Greg Kelley premieres Soft Delete/Purgative Dryness, a two-part piece exploring themes of philosophical and aesthetic absence, including the potential absence of meaning and content. The solo work will feature amplified but otherwise acoustic trumpet and some pre-recorded electronic elements.

Greg Kelley (b.1973, Boston, Mass.) began studying the trumpet at age 10. He attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, where in addition to studying the conservatory curriculum, he also immersed himself in a deep study of avant-garde and experimental music, eventually coming to the conclusion that his musical focus fell outside of the academic sphere. After his studies, Kelley moved back to his native Massachusetts, quickly insinuated himself into the local avant-garde circles and soon commenced a period of intense travel and collaboration, bringing him across the United States, throughout Europe, Japan and South America. He has appeared on over 60 albums and plays in a number of groups including Nmperign (as abstract improvisatory duo and as horn section for ex-Galaxie 500-ers Damon & Naomi), Heathen Shame, the undr quartet and the BSC, among others. Other collaborators have included Jandek, Keiji Haino, Donald Miller (Borbetomagus), Anthony Braxton, Kevin Drumm, Christian Wolff, Pauline Oliveros, Joe McPhee and Lionel Marchetti. In addition to playing the trumpet, he also has recorded music using electronics and musique concrète elements, sometimes using trumpet-based sound sources, other times not. Kelley is also the Minister of Fanfares for the Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland.

Kelley last performed at Lampo in April 2006 with Trumpets Sound and I Hear Thunder Boom, a solo meditation on longing, using a stolen introduction (from the Jackie DeShannon 1963 song, When You Walk in the Room) and amplified trumpet.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation