OSCAR DERIC BROWN - PAUL JAY

RYTRATO
Collective
The RYTRATO Collective is a multimedia collaboration between Oscar Deric Brown and Paul Jay involving musical performance in a visual art context. The artists have never limited themselves to a style or genre, or field of endeavor but each function in multiple platforms. The music comes from Oscar’s daunting keyboard skills, supplemented by Paul’s acoustic and electric guitar, and the pieces will be presented with visual analogs as video and still projections.

Besides the piano, Oscar’s list of mastered skills includes a sophistication with digital platforms, an extensive background in film/tv music composition and production, animation, and a long history of playing with many of the top stars in the music business.

Paul Jay spent twenty years as a professional photographer, also as a dance band leader, a singer song/writer, a writer of non-fiction books, a multimedia artist, an inventor, cartoonist and music producer. His background leans more towards rock, folk and blues., while Oscar comes from the classical, jazz, salsa and techno worlds (though he played on many rock records).

The show will consist of 10 pieces that involve some kind of collaboration, usually with Oscar leading the charge musically, with or without other musicians, and Paul providing the video/ still projections. (This system worked every Sunday night at New York’s famous Mudd Club in the late seventies.) The concerts will open an exhibit of photos. Most of these pictures come from a time (‘70’s) and place (Nantucket Island) where musical style was up in the air, and a band was formed by Brazilian percussionist Alerio Lima (the Post Industrial). Alerio was founding member of Weather Report and toured with Miles Davis, and great musicians flocked to his side. This is when Paul met Oscar, and this collaboration brings back memories of that musical excitement, when samba, rock and bebop jazz melted into a lively groove.

The collective members are the projects, and other people will doubtless be helping by providing more visuals and songs. There are currently 10 projects being developed for a museum performance space, which include a show of photographic prints. These performances will be recorded and videotaped, and eventually compiled into an hour-length performance film.

There will be products for sale at the shows, including Paul’s prints, Oscar’s CDs and a Photography book titled ‘PHOTOBIO: Nikkormat W