zyl and took questions from the audience. When fielding the inevitable inquiry into the band's name, he enigmatically said, "Count to six slowly, and you've just about got it." On a more practical note, though, Christopher spoke of the shortcomings of "naming" music, a quick roster of the band's classical training, the relatively new addition of the drummer (last week!), and his desire to paint the concert as a communal event, instead of the deadpan message delivery that it can sometimes be. But listeners at the Gatherings know that such a thing already takes place under the roof of this church; even on so cold a night, people enjoyed each other, and the music defied easy description even as it crackled with warmth.

Scott Kelly (DJ Kel)

• Official Website: http://www.slowsix.com
• Profile at Habitat of Creation: http://www.habitofcreation.org/slow_six.html
• STAR'S END Profile: http://www.starsend.org/slowsix.html

• Official Website: http://www.hi-fisky.com
• MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hifisky
• STAR'S END Profile: http://www.starsend.org/hifisky.html