Well, we are making our Hygge Open House a true Helena tradition. Every year we’ve offered this fun event, attendance has grown and folks are telling us they look forward to it! Our hope is that by next year, all of downtown Helena will take part in an annual mid-winter Hygge Festival.
This year, our 1+1=1 Gallery Hygge Open House is just one day — Saturday, Feb. 3rd from 10 to 5 — designed to get you out of your cabin (we know you have the fever) … safely over the ice and down to the gallery to enjoy some delicious homemade warm food, hot drinks, energetic live music, a special presentation by a special guest about Hygge and a coffee tasting, a fascinating wood carving demonstration and a peek at the brand new printmaking studio we’ve been working hard on all January. Don’t miss this event. We will be so happy to see you on the 3rd!
Warm your bellies
Warm your hands
Warm your hearts
Maybe we’ll generate enough warmth with hygge, to melt our icy streets!
Drop in to the gallery anytime on Saturday and be surprised by what you find! Ask us about hygge. Experience it. Listen to a special guest talk about Denmark and hygge. Take in our current art exhibit. I’d say “chill out with us” but it will be anything but chilly at 1+1=1 that day. See you.
We’re excited to have Seattle violinist, Tari Nelson Zagar, back in her hometown at Sound Gallery this month. If you attended last year’s performance by Tari, you know it was a rare treat and we had a full house.
In this performance Nelson-Zagar brings another evening of sound exploration to the gallery, using found sound, improvisation, and discovering new music conversations hidden in old treasures. You might hear jazz standards, a virtuosic violin concerto, or an old cowboy song. You might want to bring all the bells you own, too!
Join us Friday, August 4th for Downtown Helena’s First Friday celebration!
We have a fun family-friendly special event planned for the evening.
Veggie Pakoras and ice cold chai by Ishinder Kaur … Live performance of Tabla-Jazz Fusion by Jaskrit and Haransh Singh from 5:30 to 7:45 or so.
Hope you can make it to the 400 Block anytime between 5 and 8pm. Homemade traditional Indian appetizers will be served until the food and drink are gone. We’ll have other cool beverages for those who don’t want chai. 😉
While you’re enjoying the music and refreshments, take in our current exhibit, the First Annual Art Jewelry and Figurative Art Invitational, and check out what we’ve put up in the Back Gallery. As always, we offer the best (!) gift wrapping in town — it’s free and given with love.
We know there are many events happening this weekend, and Friday in particular. Consider spending a little time supporting your very special downtown before or after you attend another event!
Come listen to Jaskrit and Haransh Singh’s fabulous fusion of Indian tabla and jazz music, then head over to the Herb & Garden, Funky Trunk, Aizada Imports and JMac’s Pottery. AND — Don’t miss the 3rd anniversary party of Mountain Sage Gallery right across the street from 1+1=1. They’re planning a fun birthday-bash.
Everything is free! We hope to see you at the gallery. Call 431-9931 for more info.
Please join us at 1+1=1 Gallery for another great original music concert. Syrinx Effect on April 15th. Last summer jazz lovers were delighted by Naomi Moon Siegel’s solo trombone performance at Sound Gallery. We immediately bought her new album, Shoebox View, and play it all the time at our gallery.
Welp. Here’s another opportunity to hear Naomi — this time in an acoustic-electric duo with music partner, Kate Olson. Together they are Syrinx Effect. They describe their music as “interstellar folk punk jazz.” Can’t wait to hear it!
Sound Gallery September Performance: SYRINX effect
Where: 1+1=1 Gallery 434 N. Last Chance Gulch When: Saturday, April 15 … 7:00 to 9pm What: from 7 to 7:30, complimentary wine with decadent chocolate desserts.
MUSIC STARTS and the house lights go down — promptly at 7:30.
How much? No ticket charge for the concert. A pay-what-you-can donation goes to the musicians. All Sound Gallery concerts have no charge, but we gratefully accept donations large or small, so we can pay the musicians and tune the piano. We appreciate your generosity. Thank you!
Seating is very limited. We strongly recommend that you call, text or email us to reserve your seat(s). Call/text the gallery at 406.431.9931 or email [email protected] to reserve your seats.
Naomi Moon Siegel
Kate Olson
Naomi Moon Siegel, photo by Daniel Sheehan
Kate Olson, photo by Steve Korn
Naomi Moon Siegel
Kate Olson, photo by Steve Korn
Naomi Moon Siegel
Naomi Moon Siegel at Sound Gallery 2016
Come downtown on Saturday evening, April 15th — have an early dinner at Toi’s Thai across the street, then stroll on over, enjoy some decadent chocolate desserts and a glass of wine along with Naomi’s and Kate’s awesome edgy tunes. Be surprised. Be delighted. Be cultured. 😉
Here’s a blurb from the Syrinx website:
An acoustic-electric duo with endless possibilities, Syrinx Effect plays their own blend of folk punk jazz. They easily switch between dreamy ambient loops, catchy pop riffs and found sounds, all the while paying homage to their free improv roots. Naomi plays trombone with guitar pedals and Kate plays soprano saxophone with laptop and other toys. The duo got its start curating the Racer Sessions in Seattle, and has gone on to perform prolifically around the US, collaborating with many of the mainstays of the improvised music scene such as Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Elliott Sharp, Bobby Previte, Stuart Dempster, Allison Miller, Rene Hart.
