text: import React from 'react'
  import { graphql } from 'gatsby'
  import Layout from '../components/layout'
  import SEO from '../components/seo'
  import styled from 'styled-components'
  
  const About = styled.div`
      padding: 1rem 0 3rem 0;
  
      > h2 {
          margin-bottom: 1rem;
      }
  
      > p {
          margin: 2rem 0;
          font-size: 1.6rem;
      }
  `
  
  const ListBlock = styled.div`
      margin-left: 20px;
      font-size: 1.4rem;
  
      > p {
          margin-bottom: 1rem;
      }
  `
  
  const PressCitation = styled.div`
      font-size: 1.2rem;
      margin-bottom: 2rem;
  
      > a {
          font-style: italic;
      }
  `
  
  const PressQuote = styled.div`
      margin: 1rem 0 0.5rem 0;
      font-size: 1.4rem;
  `
  
  export default ({ data }) => (
      <Layout>
          <SEO
              title="Musical History"
              description="An accounting of Chris Black's music history and press."
              pathname="/about/"
          />
          <About>
              <h2>Musical History and Press</h2>
              <p>
                  My name is Chris Black. I am a musician and composer. I play
                  mostly double bass, but I'll get involved with anything that
                  makes a sound.
              </p>
              <p>
                  I am the founder of the alt-classical chamber music concert
                  series <a href="http://www.chamberlab.org">ChamberLab</a>. I
                  have been a member of such groups as Shoulders (Austin, TX), Les
                  Wampas (Paris, FR), Golden Arm Trio (Austin, TX), The Wedding's
                  Off (L.A., CA), and the Taraf de Tucson (Tucson, AZ).
              </p>
              <p>
                  <strong>PRESENT ENSEMBLES</strong>
              </p>
              <ListBlock>
                  <p>
                      <em>Chris Black / Chris Black Trio</em>
                      <br />
                      Singer, contrabassist.
                  </p>
              </ListBlock>
  
              <p>
                  <strong>SELECTED PAST ENSEMBLES</strong>
              </p>
              <ListBlock>
                  <p>
                      <em>ChamberLab</em>
                      <br />
                      2010 &#8211; 2017
                      <br />
                      Founder, artistic director, composer, performer.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>
                          Gabriel Sullivan / Gabriel Sullivan and the Taraf de
                          Tucson
                      </em>
                      <br />
                      2008 &#8211; 2012
                      <br />
                      Contrabassist, violinist.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>The Wedding's Off</em>
                      <br />
                      Los Angeles, CA, 2002 &#8211; 2003.
                      <br />
                      Drummer.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Chris Black &amp; the Holy Ghost / Gadjo Bango</em>
                      <br />
                      Austin, TX, 1999 &#8211; 2006.
                      <br />
                      Bandleader, singer, pianist, guitarist.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Golden Arm Trio</em>
                      <br />
                      Austin, TX, 1999 &#8211; 2001, 2006.
                      <br />
                      Contrabassist.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Les Wampas</em>
                      <br />
                      Paris, France, 1993, 1996.
                      <br />
                      Bassist.
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Shoulders</em>
                      <br />
                      Austin, TX, 1989 &#8211; 1994.
                      <br />
                      Contrabassist.
                  </p>
              </ListBlock>
  
              <p>
                  <strong>MUSIC FOR THEATRE AND FILM (COMPOSER)</strong>
              </p>
  
              <ListBlock>
                  <p>
                      <em>Speak Easy</em>
                      <br />
                      Artifact Dance Project, Tucson, AZ, 2014
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>The General</em> (Buster Keaton)
                      <br />
                      ChamberLab, Fox Theatre, Tucson, AZ, 2014
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Happening to Your Body</em>
                      <br />
                      (Short Film) directed by Jon Ecklund, 2014
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Eurydice</em>
                      <br />
                      Beowulf Theatre, Tucson, AZ, 2012
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Tigers</em>
                      <br />
                      (Short Film) directed by Rory O'Rear, 2010
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Fugitive Pieces</em>
                      <br />
                      Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, TX, 2002
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      <em>Tilt Angel</em>
                      <br />
                      Salvage Vanguard Theater, Austin, TX, 2001
                  </p>
              </ListBlock>
  
