1. jug o'
rum for amphibeings 2. language of the lilypads 3. skin that breathes 4. leapfroggin'
Gongmaster Karen Stackpole and
contrabassist Bill Noertker have been
exploring inner and outer space through
improvised musical dialogue for over a decade.
Their new album, Talking Frog,
conjures the world of the cosmic amphibian as
they coax a soundscape of trills, chirps,
screams, barks, grunts, clucks, croaks, bellows,
and hoots from their respective instruments.
Karen Stackpole is a Paiste endorsed gong
artist. She has been involved in the Bay Area
music scene for over three decades as a drummer
and percussionist with a keen penchant for
metals. In her explorations of metals, she has
cultivated some distinctive techniques for
drawing harmonics out of her assemblage of gongs
with various implements: rubber mallets, felt
and yarn mallets, ball chains, bass and cello
bows, kitchen utensils, and other small objects.
Bill Noertker is a composing and
improving bassist who has been active in the Bay
Area jazz and avant-garde scene since the late
1980s. He is best known for leading his own
ensemble, Noertker's Moxie, as a forum for his
compositions inspired by visual art.