Another review appears in the March, 1989, issue of Sound Choice, and another in 1990 in Gajoob.
In 1993 the group finished Lunar Crescent Wrench, in collaboration with Sow's Ear Press in England. Subsequent albums are First World Feast (1997), and Hard Science (1999), and The Story of Andro (2006).
In addition to studio work, our live performances have involved visual and dance elements. Performances in New York, Chicago, Waukegan, Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Whitewater, and Fort Atkinson have at times featured video and computer graphics, in collaboration with computer artist Amy Arntson and videographer Rob Hecimovich. I have also collaborated with Ms. Arntson, musician Joseph Koykkar and choreographer Chris Stevens to produce an inter-arts piece called "Sitting in the Sunlight." It is based on my poem, "Canto 65," which appears in the Autumn, 1988, issue of Poetry Northwest, now known as "Canto 65 She sat in the sunlight." This work was performed in the Union Theater of UW-Madison in November, 1989.
An important part of my work as a poet has been in the performance and inter-arts areas. Although I continue to compose and publish poems "for the page," I have succeeded in producing what I call "fusion poetry," in which musical, electronic, and visual elements interact with language. I wish to emphasize that I enjoy collaborating and exploring the possibilities opened by using my voice to perform my poetry. But the heart of my work is the writing act itself. For me a piece must function first as an exciting piece of writing, capable of standing alone on the page (excepting certain totally improvised pieces).
In 1983 The Chamber Rock Ensemble performed my poems, "White Shadow Quartet," "Edward the Teller," and "Firebreak" as part of an evening in the series, "Perspectives on Nuclear War," sponsored by the UW-Whitewater Physics Department. On April 30, 1984, I began working with members of the rock band, Random Sample, to present a performance version of five "Pratyeka Cantos" (see below) at UW-Whitewater, produced as part of the Sixth Annual Poetry Festival. Shortly after this performance we formed The Chamber Rock Ensemble.
In November 1985, my poem, "Canto 15," was performed by Alvin Lucier as an electronic sound text at the "InsideOut" presentation at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. I was at the Center studying poetry writing with William Stafford and was able to sit in on classes by Lucier.
The method of The Chamber Rock Ensemble allows for a full range of performance styles, from chamber pieces such as a flute/poet duet, through complex multi-track studio mixes for voice and electronics, to full-scale rock/jazz scored or improvised pieces with as many as seven musicians. In April 1986 the Ensemble performed my poem entitled "The Arousal" (with original music and multiple tracks by Al Jewer) at the New Music Concert coordinated by Joseph Koykkar, at the UW-Whitewater Recital Hall in the Center of the Arts. "The Arousal" also appeared in the audio magazine Sanctuary, in the Spring, 1986 issue, edited by Belinda Subraman.
The Ensemble has performed often at the Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson, a bar/coffee-house/experimental arts center named after the carp which cavort in the Rock River which flows behind the café, the motto of which is, naturally, carpe diem. [Cognoscenti will connect this town with the great American poet Lorine Niedecker.]
In 1986-87 we performed at Monmouth College in New Jersey; the Half Moon Cafe, Albany, NY; Recital Hall, College of the Arts, UW-Whitewater, as part of the Ninth Annual Poetry Festival; the Jack Benny Center of the Arts in Waukegan, Illinois; the Wisconsin Poets' Theatre evening in the UW-Madison Memorial Union's Fredric March Play Circle; in New York on December 6-8, 1987, at the Sun Mountain Cafe in the Village, at the Cafe Elysian in Hoboken, and at The Knitting Factory in Soho.
A selection ("Welder's Girl") from Open My Eyes was included in the program, "Poems Set to Music", broadcast on National Public Radio, and published in audio cassette form, under the auspices of New Letters (University of Missouri-Kansas City). On October 29, 1987, Lucy Sumner at WNYC in New York broadcast the entire album, Open My Eyes, on her program, "Audio Art;" and on December 3rd, 1987, she broadcast seven new pieces (a transcription of the latter is available). Professor Ray Griffith of the University of Wisconsin made my poetry the subject of his November 2nd Commmentary on Wisconsin Public Radio, which included excerpts from the Ensemble cut entitled "Hubbub" (transcription also available).
Other activities in 1988-89: The Chamber Rock Ensemble performed in the Milwaukee Public Library as part of the Milwaukee Book Festival. Another performance took place in UW-Whitewater's Hyer Auditorium as part of the English Department's Freshman English Course (with 18 professors discussing my fusion poetry in their classes). Appleton High School students took part in poetry, oral performance, and music performance workshops offered by the Ensemble, which also performed in the Appleton Community Auditorium. Finally, the Ensemble performed at the Y Not II Club in Milwaukee as part of the Greater Milwaukee Poetry Slam.
A performance of "Canto One" was recorded on March 18, 2000, in Jeff Lundgren's Milwaukee studio. Personnel are Jeff Lundgren, guitars and effects, Bryant Guy, drums, Al Jewer, flutes and synths, Rob Hecimovich, bass and R. Virgil Ellis, text and voice.