Coming together in rhythmic harmony.
Showing just how participatory Make Music Day can be, Stridulations for the Good Luck Feast by composer and percussionist Billy Martin (Medeski Martin & Wood) will accentuate June 21 in dozens of cities.
Stridulations is a set of interlocking rhythmic pieces that anyone can join, whether or not they read music. Following an ingenious system of Xs and dots, participants play rhythmic cycles on any instrument or voice, locking together like a Samba band, or stretching out to sound like crickets calling to each other across a field.
(In fact, the word “Stridulations” refers to the sound of crickets, a species that makes music collectively.)
If you have a good sense of rhythm, and want to bring Stridulations to your town on June 21, register here to receive instructions, an excerpt of the score, and the link to a Zoom with Martin in late May to learn the piece and how to lead it.
Cincinnati, OH
Location: Lord of Life Lutheran Church 6329 Tylersville Rd. West Chester, OH
Time: 12:00 – 01:00 pm
Leader: David Mackey
Email: sensitivedavid@gmail.com
Englewood, NJ
Location: TBD
Time: 05:00 – 06:00 pm
Leader: Carolyn Enger
Hebron, CT
Location: Main Street Hebron
Time: 4:00 – 08:00 pm
Leader: Drew Gibson
Email: candice.deguzis@gmail.com
Las Cruces, NM
Location: Hubbard’s Music-n-More 108 Wyatt Drive Las Cruces, NM 88005
Time: 07:00 – 08:00 pm
Leader: Bob Hull
Email: rwhull57@gmail.com
Madison, WI
Location: Orton Park, Madison
Time: 07:00 – 08:00 pm
Leader: Devin Drobka
Email: ddrobka@gmail.com
Modesto, CA
Location: MoRo Music Garden, 1000 I St, Modesto, CA 95354
Time: 07:00 – 08:30 pm
Leader: David Rogers
Email: drumlove209@gmail.com
Montclair, NJ
Location: 67 Church Street, Montclair, NJ
Time: 05:00 – 06:30 pm
Leader: John Sherman
Email: johnshermanzzz@gmail.com
New York, NY
Location: Little Island (at The Play Ground), Pier 55 in Hudson River Park at W 13th St
Time: 05:00 – 06:00 pm
Leader: Billy Martin
Email: info@makemusicny.org (Subject: Stridulations)
Pittsburgh, PA
Location: TBD
Time: 10:00 – 11:00 am
Leader: Jeremias Paul
Email: jeremiaspaul79@gmail.com
Pittsburgh, PA
Location: Memorial Park, Edgewood Borough, 15218
Time: 05:00 – 08:00 pm
Leader: Tara Yaney
Email: office@edgewoodborough.com
Salem, OR
Location: Electric Alley, Salem OR
Time: TBD
Leader: Kaylee Bonatakis
Email: salem@makemusicday.org
St Louis, MO
Location: Laumeier Park St Louis MO
Time: 02:00 – 04:00 pm
Leader: Karen Nichols
Billy Martin, Composer
Best known as a member of the musical trio Medeski Martin & Wood, Billy Martin is an American composer, percussionist, visual artist, educator and record producer.
Born in New York City in 1963 to a Radio City Rockette and concert violinist, Martin has honed his craft everywhere from Broadway orchestra pits to Brazilian nightclubs and burgeoning underground performance spaces. From the roots of the downtown scene he emerged with Medeski Martin & Wood, bridging the harmonic complexity of jazz, the conversational fluency of free improvisation, and the groove and swagger of classic R&B and funk. A series of albums and high-profile collaborations with John Scofield, John Zorn, Iggy Pop, Natalie Merchant, and others, brought the band international acclaim.
Martin has published three books and is currently Executive Artistic Director and CEO of the legendary Creative Music Studio, a non-profit organization in New York founded by Karl Berger, Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry.