Rare Blend

 FILM & LIVE PERFORMANCE

Rare Blend - 'Phantom of the Opera'  Left to to right...Jeff Scott (bass), Vic Samalot (guitar), Bobbi Holt (keyboards), Ivan George (drums).  Renaissance Theatre - Mansfield, Ohio.

 

                    

 Phantom of the Opera                Metropolis                    20,000 Under The Sea

  

 

RBFX Live performances combine a live musical performance by RARE BLEND to a screening of a classic silent film.  The musical accompaniment for each film is selectied from the Rare Blend catalog along with specifically written compositions and improvisations for particular scene passages.  These 90 minute performances have received very positive feedback and help to revitalize a most unique art form.  Clips from recorded performances can be found on the RBFX Live Sounclips tab under Rare Blend Music & FX.

PLEASE NOTE...RBFX Live is seeking to collaborate with filmmakers, computer animatiors, or computer graphic artists who would be interested in allowing the inclusion of their work in an upcoming performance that will focus on the modern era.   We welcome all inquiries.

 For more information and / or to book a show, please contact us.

 

 

Feedback and Media Articles

FEEDBACK

 >>>"You guys played an excellent show in Mansifeld during the Phantom of the Opera silent film. That experience was so surreal feeling and my girlfirend and I had an awesome time. I enjoyed all the feeling and thoughts that your music inspired my imagination to think of. Thanks for doing what you do! Best of luck always!".........Kyle Piorkowski -Patron at the Mansfield Renaissance performance >>>"Be prepared for an amazing total sensory experience! Combining driving instrumentals with the stunning visuals of silent film, Rare Blend creates a unique fusion of sight and sound. Bold and inventive--Not to be missed!" ....... Kate Posposil ~ Adult Services Librarian ~ Cuyahoga County Public Library ~ Olmsted Falls Branch >>>What a creative combination of multi-genre original music and classic silent cinema! I was smashed between two worlds, a wrinkle in time. Very cool Rare Blend!!" ......... Erica Bartik ~ Music Specialist ~ Cuyahoga County Public Library >>>"I loved the show and sincerely hope that we can bring more films to the Ren. It was a very fun evening!"........Mayor Lydia Reid ~ Mansfield Ohio

 

