Ménage à Trio is a string improv trio featuring Betsy Tinney on cello,
Sunnie Larsen on viola, and either Alexander James Adams or Geli Wuerzner on
violin/fiddle. (Also, sometimes we also include Marcos Duran or Vixy Dockrey
on drum.) Together they create
musical magic right in front of your eyes! No pre-arranged or memorized
melodies, keys, or tempos; instead, they improvise music inspired by prompts
from their audience (for example, "Insomnia," "Whisky and Chocolate," or
"Kittens on a Spaceship"). An ongoing, always once-in-a-lifetime experience
that should be not be missed; come and be part of creation!
Ménage VIRTUAL Concert! - September 1, 2024
Ménage has a virtual/online concert on September 1, 2024!
We have a one-hour set at the virtual edition of
Music
Under the Trees 2024. The virtual event will be held via Bandcamp Live,
and will feature video recorded at the in-person Music Under the Trees event, an outdoor music event held in Redmond, WA
on August 4, 2024. For tickets, visit
Betsy's Bandcamp site; for details on the virtual event, see
musicunderthetrees.com.
For this concert, Ménage will consist of Betsy, Sunnie, Alexander James
Adams, and Geli
Wuerzner. As
always, we'll be improvising brand-new music inspired by audience prompts.
There will also be sets by Betsy Tinney (celebrating her brand-new studio
album "Into the Realm") and Alexander James Adams (who will soon be saying
farewell to the PNW).
Ménage's LIVE
ALBUM iS OUT NOW!
Ménage has just released a full-length live album:
Ménagerie:
Ménage à Trio Live at Conflikt 2019. As you might guess, it's a live
recording of Ménage's concert at Conflikt 2019. For that concert, we were joined
onstage by Amy McNally (fiddle) and Dr Mary Crowell (clarinet) -- so for this
concert, we are Ménagerie.
This is not simply a "raw" recording of a live concert; Betsy and Alec have
spent quite a bit of time tidying it up, mitigating issues like audience coughs
and inter-instrument volume/balance as best we could. We didn't "clean up" any
of the raw energy, enthusiasm, or joy that was part of this recording, though! You'll be able
to hear our (enthusiastic and chaotic) audience calling out prompts before each
song; you'll hear us creating new music in the moment in response to those
(often interesting) prompts; and you'll probably also be able to tell what a
giant bunch of dorks we all are. We have so much fun making music together!
Ménagerie is now available on our Bandcamp page, both as a download and as a physical CD!
For the
track listing, click the
back-cover image at right.)
Ménage HAS A NEW EP!
Ménage
has a new album! It's called
Iménagening, and
it's just a wee EP (because pandemic) of four songs... but such sweet songs!
All of the pieces on Iménagening were improvised on the
spot (the way we always play together -- with no advance planning and no
retakes). One was improvised "in studio", about two years ago. But, the
other three songs were recorded on Betsy's shady front lawn on a lovely day
last summer. We were socially-distanced at the time, so were pretty
surprised at how well the recordings came out. Of course, there were birds
and airplanes and a bit of wind noise, because the recording was
made live and outdoors. (And, we were very happy to be together, alive and
outdoors, at the time!)
Iménagening
is now available on our Bandcamp page (both as a download and as a
physical CD)!
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