Head of Music Dept. celebrates his status as Aluminum Alum

Peter Gordon, the head of the music department for the prestigious C.A.T. Program of Bloomfield College, was recently revealed to be a member of of the New York City downtown scene and a participant of the wildly popular Aluminum Nights at the Kitchen. Not familiar with the infamously rocking Aluminum Nights, you must have either been living under a rock or had the disadvantage of being born in the last 25 years or so.

"In June 1981, The Kitchen threw itself a behemoth tenth birthday party-cum-fundraiser at aTimes Square megaclub. Dubbed Aluminum Nights, the marathon event saw a capacity audience of many hundreds —including, all seem to recall, Mick Jagger backstage — enjoy a diversified array of the downtown sounds being nurtured at the crossroads of The Kitchen’s music program. In 2011, as part of its 40^th anniversary season, The Kitchen presents a distilled refraction of the Aluminum Music performed over that memorable weekend.

On Friday, April 15, Industrial music pioneer Z’EV demonstrates his hypnotic, ritualized solo percussion music on a shared bill with cherished No-Wavers,Bush Tetras. Saturday, April 16, features the pairing of former Kitchen Music Director (and Aluminum Nights co-curator) George Lewis’s electroacoustic anthem Homage to Charles Parker (1979) featuring Amina Claudine Myers(piano/organ), Reggie Nicholson (percussion), Matana Roberts (alto saxophone), and Richard Teitelbaum (synthesizers) with the epic disco-minimalism of PeterGordon’s Love of Life Orchestra, featuring contributions from Kitchen alums Ned Sublette (guitar) and Peter Zummo (trombone).Curated by Nick Hallett."

Still unsure of what is actually happening this weekend in New York City that is such a big deal? Well obviously the humble Mr. Gordon's cover was blown when the Wall Street Journal did something it likes to call investigative reporting and put a spotlight on this historic musical event. I wouldn't take my word for it, instead you should dig further and see what the world's leading financial publication has to say about this! Click here for the WSJ article on this raucous party and look below for more information and see history live with your own two, 'cause seeing is believing right? Or is it hearing????

On Friday and Saturday, April 15 and 16, The Kitchen presents Aluminum Music, two nights of music to celebrate the organization’s 40th Anniversary season, one of several special events to be held in 2011. This weekend is inspired by Aluminum Nights, a marathon of music, video and dance hosted by The Kitchen in June 1981 to commemorate its tenth anniversary.

Box Office Information: 212.255.5793 ext. 11 Tue-Sat, 2-6pm

The Kitchen 512 West 19th Street New York, NY 10011 www.thekitchen.org

By the way are you aware of who the real Peter Gordon is and was?

Peter Gordon formed the Love of Life Orchestra (LOLO) in 1977 to perform his heady mix of minimalist compositional practice and popular forms, bringing together musicians and artists from diverse genres and backgrounds. A recent retrospective on the DFA record label recalls the disco- oriented material from this period. Working with LOLO—which has ranged in size from a trio to over a dozen of New York's top musicians—Gordon has performed hundreds of concerts internationally. A string of commissions in the mid-1980s, including the score for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s Secret Pastures (BAM) and the video opera with Kit Fitzgerald, Return of the Native (BAM) solidified Gordon’s reputation for bringing “the street into the opera house” (New York Times), in addition to earning him Obie and Bessie awards.