MEDIA ARTICLES  

>>>>"EARLY 20th CENTURY FILM MEETS 21st CENTURY MUSIC" By Norm Narvaja ~ Mansfield News Journal - Mansfield Ohio USED WITH PERMISSION MANSFIELD -- Before the arrival of "talkies" -- films that combined audio and dialogue tracks with the motion picture -- silent films were regularly accompanied by live music. The Renaissance Theatre will bring that period of movie history back to life with the Saturday screening of Lon Chaney Sr.'s "The Phantom of the Opera," with live music performed by Cleveland's Rare Blend accompanying the screening. "Lon Chaney's name and 'Phantom's' story are classics," Rare Blend keyboardist and vocalist Bobbi Holt said. "Lon Chaney put so much of himself into the characters he played, to the point of undergoing much physical pain." Chaney, known as "the man of 1,000 faces," helped pioneer makeup effects in movies. In "Phantom," it was widely reported he used metal pins in his cheeks to achieve the deformed look of the title character, Erik. "We thought silent films would be a perfect accompaniment to the music we perform, and also thought it would be fun to resurrect a classic to a 21st century style of music," Holt said. It's an interesting combination -- early 20th century film meeting 21st century fusion music. "Yes, it is putting a genre of music to a movie most people wouldn't expect to be put together," she said. "It's something that is fun for both us and the audience. We want to show that silent films are an artform which should not be treated as simply relics." nnarvaja@nncogannett.com 419-521-7249 >>>"PHANTOM WITH A TWIST" By AARON KRAUSE - Norwalk Reflector Staff Writer | Monday October 15 2007, 1:02pm Norwalk, Ohio USED WITH PERMISSION MANSFIELD - Rock, jazz, fusion, world music and....a silent film? That's the combination a Cleveland quartet will use to present a unique showing of the 1925 film version of "Phantom of the Opera." The screening is set for 8 p.m. Oct. 20 at Mansfield's Renaissance Theatre. "Phantom" is one of several silent films the musical group "Rare Blend" accompanies with their original compositions. The others are the 1916 version of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," "Metropolis" and "Maciste in Hell." The 1925 "Phantom" might be a different film version, but the story remains the same: The majestic Paris Opera House towers above the catacombs, the long forgotten dungeons and Paris torture chambers. Lon Chaney stars as the Phantom, a vengeful composer who hides his hideous, deformed face with a mask. His love of a young prima Donna leads to him abducting her and carrying her to his lair. A competing suitor tries to save her. Bobbi Holt, the quartet's co-founder and keyboardist, said in the past theaters have employed instrumental music for silent film screen showings. But, the organist, pianist or full orchestra would play classical-style music. Rare Blend features the drums, electric bass guitar, electric guitar and keyboards. "We're just revitalizing the art form of accompaniment to silent film work, but we're doing it with our music, which is 21st-Century rock, jazz, fusion (and instrumental)," Holt said. She said it is not the type of music one might expect to hear with a silent film. Still, Holt said she feels the notion of a silent film with such accompaniment will pique people's attention. It already has: Holt said nice size audiences have attended past screenings, which were held in Cleveland-area libraries. The Oct. 20 showing of "Phantom" will mark the first showing in a theater. "I hope it will be a catalyst for more theater opportunities," Holt said. "We've received very positive feedback and we're very happy to bring this presentation to the Renaissance." Why see silent films in this age of sound and technology? "I think it gives (audience members) a sense of history and just a totally different experience," Holt said. IF YOU GO WHAT: The 1925 silent film classic "Phantom of the Opera" WHEN: 8 p.m. Oct. 20 WHERE: Renaissance Performing Arts Center, 138 Park Ave. West, Mansfield HOW MUCH: $10 and $15. You can purchase tickets online or by calling the Renaissance Theatre box office at (419) 522-2726. >>>"RARE BLEND MIXES FILM WITH MUSIC" by Jarrod Zickefoose Arts and Entertainment Editor ~ Sun Press 7/19/07 Cleveland, Ohio USED WITH PERMISSION Bobbi Holt is becoming a film buff. That's what happens when you sit around with your band watching movies and dreaming up scores for them. Progressive jazz group Rare Blend has been doing just that, and it's taking its show on the road in the form of "Bridging the Gap," in which the group performs original music to classic films like "Phantom of the Opera" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." "We're taking early 20th century films and bridging the gap of nearly 100 years," Holt, the group's keyboard player, said. "It's kind of my baby, but the guys are pretty much agreeable to what I want to do and bring their own ideas to the table, it's great!" "It's a total flip of what we do musically," she said. The group includes Holt and Vic Samalot on guitar, both of Old Brooklyn, and bassist Jeffrey Scott and drummer Ivan George, both of Cleveland Heights. The group has been together for about 12 years. "Bridging the Gap" programs employ both compositions and improvisation. "We use more of our progressive elements," Holt said. "For the improvisation, I am going for an ambient thing." Logistically, the group plays behind the audience. "It doesn't make sense for us to ask the patron to split their brain," Holt said. "We want them to watch the film, not watch us. Our goal is to compliment what they