              <p>
                  <strong>AWARDS and HONORS</strong>
              </p>
  
              <ListBlock>
                  <p>
                      Buffalo Exchange Arts Award
                      <br />
                      2014
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      Golden Hornet Project String Quartet Smackdown
                      <br />
                      Sweet Sixteen Finalist, 2014
                      <br />
                      Winner, 2012
                  </p>
                  <p>
                      Best Alternative Packaging for a Compact Disc
                      <br />
                      Tucson Weekly Staff, 2012 (for Drunk at the Funeral)
                  </p>
              </ListBlock>
  
              <p>
                  <strong>PRESS</strong>
              </p>
  
              <ListBlock>
                  <strong>Featured on KXCI Radio</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      30 Minutes spoke with Tucson composer Chris Black and ACLU
                      Attorney Billy Peard about the upcoming Vexations marathon
                      to raise money and awareness for ACLU of Arizona.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a href="https://kxci.org/podcast/chamberlab-orchestrates-vexations-marathon-for-aclu-fundraiser/">
                          KXCI Radio
                      </a>
                      , November 26th, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>
                      Featured on the November 24th, 2017 edition of ARIZONA
                      SPOTLIGHT with host Mark McLemore
                  </strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Find out why Tucson's "alt-classical" ensemble ChamberLab
                      will perform a century-old piece of music by Erik Satie 840
                      times in a row in December during an event called "The
                      Vexathon".
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a href="https://radio.azpm.org/p/radio-azspot-splash/2017/11/24/120356-xxx/">
                          AZPM Radio
                      </a>
                      , November 24th, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>
                      16 hours of 1-minute music: Sounds like a marathon
                  </strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      How hard can it be to play a one-minute piece of music on
                      the piano - or violin, guitar, tuba, oboe, basically your
                      instrument of choice? Wait, what? Play it 840 times? Well
                      that's a different story.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a href="http://tucson.com/entertainment/music/hours-of--minute-music-sounds-like-a-marathon/article_627bef8a-91f7-5215-bc24-7d68570674d3.html">
                          Arizona Daily Star
                      </a>
                      , November 20th, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Marathon for a minute song multiplied by 840</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      You know the neighborhood kid who comes to your door and
                      asks you to sponsor him/her in a marathon. You pledge a
                      quarter a lap - a buck if you're especially generous or
                      confident the kid won't get far - and you pay up based on
                      how many laps/miles they finished.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a href="http://tucson.com/entertainment/music/marathon-for-a-minute-song-multiplied-by/article_b4018bd0-5b6d-5190-9262-11c124ba3744.html">
                          Arizona Daily Star
                      </a>
                      , October 23rd, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Restless Soul</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Chris Black's new release,{' '}
                      <cite>Lullabies and Nightmares</cite>, is such stuff as bad
                      dreams are made of.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/restless-soul/Content?oid=11843937"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , September 28th, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>
                      Classical music will expand soundscape at rock 'n' roll
                      venue
                  </strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      And he and his band of classically trained musicians will do
                      it in a place that’s used to loud, crunchy guitars and
                      deafening percussion.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="http://tucson.com/entertainment/music/classical-music-will-expand-soundscape-at-rock-n-roll-venue/article_f30c4fa6-d2ce-52b5-a924-c0854a0451b4.html"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Arizona Daily Star
                      </a>
                      , September 5th, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Sonic Storytelling</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      <cite>Lullabies &amp; Nightmares</cite> is a 15-song
                      soundtrack to the script in your brain. Some tunes are
                      filled with suspense and tension, conveying treachery and
                      darkness; other are upbeat, playful and heartening.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="http://www.zocalomagazine.com/sonic-storytelling/"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Zocalo
                      </a>
                      , September 2nd, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Legends &amp; Shadows</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      There were no boundaries to begin with when ChamberLab set
                      out to present classical music with a punk ethos. So about a
                      year ago when ChamberLab visionary Chris Black got the idea
                      to draw mariachi musicians into the fold &hellip; the
                      challenge was set.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/legends-and-shadows/Content?oid=7817560"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , March 2nd, 2017
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Soundbites</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Chris Black's "alt-classical DIY concert series" ChamberLab
                      is consistently one of the coolest things happening in
                      Tucson music, with his talented friends taking on
                      contemporary compositions in settings often accustomed to
                      rock shows.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/soundbites/Content?oid=4826210"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , September 11th, 2014