Syrinx Effect makes music that is authentic and expressive, employing everything from simple folk melodies to abstract, ambient noise. Each piece is a meditation, an exploration, and sometimes a romp.
Kate Olson
Just grabbed this excellent excerpt from Seattle’s SB Hopper blog — the author has a way of expressing what I’ve been trying to put to words since Sound Gallery first started a couple years ago. Here:
I’ve never regretted going to a jazz show. Each time I’ve left thinking that I needed to do that more often. And then several months slip by again, just like exercise. … You’ve got to be in the right mood, you’ve got to know a good place, and you’ve got to be with people who are into it …. There’s no need to be an expert. I can’t name a single track by Thelonious Monk. I think the trick is finding a place you like, making a point of going once in a while, and appreciating the talents of musicians for whom jazz is an art that celebrates tradition but embraces improvisation.
Yep. Sound Gallery in Helena Montana is one of those places. Come hear a jazz performance. Original jazz. improvisational jazz. art-jazz. and fall in love with it. and come again. and again. see you!
Sound Gallery concerts are …
… original, new, sometimes experimental music performances although occasionally we feature artists who mix pieces by other composers and musicians into their program. We have also featured poetry and spoken-word performances and hope to expand our offerings to performances of any kind that fit the mission of Sound Gallery. We appreciate all of you folks who continue to support live music and this venue for performing arts in an intimate setting such as our art gallery.
Call 406.431.9931 for more information about the performance, or to reserve your seat.
Please join us at 1+1=1 Gallery for another fabulous performance of original music — this time, Bozeman composer and performer extraordinaire Bob Nell performs his own jazz piano solos.
innovative. tender. Unpredictable. Extraordinary. Sublime. Brilliant. Simply Great. Words and phrases used to describe Bob Nell and his music.
The MASTER is coming to town. Bob Nell transcends genre. He is one of the most gifted composer/performer’s to come from Montana. Music lovers of all stripes – this concert IS NOT TO BE MISSED! ~Bob Packwood
Sound Gallery September Performance: Bob Nell
Where: 1+1=1 Gallery 434 N. Last Chance Gulch When: Sunday, Sept 25 7:00 to 9pm What: from 7 to 7:30, complimentary beverage & snacks served.
MUSIC STARTS and the house lights go down — promptly at 7:30.
How much? No ticket charge for the concert. Pay-what-you-can donation. Sound Gallery concerts have no charge, but we gratefully accept donations large or small, so we can pay the musicians and tune the piano. We appreciate your generosity. Thank you!
Seating is very limited. We strongly recommend that you call, text or email us to reserve your seat(s). Call/text the gallery at 406.431.9931 or email [email protected] to reserve your seats.
Sound Gallery concerts are …
… original, new, sometimes experimental music performances although occasionally we feature artists who mix pieces by other composers and musicians into their program. We have also featured poetry and spoken-word performances and hope to expand our offerings to performances of any kind that fit the mission of Sound Gallery. We appreciate all of you folks who continue to support live music and this venue for performing arts in an intimate setting such as our art gallery.
Call 406.431.9931 for more information about the performance, OR to reserve your seat.
M.J. Williams, founder of Sound Gallery in Helena Montana, and acclaimed jazz vocalist, trombonist and composer, is one of five distinguished Montana artists who will be honored in December, 2016, as a recipient of the Governor's Arts Award. The other honorees are Jack Gladstone, Neal and Karen Lewing, Rick Newby and Patrick Zentz.
The awards ceremony will be held on December 2nd, 2016 at 3:00 pm at the Montana State Capitol.I am so proud to say that I know and work with Willie! I'll be there!
…for a delightful evening of all-original piano compositions at Sound Gallery … Bob Packwood, Helena pianist and jazz musician will do a workshop-style preview of his original tunes that will be recorded in the near future for a solo album. This is your chance to hear his “babies” before the general public gets to hear them. Don’t miss this evening performance in a beautiful art gallery space with a small audience. Deep listening. Great acoustics. Even better — original new music!
Sound Gallery will present its first performer of the “Fall/Winter Season” on October 16th. Scot Ray, a multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, currently homesteads in a small mountain town in Southwestern with intermittent excursions to wield his slide guitars in a variety of odd and captivatingly obscure projects including Gutpuppet, Drift & Throttle, Roughnecks, and the Tee-tot Quartet.
Tari Nelson Zagar, of Seattle Washington, will delight and amaze us with her solo violin performance at Sound Gallery. The concert starts at 7:30 pm July 24th in Helena, Montana. Sound Gallery is located at 1+1=1 Gallery and is the only venue in Helena offering original, new experimental music for small audiences. Please join us at Sound Gallery in the atmosphere of a fine art visual gallery, enjoy a glass of wine, local ale or fresh citrus water; sit back and experience a sound adventure.
Helena artist and arts-supporter, Suzy Holt, says “I saw Tari in concert at the Myrna Loy years ago and she knocked my socks off! Unforgettable!”
Dan Brunkhorst uses percussion, electronics, and instruments he has fashioned from found objects to create a world of improvised sound. He will be giving the first solo performance of Sound Gallery at 7:30 pm June 19th in Helena, Montana.
