Geode Music & Poetry
Location:
Eastern Ontario›Ottawa
Geode Music & Poetry blends performance poems by Susan McMaster with original music in a cutting-edge soundscape. Since spring 1995, Geode has been serving up its unique recipe at venues in Ottawa and beyond, including the National Arts Centre Fourth Stage, Poetry in the Park series, the National Library, Rasputin's, Blue Skies Festival, the National Gallery, the Ottawa International Writers Festival, the Kingston Fringe Jazz Festival, the Elora Music Festival, the Maritime Acoustic Festival, and on such national and local broadcasts as CBC's Wordbeat, Richardson's Roundup, and Rockburn & Company.
* “Playful, provocative, contemplative...innovative.” Canadian Literature
* “Rich and intriguing work... unexpected monumentality... clings to the mind hauntingly." Pat Cardy, Ottawa Citizen
* "Highly recommended . . . makes poetry leap, pivot, gyrate, and boogie!" Dean Verger, Rasputin's Music Café
Originally known as SugarBeat Music & Poetry, Susan McMaster, Alrick Huebener, Jennifer Giles, and Gavin McLintock issued a first recording in 1997, Dangerous Times, followed by a CD entitled SugarBeat Music & Poetry featuring McMaster, Giles, and Huebener in 1998. The group adopted a new name, Geode Music & Poetry, in 1999 recalling the amethysts found glinting inside the grey shells of northern rocks and issued a self-titled third recording in 2000, which includes additional original compositions by Geode friends Petr Cancura and Mike Essoudry.
Geode was joined by more musical friends on the 2004 recording entitled Until the Light Bends. With the book of the same name, this CD was nominated for the Archibald Lampman Poetry Award and the Ottawa Book Award in 2005. It includes duo, trio and larger improvisations and compositions with Jennifer Giles, Dave Broscoe, Jamie Gullikson, John Higney, and Mark Molnar centred around Susan's spoken words.
Recordings
* Rushes Her Down (2012)
* 1981 Wordmusic 2007 (1981, 2007)
* Until the Light Bends (2005)
* Geode Music & Poetry (2000)
* SugarBeat Music & Poetry (1998)
* Dangerous Times (1997)