are seeing with sound." Holt said the group avoids listening to original soundtracks when watching movies it will play to. "I don't even want to hear it," she said. "I'm a moody, kind of feely, emotional writer...I look for the emotion in a scene, and that's where I go to." "Bridging the Gap" seems like a natural evolution for a group whose first album was called "Cinefusion." Holt described the group's music as visual. She uses a laptop to keep track of film scenes when performing instead of watching the screen. The reason for that is simple. "The movies are so compelling that you can get caught up in the film itself and can lose track of your cues." she said. Contact Zickefoose at jarrod_zickefoose@yahoo.com Sunday July 22nd 2007 at 2:00 PM ~ METROPOLIS Cleveland Heights - University Heights Public Library - 2345 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights Ohio Phone 216-932-3600 x 250 ~ Please call to reserve your seat ~ FREE TO THE PUBLIC! >>>"SILENT NO MORE" Steve Fogarty ~ ACCENT section ~ The Chronicle Telegram-Elyria, Ohio ~ 6/23/07 USED WITH PERMISSION Back in the day, silent movies were usually accompanied by music played by pianists, organists or full orchestras. These days, they don't accompany silent movies with live music, if they even show them. Not so, come Thursday when the Olmsted Falls Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library will show the classic 1925 silent horror film "Phantom of the Opera" starring the immortal Lon Chaney. The film will be accompanied by music performed live by Rare Blend, a Cleveland-area quartet whose repertoire of instrumental music includes rock, jazz and fusion. The performance is part of the group's "Bridging the Gap" series that hopes to generate a new respect for silent movies by giving them a modern musical approach. "We're not classical in a musical sense, but we try to adhere to the spirit of things by being intense in a very intense part, or spooky in a very scary part," said Bobbi Holt, keyboardist for the group. "We take the emotions expressed in these films visually and spit them back out musically in our 21st century fashion." But the group still seeks to pay homage to the inherent power and drama of silent movies with original scores that incorporate music from the group's four previous CDs and improvisations which make each live performance distinct. "We try to compliment what you're seeing," said Holt. Delicate, predominantly piano music is played for scenes like those including Christine, an up-and-coming young operatic star who is kidnapped and tutored by the Phantom, a deformed, vengeful composer who dwells below the Paris Opera House. "But in the scene in the opera house where the chandelier is about ready to fall, we get a little crazy with it," said Holt. The quartet's music for "Phantom" is the latest endeavor in a musical resume that numbers four CDs. None of the group's entry into the music scene was driven from an academic standpoint. "None of us have degrees," said Holt. "I've had a love of music all my life ... we picked it up because we felt it (music). It wasn't a strategic or educational move. We all started in cover groups and our paths just kind of intersected." After years of playing in cover bands, Holt and guitarist Vic Samalot were weary and decided to do their own thing. "We wanted to write our own music," she said, and their shared creativity launched them on the path that eventually brought them to the score for "Phantom." "It was just an avenue we wanted to pursue for many years," she added. The quartet's other members are bass guitarist Jeff Scott and drummers Ivan George and Steve Zavesky, who play with the group on an alternating basis. All four are in their mid- to late 40s. Rare Blend's music for "Phantom" sprang from a deal made with a Minnesota distributor of silent films from whom the group acquired four silent movies of which Chaney's "Phantom" and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" are the most recognizable. The group performs behind the audience in an effort to keep the audience focused on the screen. "I don't want them watching us. I want them watching the screen." As much as the quartet enjoys their improvised music, they sometimes have moments of "sheer dread when we look at each other and say, 'what the hell are we doing,'" said Holt. "I always admired the days when TV was live. It would produce a supreme moment or a train wreck. You're in the moment and right on the precipice." The group trimmed its prints of "Phantom" from 105 to 90 minutes. "Movies back then tended to go on a little too long in some scenes to ensure that audiences got the emotions and visual impact. By today's standards, we'd say 'got it' and move on after a few seconds. A 90-minute performance is just about right. Everyone is into it from start to finish." Holt and her band mates hope to eventually record their "Phantom" music and package it with their own DVD version of the film, which is now in public domain. Rare Blend will provide live accompaniment to the 1927 Fritz Lang silent German sci-fi classic "Metropolis" July 22 at the Cleveland Heights Library. The group has been kicking around the idea of showing that film and performing its live score for the movie on the club circuit. "It's a grittier movie that would lend itself to an edgier club environment," said Holt. The group also dreams of performing one day at the Lon Chaney Theater in the actor's hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado., where an annual Chaney film festival is held. Suffering (silently) for one's craft..... "Phantom of the Opera" has been