Music for the Garden (2024)
performance (duration variable)
presented at The High Line, June 25-26, 2024; curated by Taylor Zakarin
From the High Line:
Ellis presents Music for the Garden and Celebrating Stuttering Voices, a series of performances that combine music, poetry, ceremonial space, and nature to highlight and honor those who stutter. The two-part performance is composed of music and spoken word. The first two performances, Music for the Garden, take place on the Lawn at 23rd Street, and include a combination of live saxophone and electronic sound. Ellis views this as a musical intervention for both the people and the plants on the High Line. The artist worked with the High Line horticulture team to learn about the various plants growing by the Lawn, and incorporated this research into their musical performance—as JJJJJerome paces around the garden with their saxophone, they name and discuss the various species. In this vein, Music for the Garden is as much about creating music for the site and the human audience, as it is creating music for the flower and plant audience.
A brief description of the music played in Music for the Garden:
Ellis performs the music with tenor saxophone, electronic sounds from a laptop, and their voice. Most of the music is slow and without a steady beat.
In some moments, the electronic sounds are like a forest, and Ellis’ saxophone like a bird flying through it. In some moments, there are low, droning notes; the audience may feel these low notes as vibrations in their bodies. In some moments, Ellis’ voice sings the names of plant species that grow on the High Line. Ellis often sings in falsetto—their voice can be quiet and breathy.
The different sections of the music fade in and out of each other gradually.
Ellis likens the performance to making soup: different musical ingredients are added one by one, melding to (hopefully) form something with deep flavor!