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>
                      Chris Black and Chamberlab: One Year Down and a Wide-Open
                      Future for Chamber Music in Popular Culture
                  </strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Chris Black revealed a handful of his many
                      dimensions&mdash;first whimsy, with a composition for ten
                      players titled, "Around the Neighborhood in Socks"; then
                      wizardry, with a lighthearted set of short pieces for three
                      bassoons; and, finally, emotive, dark free verse, melding
                      music and spoken word into a harrowing first-person account
                      of a paranoid-schizophrenic episode.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/WeGotCactus/archives/2013/05/29/chris-black-and-chamber-lab-one-year-down-and-a-wide-open-future-for-chamber-music-in-popular-culture"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , May 29th, 2013
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>
                      Mommy, Why is Chris Black Gonna be Drunk at the Funeral?
                  </strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      The title track, "Drunk at the Funeral," it's like a
                      soundtrack for when some grieving rummy's gonna topple into
                      the casket with the deceased unless his friends keep him
                      upright until the paternoster's over and the worms are
                      reaching for their bibs.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/chronolog/2012-11-01/mommy-why-is-chris-black-gonna-be-drunk-at-the-funeral/"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Austin Chronicle
                      </a>
                      , November 1st, 2012
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Chris Black: Jericho</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      This is no ordinary musician. Reaching beyond the boundaries
                      of genre, delving into theatrical representations of hot and
                      cold, Chris Black debuts his solo album, a collection of
                      more throb than beat, instruments churning and bleeding all
                      over this canvas.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2006-07-21/388457/"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Austin Chronicle
                      </a>
                      , July 21st, 2006
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Unusual Inspiration</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Putting together a new CD doesn't usually involve trips to
                      the lumberyard. But for Chris Black's{' '}
                      <i>Drunk at the Funeral</i>, the lumberyard was just the
                      beginning. &hellip; The unusual album&mdash;with its
                      startling, forceful piano and orchestral
                      percussion&mdash;also stems from an unusual combination of
                      inspirations.{' '}
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/unusual-inspirations/Content?oid=3227467"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , February 9th, 2012
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Best of Tucson</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Multi-instrumentalist Black&mdash;a player and composer of
                      great note and the <i>charg&eacute; d'affaires</i> for the
                      acclaimed ChamberLab project&mdash;has wearied of releasing
                      CDs in tacky, easily broken jewel cases.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/best-alternative-packaging-for-a-compact-disc/BestOf?oid=3534676"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , 2012
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Modern Adaptation</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      {' '}
                      [Orpheus's] reputation as a musician is preserved through
                      composer Chris Black's sublime incidental music &hellip;{' '}
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/modern-adaptation/Content?oid=2504121"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , January 27th, 2011
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Good Juju</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Now audiences will be able to hear another side of Chris
                      Black with the debut of the project ChamberLab, for which he
                      and other nonclassical composers have written pieces for a
                      string chamber ensemble.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/good-juju/Content?oid=1959986"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Tucson Weekly
                      </a>
                      , May 6th, 2010
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>That Thinking Feeling</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      &hellip; and the musician Chris Black steps up to unleash a
                      tight series of gypsy improvisations on his excellent
                      violin, the audience is right there. The audience, as Black
                      whacks the devil into his fiddlestick, is just about
                      <i>grooving</i>.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2004-08-27/226174/"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Austin Chronicle
                      </a>
                      , August 27th, 2004
                  </PressCitation>
  
                  <strong>Fugitive Pieces</strong>
  
                  <PressQuote>
                      Chris Black provides a gorgeous live soundtrack to the show
                      and its bursts of song, hammering his drums, pounding and
                      tapping and brushing his hanging collection of hubcaps,
                      trash can lids, and buckets, rubbing his array of wine
                      glasses to precise effect.
                  </PressQuote>
  
                  <PressCitation>
                      <a
                          href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2002-03-01/84767/"
                          target="_blank"
                          rel="noopener noreferrer"
                      >
                          Austin Chronicle
                      </a>
                      , March 1st, 2002
                  </PressCitation>
              </ListBlock>
          </About>
      </Layout>
  )
  
  export const query = graphql`
      query {
          site {
              siteMetadata {
                  title
                  image
                  imageAlt
              }
          }
      }
  `
  