Carol Genetti / Peter Maunu - Gleaners
No matter how you approach it, Gleaners will stretch your mind. Just what are Carol Genetti (voice, electronics) and Peter Maunu (guitar, violin, mandolin) gleaning? Not other people’s music, that’s for sure. Maybe the languages of long-extinct species, confidences exchanged between dusty appliances that come to life after the staff leaves the thrift shop, ideas about what instruments might sound like if you see them in pictures. Even when Maunu resorts to rock-ish fuzztones or Genetti exhales an unspooling coo, their co-creations are resolutely sui generis. Their partnership has been honed through years of regular performance, often with other Chicago-based musicians, which likely explains the brisk confidence that this resolutely abstract music exudes. Genetti is a ceramic artist as well as a musician, and the physical manifestation of this album comes in two forms. She made ten one-of-a-kind clay cases that you can mount on a wall; the regular CDs come in a folio adorned with close-ups of the art edition.
Reviewed by Bill Meyer for Dusted
Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu’s music might best be described as genre bending, stream of consciousness, improvised spontaneous composition. Drawing on elements from the second Viennese School is as natural and organic as a contrasting modal, folk inspired melody, albeit with a deranged noise accompaniment. Investigations of delicate sounds might be interrupted by abstractions of animal voices. Quick reflexes determine sudden directional shifts, allowing the music to adapt to its new condition. The instrumentation generates a wide variety of colors and textures. Carol Genetti’s haunting voice deconstructed by her electronics plus Peter Maunu’s various electronically processed stringed instruments result in a cinematic soundscape from an alternate universe.
Documenting Genetti and Maunu’s ongoing collaboration, Gleaners is a project which is long overdue. Genetti and Maunu first met and played together over a decade ago, and have continued to perform as a duo. In 2013, Maunu founded Splice Series (which he currently co-curates and hosts with Genetti), a bimonthly Chicago series, where musicians from varied genres are invited to improvise together. Examples might include the combination of a new music, classically trained composer/improviser with a free jazz horn player, or a computer improviser who also incorporates real time processing of the other musicians. The series functions as an incubator for the experimental music community.
As a visual and tactile response to this music, Genetti created a special edition of ten ceramic reliefs in relation to the Gleaners release. Each relief—made specifically as a wall-hanging which could also house a CD—reflects the raw, gestural and fragile quality of the music. Photographs of these ceramic pieces constitute the artwork for the CD packaging itself.
Genetti is an improvisational vocalist and sound artist who has been an important figure in the Chicago improvisation scene for several decades. She is a multi-media artist whose work encompasses ceramics, painting/drawing as well as video projection and sound installation.
Maunu, a transplant from LA, has performed and recorded with countless musicians across multiple contexts, including touring, composing, nightly live television, film scores and records. Since relocating to Chicago, he has primarily been involved in improvisation.
Carol Genetti - voice and electronics
Peter Maunu - violin, guitar, mandolin and processing
Recorded on January 6, 7, 8, 2023, at Marmalade, Chicago, IL.
Recording, mixing, mastering by Bill Harris.
Layout by Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu.
Photography by Bill Harris.
All music by Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu.
All images are photos of ceramic wall reliefs created by Carol Genetti.
Produced in a limited edition of 10, each was specifically created to house a CD from this release.
Thanks to Bill Harris for his dedicated support and enthusiasm throughout the realization of this project.
No matter how you approach it, Gleaners will stretch your mind. Just what are Carol Genetti (voice, electronics) and Peter Maunu (guitar, violin, mandolin) gleaning? Not other people’s music, that’s for sure. Maybe the languages of long-extinct species, confidences exchanged between dusty appliances that come to life after the staff leaves the thrift shop, ideas about what instruments might sound like if you see them in pictures. Even when Maunu resorts to rock-ish fuzztones or Genetti exhales an unspooling coo, their co-creations are resolutely sui generis. Their partnership has been honed through years of regular performance, often with other Chicago-based musicians, which likely explains the brisk confidence that this resolutely abstract music exudes. Genetti is a ceramic artist as well as a musician, and the physical manifestation of this album comes in two forms. She made ten one-of-a-kind clay cases that you can mount on a wall; the regular CDs come in a folio adorned with close-ups of the art edition.
Reviewed by Bill Meyer for Dusted
Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu’s music might best be described as genre bending, stream of consciousness, improvised spontaneous composition. Drawing on elements from the second Viennese School is as natural and organic as a contrasting modal, folk inspired melody, albeit with a deranged noise accompaniment. Investigations of delicate sounds might be interrupted by abstractions of animal voices. Quick reflexes determine sudden directional shifts, allowing the music to adapt to its new condition. The instrumentation generates a wide variety of colors and textures. Carol Genetti’s haunting voice deconstructed by her electronics plus Peter Maunu’s various electronically processed stringed instruments result in a cinematic soundscape from an alternate universe.
Documenting Genetti and Maunu’s ongoing collaboration, Gleaners is a project which is long overdue. Genetti and Maunu first met and played together over a decade ago, and have continued to perform as a duo. In 2013, Maunu founded Splice Series (which he currently co-curates and hosts with Genetti), a bimonthly Chicago series, where musicians from varied genres are invited to improvise together. Examples might include the combination of a new music, classically trained composer/improviser with a free jazz horn player, or a computer improviser who also incorporates real time processing of the other musicians. The series functions as an incubator for the experimental music community.
As a visual and tactile response to this music, Genetti created a special edition of ten ceramic reliefs in relation to the Gleaners release. Each relief—made specifically as a wall-hanging which could also house a CD—reflects the raw, gestural and fragile quality of the music. Photographs of these ceramic pieces constitute the artwork for the CD packaging itself.
Genetti is an improvisational vocalist and sound artist who has been an important figure in the Chicago improvisation scene for several decades. She is a multi-media artist whose work encompasses ceramics, painting/drawing as well as video projection and sound installation.
Maunu, a transplant from LA, has performed and recorded with countless musicians across multiple contexts, including touring, composing, nightly live television, film scores and records. Since relocating to Chicago, he has primarily been involved in improvisation.
Carol Genetti - voice and electronics
Peter Maunu - violin, guitar, mandolin and processing
Recorded on January 6, 7, 8, 2023, at Marmalade, Chicago, IL.
Recording, mixing, mastering by Bill Harris.
Layout by Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu.
Photography by Bill Harris.
All music by Carol Genetti and Peter Maunu.
All images are photos of ceramic wall reliefs created by Carol Genetti.
Produced in a limited edition of 10, each was specifically created to house a CD from this release.
Thanks to Bill Harris for his dedicated support and enthusiasm throughout the realization of this project.