Of Sound, Mind and Body
improvised music ensemble

Tim Brady – electric guitar, electronics
Helmut Lipsky – violin
Shawn Mativetsky – tabla, percussion

“Of Sound, Mind and Body” is the world of music in the hands of three master musicians. It is spontaneous music creation that resonates with tradition but is driven by innovation and imagination.  It is neither new nor old, it is simply music, in real time.

“Of Sound, Mind and Body” is the trio of composer/improvisers made up of Tim Brady (electric guitar, electronics), Helmut Lipsky (violin) and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla, percussion). These three musicians bring a remarkable range of experience and vision to the table: Lipsky is a classical and jazz violin virtuoso, Mativetsky is one of Canada’s foremost proponents of the traditional Indian tabla and of world music percussion, and Brady is an acknowledged international electric guitar innovator and composer.  Together, they work with a palette of sounds and ideas that encompass the history and future of musical expression.

What sets this trio of improvisers apart is both their visionary approach to open musical ideas and their inherent understanding of musical form.  This is true free improvisation – it can be tonal, atonal, modal, hyper-chromatic, neo-romantic, punk rock-loud, Feldman-soft, simple, chaotic. Everything is allowed, imagination and conviction are the only prerequisites. It is not about a narrow musical style, it is about using music to create connections with other musicians and the public.

The key to the success of their performances is the sense of drama and structure that these three musicians bring to the improvisational process.  Lipsky, Brady and Mativetsky naturally think in expressive musical phrases, building the performance with the same sense of balance and daring as a composed work of chamber music.  The ebb and flow of tension and release – the life-blood of most of the world’s musical traditions – is at the heart of the creative process that is “Of Sound, Mind and Body”.

BIOGRAPHIES

Tim Brady - Electric Guitar - see Biography (above)

Shawn Mativetsky – Tabala, Percussion
Versatile percussionist Shawn Mativetsky performs in a variety of musical genres with dynamism and skill. Equally at home in Indian classical music, world music, and contemporary/new music, Shawn also composes and performs for dance and theatre. Exponent of the Benares gharana, and disciple of the legendary Pandit Sharda Sahai, Shawn Mativetsky is a highly sought-after tabla performer and educator. He is active in the promotion of the tabla and North Indian classical music through lectures, workshops, and performances across Canada and internationally. Based in Montreal, Shawn teaches tabla and percussion at McGill University. His solo CD, Payton MacDonald: Works for Tabla, was released in 2007, and Cycles, his new CD of Canadian compositions for tabla was released in the fall of 2011.

Helmut Lipsky - Violin
Violinist Helmut Lipsky is the prototype of the accomplished musician of today: born in Germany, raised in Switzerland in the tradition of classical music, and studied with the great masters in New York, including Itzhak Perlman, where Lipsky developed as an improviser and composer.

His mix of musical languages (jazz, tango, popular and traditional music of other cultures), solidifies Lipsky’s very personal and identifiable style. He has twice been nominated for Felix awards for Best CD, and has collaborated with the likes of Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider, American cellist David Darling, and German singer Gerhard Schöne. Lipsky has performed at such prestigious events as the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Berlin’s Summer Festival.
He has written, interpreted and produced music for theatre, cinema, multimedia installations and television. Special events, like his Concerto for violin and chainsaw, which premiered at the opening of the international Symposium of Contemporary Arts in Amos, brought his eclectic style to international attention.
Helmut Lipsky teaches young violinists at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal, jazz violin at the University of Montreal and Concordia, and gives master classes throughout Quebec and Europe. He has degrees in Performance and Pedagogy from the Conservatory of Winterthur, Switzerland, and a Master’s degree from New York’s Brooklyn College Conservatory.