Kickstarter

The concept behind this newest band called Linden Joy came from several inspirations.

One of the inspirations is Charles Joseph Smith's witnessing of live stage shows of Sandra Bernhard and the experimental living composer, Laurie Lee Moses. Both Ms. Bernhard and Ms. Moses were known for their utilization of experimental/performance art dancing in their live performances. Charles was truly inspired by the ladies' creative talents, so Linden Joy will attempt to combine these two inspirations, punctuated with a lot of twists and tweaks in between.

Additional inspirations for this band came from honoring the talents of the actor/musician/television host, Hal Linden, who was featured in the 1970s sitcom, Barney Miller, and now enjoys playing jazz clarinet....and also honoring a type of tree, which is called The Linden Tree.

The music will be by Charles Joseph Smith himself, focusing on jamband, experimental jazz, loungy jazz and improvisation grooves. At this time, he would like to be a spoken word artist/performance art dancer/singer/bandleader who will do all originals (although there is a chance of a few parody-laden covers in very wacky or witty manners), along with Huntress Diana (bass) and Maestro Phil (drums). He has sufficient talents in self-promoting from his past promotions as a classical pianist, so he plans to also be not only the main promoter of this new band...but also the tour manager as well.

At least 50 percent of the stage show by Linden Joy will involve performance art and installation art as well as singing and spoken word, mainly from Charles. Found-object props will likely be part of the show, which will likely be simple items like caps or scarves, and items involved in cross-dressing. This is a teeny homage to the musical experimentation of present circus punk bands like Mucca Pazza and Environmental Encroachment...but Linden Joy is a slightly toned-down concept of this homage.

After the first gigs and a first recording project that will be done over July-August, Charles plans to invite Chicago's finest experimental and creative musical artists to join in with the band in future gigs. Most likely these guests will include Caroline Davis (saxophone), Carla Hayden (tambourine/singer), James Moeller (guitarist/singer), Quin Kirchner (percussion), Frank Rosaly (percussion), Nicole Mitchell (flute/jazz voice), and David Boykin (saxophone).

Other guests with the band may also include Barry Bennett (effects/percussion), Matthew Golombisky (bass), Leslie Beukelman (voice), Christopher Ezra Lange (bass), Maggie Dahlberg (bass, percussion, piano, voice), Naomi Imoan, aka DJ Naomi (DJ mix), Marc Riordan (bass), Greg Spero (keyboards), Nicole Roach (drums), Sara Thompson (performance art dancer), Aurora Tabar (performance art dancer), and Heather Marie Vernon (spoken word artist/performance artist/installation artist).

Later on, Charles has plans to get digital samplers and pedal effects equipment to enhance his spoken word antics with the band. He likely will prefer to use the Roland SP-404 or Roland SP-303, and a four-button foot pedal looper capable of looping effects.

The first gigs of Linden Joy will be mainly in Chicago venues which appreciate experimental music....such as The Hideout, Danny's Tavern, Heartland Cafe, Mess Hall, Red Line Tap, Ottoman Empire, Ronnys, Phyllis Musical Inn, Happy Dog Gallery, Heaven Gallery, The Charleston, The Serbian Cultural Center (the "Cave"), The Mopery, Mortville, Locked Out Cooperative, Elastic Arts Cooperative, and The Plaines Project. This will likely happen in September.

Other gigs in Chicago are probably going to be in open mics, countercultural salons, a few art museums (most likely the Museum of Contemporary Art), and selected house parties.

The proceeds will help me enhance my band, help me get bookings for Chicago performances at the Prop Thtr and the Gorilla Tango Project (both counterculturalist theaters) and help us do a tour across the state with venues at Evanston, IL and Champaign, IL, where venues will likely include The Cowboy Monkey, Brass Rail, the Highdive, Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, and Mike and Molly's.

STATEMENT ON MY PERFORMANCE ART DANCING/CONTEMPORARY DANCING
My performance art dancing has been inspired first by watching dancers on TV, then by taking a lot of ballroom dance classes with the Dancing Illini ballroom dance club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and with the Ballroom Dance Club at the University of Illinois YMCA, and finally, seeing performance art shows by Lisa Fay, Jeff Glassman, Phoebe Legere and Sandra Bernhard.

Usually, the performance art dance style I have is not totally performance art--most of these performance art dances combine with a little bit of other dance elements from other dance styles--particularly ballet, jazz, tap, modern, capoeira, hip hop, Latin, swing, ballroom, and freestyle.

I usually don't include costumes or props in my performance art pieces unless absolutely necessary. Usually, I would like to wear wigs or scarves on myself, as well as caps, and in some cases, use these items also as props. Other props I would use in these dances include a clipboard, coats, paper, pencil, and drumsticks.
In other cases, my performance art dance style was also inspired by site-specific performance art dance. I often love to create dance performances to my original music, but I also like to use music from other composers---particularly jazz, rhythm and blues, jamrock, funk, Afrobeat, and classic rock.

Occasionally, I add spoken word to my performance art dance pieces for a more dramatic effect. I usually add original spoken word only in my dances and not someone else's unless absolutely necessary unless for reasons for dramatic expression (for instance, the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, a poem with a high amount of neologisms), would be to my liking for a specific performance art dance because usually performance art dance focuses on improvisation and spontaneity.