In the new Philadelphia Weekly:
Tim Berne’s Los Totopos
Thu., June 24, 8pm. $12. Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 S. 18th St. 215.545.4302 www.arsnovaworkshop.org
For the last 30 years, alto saxophonist Tim Berne has developed a singularly challenging body of work for a host of different lineups (Bloodcount, Caos Totale, Big Satan, more). He recently struck up a creative rapport with young Philly-based keyboardist Matt Mitchell, who brings formidable skills to two of Berne’s newest projects, Adobe Probe and this week’s featured band Los Totopos (“chips”). (Mitchell also appeared at the Vision Festival on June 21 with Berne’s Lowest Common Denominator, featuring Herb Robertson and Dan Weiss.) Together with clarinetist/bass clarinetist Oscar Noriega and drummer Ches Smith, Berne and Mitchell grapple with skewed beats and lines of careening intricacy, mapping the porous border between stringent writing and throw-out-the-rule-book improv. Mitchell’s facility with acoustic and electronic sound gives Los Totopos all the more sonic edge. — David R. Adler
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