MULTIMEDIA

Duo ‘knot’ afraid to push jazz norms

Jazz requires a keen ear and a loose interpretation of the rules allowing the artists to play off one another for pure improvisation. Jazz is a conversation. That’s why the Columbus-based jazz duo The Knots decided to face each other from behind their respective drum kit and L-shaped keyboard-piano combo when they joined The Post for Athens Sessions back in January. The duo does a lot to experiment with various sounds, both natural and electronic, switching between a Yeezus-like bass sound on the keyboard and the frantic high-pitched strike of the hammer on the piano’s strings.You can see The Knots perform two of their original songs at thepost.ohiou.edu. We sat down with the Ohio University graduates to discuss their days on campus and the new sound they are trying to make for a college crowd that might not always rank jazz among their favorite genres.The Post: Did your years at OU help prepare you for this project like this?Troy Kunkler: Yeah, definitely that’s how me and Caleb met.Caleb Miller: Yeah, that’s how we were influenced to where we are today. TK: Right in the same dorm.CM: Freshman year, then four years after that we did this.TK: I never really played with Caleb that much in school this has just happened since we graduated.CM: Very recently … this past fall is when the idea came together and now we’ve really just started pushing for it.The songs you’ve played for us are all original tunes, correct? TK: Yeah, we also have some covers. We have Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear and Blink 182.CM: A lot of indie rock bands.How does that translate to piano and drums in a jazz setting?CM: I think pretty well. We change some of the other aspects of it that maybe it’s not totally clear. We’ll change the harmony, change the meter, change the tempo, so maybe it’s in the sky, it’s not direct.TK: It’s more like a lullaby version of the original tune. … I think one of the important things about covering popular newer tunes like that is that until lately jazz standards have been tunes that were originally recorded in the ‘20s and ‘30s and ‘40s — the great American songbook. We’re just taking the tunes of our time, which one of our favorite groups The Bad Plus has been doing with songs from their generation.Your setup today is the two of you facing each other, can you tell us why you chose that arrangement?CM: There’s only two of us, so I think it’s the most direct to have this type of communication when you’re able to see each other. A lot of our communication is unspoken because we’re not using words per se. So maybe the height of my hands… TK: If I can see his hands I know what he’s doing.CM: I can cue things that way, he can cue things that way and it allows us more control when we’re facing this way, you don’t have to strain yourself.wh092010@ohiou.edu@WILBUR_HOFFMan

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Cartoon: 3/13/14

Snowball’s last stand  This week’s Throwback Thursday photograph comes to us from the front page of the Jan. 14, 1977, edition of The Post. A staff photographer captured the snowy West Green ambush when — well, how about we let the original caption tell the story:“With the same innocence that took Custer to the Little Big Horn and Wayne Hays into Liz Ray’s bed, freshmen Scott Highfield and Rich Shomo stride confidently around the corner of Irvine Hall, to be met by the frigid force of fellow freshman Brian Smith.The reasons for Smith’s vengeful actions we can only speculate upon. Perhaps he is the fourth in a menage a trois, or maybe sixth man on the dormitory basketball team. Or it could just be he’s jealous because they can grow beards and he can’t.” (Photo by scott Demuesy) 

Athens Sessions: Knots

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PREGAME

Student comedy troupe 3 Black Pencils set for MemAud performance debut

Although Blue Pencil Comedy and Black Sheep Improv have been performing annually inside Baker University Center, their next upcoming event has them moving to a new, larger location.For its third collaboration show, 3 Black Pencils will be seen in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Thursday.“Being in MemAud is really scary but also so exciting,” said Hannah Ticoras, president of Black Sheep Improv and a junior studying English. “We were super honored that Event Services contacted us to do this show. They’re trying to get more student groups able to use the theatre in the future. The biggest challenge is probably just getting used to the new space — the new, big space. We definitely hope that if this show is successful that we can go back and do even bigger shows with more student groups. “The show will feature Blue Pencil comedians Ben Nutter, Jessica Ensley, a former Post reporter, and Eric Farley, as they will each perform five minutes of material with their assigned troupe members. Together, they will perform an improv show based on the comedian’s set.“I thought it would be interesting to see what the improv guys would do with some of my material,” Farley said. “I was surprised to find out the scale of the show and the stage we’re performing on. My hope is that with a show this size, more people will become aware of the great comedy Athens has to offer.”Although no payment will be required, the groups request that a three-dollar donation be given at the door.“For the audience, we just always hope to make them laugh,” Ticoras said. “It’s really interesting being a college improv troupe because everyone is so stressed for the whole week, including us, and then we get to create this space where everyone can forget about all the work they have to do for an hour and just have fun. It’s really therapeutic for us in that way as well, at least for me.”With the lineup of comedians who have recently performed, especially as of late, at Mem Aud, Taylor Reinhart, president of Blue Pencil Comedy and a senior studying English, said he considers it an honor for he and his fellow comedians to be welcomed on this stage.“Considering the number of great comedians that have been at Mem Aud of late, we think that it’s a super cool opportunity for us to be able to perform here, “ Reinhart said.  “It’s a great opportunity for us to spread the word on our comedy and to help us set the stage for more great opportunities in the future.”wa054010@ohiou.eduThis article originally ran in print under the headline "Student comedy troupe set for MemAud performance debut"

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Duo 'knot' afraid to push jazz norms

Jazz requires a keen ear and a loose interpretation of the rules allowing the artists to play off one another for pure improvisation. Jazz is a conversation. 

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Student comedy troupe set for MemAud performance debut

Although Blue Pencil Comedy and Black Sheep Improv have been performing annually inside Baker University Center, their next upcoming event has them moving to a new, larger location.

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