filmed no fewer than 10 times. Long known as a master of disguise and "The Man of a Thousand Faces," Lon Chaney became known for his willingness to subject himself to extreme physical contortions and discomfort to achieve the exact look and presence he wanted for a role. For the 1925 "Phantom," Chaney used tiny hooks attached to filament or fishing line to pull his nose back and up at an extreme angle to create the face of the Phantom, whose disfigurement left him with a grossly-distorted nose. "He pulled (the line) back and over the top (of his head) and secured it to the back of his head," Holt said. "They said he was in a lot of pain but wanted to stay true to the character to bring it to life." The resulting effect was said to be ghastly enough that it caused some attending the film's premiere to faint. Thursday June 28th at 7:00 PM ~ PHANTOM OF THE OPERA CCPL - Olmsted Falls branch - 7850 Main Street, Olmsted Falls Ohio The actual performance will be held at the Olmsted Community Church which is directly across the street from the library. Phone 440-235-1150 ~ Please call to reserve your seat ~ FREE TO THE PUBLIC! >>>"QUARTET SET TO GO 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA" By Charles Cassady ~ Clef Notes ~ WestLife Magazine-Westlake, Ohio 3/21/07 USED WITH PERMISSION Vic Samalot (electric and acoustic guitars), Bobbi Holt (keyboards), Jeff Scott (Bass) and Steve Zavesky (percussion) - are appearing with a new musical milieu, something they call "Bridging the Gap." This is the gap between sound and vision. Specifically, the Rare Blenders are going to be performing a live soundtrack to a silent film - a 91-year-old version of the Jules Verne maritime adventure "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." "I've had this idea about combining our music with silent films for a number of years and finally got around to putting the concept together," said Bobbi Holt, of Old Brooklyn. "It seems like a natural evolution for a side project, given the majority of our material is instrumental and we like to improvise." Rare Blend is not the only band to venture into these waters. Groups like the Alloy Orchestra, of Boston, and the Asylum Street Spankers, of Austin, have helped build their reputations with all-new live scoring of classics by Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Not long ago a full orchestra performed live at the Toronto International Film Festival in sync with a revival of the 1922 smash hit documentary "Nanook of the North." And, of course, back in the golden years of cinema, before recorded music and sound effects, live piano players, Mighty Wurlitzer organists and ensembles routinely serenaded along with the "photoplays" onscreen. One can say Rare Blend was destined to join in the silent-movie revival from its inception. The band started in 1994, out of the husband-and-wife team of Holt and Samalot working to do music in video and media production. Rare Blend's first CD, in 1995, was in fact entitled "Cinefusion," in recognition of the sound-image vibe produced by the group's instrumental harmonies. Rare Blend has since been a frequent presence on the North Coast music scene, appearing at the Open Air in Market Square free shows at the West Side Market, street fairs and arts festivals, doing live sets and interviews at Randy Allar's long-running "Fusion Show" on Cleveland State University radio station WCSB 89.3 FM on Friday afternoons, and headlining at prog-rock-oriented events at area clubs like the Winchester in Lakewood. The band typically does rich instrumentals and many compositions that arose out of improvisation and jam sessions. They've issued additional CDs such as "Stops Along the Way" and "Evolution Theory." And now they've gone Hollywood - with live sets to accompany the Lon Chaney "Phantom of the Opera" (1924), the German prediction of the year 2000 entitled "Metropolis" (1927), and the Italian strongman spectacular "Maciste in Hell" (1925). Bobbi Holt is looking into other titles to add to the repertoire, but right now they've been performing along with those silent-screen gems, in places like public libraries and the cinema-themed Talkies coffee bar in Ohio City. "Each is unique in its own way," said Holt, "either by cinematic advances - technological, makeup, etc. - of the time, a twist on the original story, or for the longevity of the theme-story, in and of itself." As for the Christmas blockbuster (of 1916) "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," it had then-revolutionary pre-World War I underwater cinematography and miniature modelwork in its Verne-derived story of team of scientists investigating a series of naval disturbances believed to be caused by a sea monster. The creature is actually a machine, the Nautilus, an advanced submarine piloted by Captain Nemo, a vengeful renegade seaman and inventor. Even in the earliest days of moviemaking there were dozens of primitive renderings of Jules Verne's fantastic, gadget-filled fiction. Those who know "20,000 Leagues" material mainly from the colorful 1954 Disney adaptation, with James Mason and Kirk Douglas, are in for an eye-opener. And an ear-opener, thanks to Rare Blend. "Instrumental music asks the listener to use their `mind's eye' to help interpret the composition," said Holt. "By adding the film to the mix, longtime listeners are in for a treat and will experience new impressions of our work." The screening/concert is free to the public, but seating is limited. Patrons are advised to pre-register at www.cuyahogalibrary.org. The Fairview Park branch, at 21225 Lorain Rd., can be phoned at (440) 333-4700.