Bill Orcutt’s “Music For Four Guitars”

Ars Nova Workshop presents “Music for Four Guitars,” a startlingly minimalist new composition by guitarist Bill Orcutt, founding member of infamous noise rockers Harry Pussy, at Solar Myth on March 26, 2023.

A decade after Miami-based noise duo Harry Pussy called it quits, guitarist/vocalist Bill Orcutt reemerged with the solo acoustic guitar album A New Way To Pay Old Debts in 2009. Since then Orcutt’s solo guitar music has tilted decidedly towards improvisation, while his fetish for relentless, gridlike composition has animated his electronic music. The long-in gestation “Music for Four Guitars” is the culmination of years ruminating on classical music, Captain Beefheart/Magic Band miniatures, and the strident minimalism of composers like Steve Reich. Though the album version features a quartet of overdubbed Orcutts, this performance boasts a remarkable line-up of modern six-string explorers: Orcutt, Shane Parish, Ava Mendoza, and Wendy Eisenberg.