Engram of Returning (live)

Baritone and bass saxophonist Jason Sharp delivers live soundtrack reconstruction on the most recent Saïto's 35mm CinemaScope film Engram of Returning.

Engram of Returning (“engram,” also called “memory-trace,” is a physical alteration thought to occur in living neural tissue in response to stimuli, postulated to account for the persistence of memory) is a film about memory and recollection. A metaphysical travelogue, the film explores visual expression that invokes emotional situations through formal and aesthetic approaches akin to collage and semi-abstract painting. Transforming anonymous found footage into powerful, expressive and painterly imagery, Engram of Returning attempts to give form to a constellation of the introspective mirages of what the filmmaker left behind, reconstructed through interwoven backward glances at the real, the imagined and the remembered.

Montreal-based baritone / bass saxophonist and composer Jason Sharp is known for his creative and musical use of extended playing techniques. His solo saxophone concerts explore acoustic resonances, feedback, and the relationship between breathing and heart rate. As a solo artist he has opened for saxophonists David S. Ware, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee, and Ken Vandermark. Jason has recorded with Matana Roberts, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, and Sam Shalabi for Constellation Records and has just released his first full album length recording for the label entitled A Boat Upon Its Blood. He can be heard as a regular member of Joshua Zubot’s Mend Ham, Sam Shalabi’s Land Of Kush, and Nicolas Caloia’s Ratchet Orchestra. As a frequent contributor to Montreal’s vibrant improvised music community he has shared the stage with artists such as Lori Freedman, Jean Derome, and Malcolm Goldstein, and is currently serving as president of the board of Innovations en Concert, an organization that promotes new music in Montreal.