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NOTE: Please note the change in date! Originally scheduled for September 28th, the concert is being moved to October 19th! Mark your calendar and please come! Will you be coming to Becoming Human @ Amity Gallery?
Becoming Human is five people (Marji Zintz on vocals, guitar, and percussion; EC Lorick on vocals; Jim Kunkel on guitars; Mickey Kopchak on bass, effects, and vocals; and Larry Balestra on percussion) who have been making lots of music for lots of years and are coming together now for this special, artful, moving, evocative project.
What the people say:
"Melodic and chaotic, carried to other realms of thought and sound. Lyrically strong, vocally enchanted, musically captivated. I will do my best to see Becoming Human again as soon as I can. Thank you for a wonderful musical experience." (Ralph C.)
"If Flora Purim and Pat Matheny had a baby, this is what it would sound like." (Fran P.)
Who is Becoming Human:
Becoming Human ~ Songs of observation, realization & transformation
Becoming Human performs music composed by guitarist Jim Kunkel and bassist Mickey Kopchack. They explore and inhabit many genres across the musical spectrum, from folk to jazz, modal to avant-garde, spiritual to classical to Brazilian. They honor the space and each other’s unique “voice,” creating and holding a fertile ground for conversation, interplay, improvisation, and emotion.
Vocalist Marji Zintz brings a long and diverse performance resume, working in myriad settings since the '70s as a solo vocalist and guitarist. She has also performed in voice/double bass duets with such notable players as Mike Richmond, Jay Anderson, Josef Pelletier, and Vin Warner. She also worked in a progressive jazz-based ensemble that included Erik Lawrence on reeds and Jim Kunkel on guitar, often using her voice as one of the horns. She has worked in collaboration with improvisational vocalists Victoria Christgau and Shula Ruth Weinstein in a mostly a capella recording and performance project called Sister Sound, and has arranged, recorded, and performed with many other innovative musical projects over the years. She teaches guitar and coaches voice and harmony in the Hudson Valley.
E.C. Lorick is an extremely gifted, insightful, captivating songwriter and performer. His musicianship and composition skills are world-class. He plays the guitar, the bass, and the harmonica like no one else. Effortlessly, beautifully, dynamically. He is a storyteller for the ages, and offers compelling and honest perspectives about his chosen subjects, never insulting our intelligence, never resorting to hyperbole. No matter what story he's telling, he delivers it straight to your heart, where it stays indelibly, touching every part of you. He conveys a truth that is undeniable and makes it personal and urgent.
Versatile guitarist Jim Kunkel has composed music for independent films and documentaries such as the Aspects of the Arts series profiling poet Dan Masterson and artist Frederick Franck. As leader and sideman, he has performed and recorded since the late '70s, including a quintet that performed many of how own innovative compositions. Jim has a long list of people who have studied with him over the years and have gone on to enjoy a successful music career.
Mickey Kopchak has been playing bass professionally since the age of 10. Known not only for his sensitivity and presence, Mickey expands the sonic assignment of the bass by tastefully employing a multitude of interesting effects, creating rich and expansive soundscapes, as well as reaching emotional depths. Because of his versatility, expertise, and dedication to excellence, he is widely sought after and has performed and recorded with jazz and pop artists throughout the northeast.
Larry Balestra began playing drums when he was 14 years old. His parents were both musicians, his father being a charter member of the Syracuse Symphony. Larry began studying tuba and quickly learned that tuba wasn't his voice! His best friend wanted to start a band and said Larry should play drums. Larry's dad hooked him up with the best teachers in the Syracuse area, and he and his friend began covering a lot of the instrumental repertoire at the time. He then went to SUNY-Fredonia, majoring in percussion, and he's been playing and teaching ever since. Larry performs ubiquitously throughout the region, and brings his passion and creative voice to every project he works on!
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Amity Gallery, 110 Newport Bridge Rd, Warwick, NY 10990-2319, United States,Pine Island, New York
