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CHARMING HOSTESS PRESENTS: THE BOWLS PROJECT More thrills and chills from the brilliant mind of Jewlia Eisenberg and her amazing ensemble Charming Hostess. Based on inscriptions from Babylonian Jewish amulets known as “demon bowls,” The Bowls Project sings of sex, ritual and secrets of the home. Demon bowls deal with mysticism and magic, angels and demons, and the trials and joys of domestic life and love. Especially audible are the voices of Babylonian women: their relationships, desires and dreams. Weaving together these amulet texts with Charming Hostess is a music ensemble at the intersection of voice, text and diaspora consciousness. Founded by Jewlia Eisenberg in 1998, the mission of Charming Hostess is to make lovely noise about complex ideas. They are known for their whirl of eerie harmony, hot rhythm, and radical smarts. Their music is based on the sounding body: voices and winds, handclaps and heartbeats, sex-breath and silence. Previous recordings include Sarajevo Blues (Tzadik, 2005), settings of Bosnian resistance poetry, and Trilectic (Tzadik, 2002), a look at the political-erotic world of Walter Benjamin. File under: APOCALYPTIC-INTIMATE
The Bowls Project CD is released simultaneously with The Bowls Project: Secrets of the Apocalyptic Intimate, at Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco, July 6-August 22. This interactive sound sculpture/immersive performance installation is an international collaboration created by Charming Hostess with videographer Shezad Dawood and architect Michael Ramage. An ecstatic investigation into sex, magic and secrets of the home, The Bowls Project takes place within a stunning masterwork of ancient-meets-modern design: a towering double vaulted masonry dome by celebrated architect Michael Ramage. The dome is a place to share a secret and listen to the anonymous secrets of others, listen to live music on Thursdays, participate in ritual on Fridays, encounter embodied text on Sundays, and dig on the apocalyptic intimate whenever YBCA is open. Come and be welcome! The name summons up a particular image -- proper, oh-so-refined, and careful not to ruffle any feathers. That's not exactly the way you'd describe Charming Hostess. They're sensual, they're smart, and they're radical. The music of Charming Hostess touches bases from North Africa to Bulgaria to Bosnia... Charming Hostess is in the business of serving up heady texts set to irresistibly earthy musical textures. Like all great bands, they seem to be speaking to you in your very own private language. Whether you can actually understand the lyrics is beside the point. The band's musical impact is at the heart of the matter. Eisenberg commands pretty much every extant vocal technique, and she combines them at will — not just traditional styles of harmony, but vocalized breathing techniques, mouth percussion, you name it. Trilectic is an album to file between
Meredith Monk and Sweet Honey In The Rock. That's some space to occupy,
but New Yorker Jewlia Eisenberg, now based in Oakland, California, covers
a lot off stylistic ground, fronting the a cappella outfit Charming Hostess
in a dazzling display of vocal agility, wit, emotional flexibility, and
imaginative depth.
Hear clips from the CD (not password protected) Hear full songs (songs are password protected. password available for press only) —PC Directions: right-click on song title, then select "save target as" to download.
>> Text from The Bowls Project
CHARMING HOSTESS PHOTOS by Robin Hultgren >>Click for hi-res
JEWLIA PHOTOS
COMPOSER
AnMarie Rodgers,
Wrangler
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Last updated August 22, 2010
Babylonian devotional songs, apocalyptic American folk music, and a radical take on spiritual power, The Bowls Project marks the deepest and most creative work by Charming Hostess yet.
Clay
Smiles
shades (click for high-res)
Jewlia home smile
CD Art: Front only by Gary Chen
Bowl photo
