Pity the piano that was delivered to Stray Cat Film Center for a performance by Eli Wallace on Monday, July 24. After enduring a move in extreme heat, the instrument was mercilessly poked and prodded by the Brooklyn based pianist.
Wallace’s 20-minute solo improvisation was as vehemently athletic. The prepared piano attack sounded as if ragtime piano rolls had grown sentient roots and branches after being stored in a dark, wet basement for more than a century. Several people paid $10 to experience the uncommon sounds.
The extraordinary exhibition illuminated only by an exit sign and a red light bulb on the floor was preceded by a brisk improvisation by saxophonist Benjamin Baker, guitarist Seth Davis, multi-instrumentalist Aaron Osborne and drummers Kevin Cheli and Evan Verploegh.
The most transfixing moments transpired when Davis and Cheli joined Wallace. The spell cast by the trio’s considered investigations was broken as the remainder of the ensemble gradually joined the improvisation. The beleaguered piano was buried under a dense heap of noise.